AN ADVANCED
HISTORY OF INDIA
AN ADVANCED
HISTORY OF INDIA
BY
R. C. MAJUMDAR, M.A., Ph.D.
Vice-Chancellor, Dacca University
H. C. RAYCHAUDHURI, M.A., Ph.D.
Carmichael Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture, Calcutta
University
KALIKINKAR DATTA, M.A., Ph.D.
Prcmchand Eaychand Scholar, Mount Medallist, Griffith Prizeman,
Professor and Head of the Department of History, Patna College, Patna
LONDON
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First Edition 1946
Reprinted {with corrections) 1948, 1949
Second Edition 1950
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{with corrections) 1960
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PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
The chequered annals of our ancient land have been the theme
of many a writer of the East as well as the West. If a fresh attempt
is now made to recite the itihdsa purdtana it is due in large measure
to the accumulation of new stocks of information which every year
are yielded to the spade of the archaeologist and the patient industry
of the scholar. It is also due in part to the teaching of experience
which suggests the need, with fresh data at our disposal, of viewing
things from a different angle of vision.
The book which is now published is primarily intended to meet
the requirements of advanced students who have already an
acquaintance with the broad outlines of the subject. It has been
the endeavour of the authors to place before them in the course
of the narrative such details about the salient features of Indian
History in the different periods of its evolution as may be fitted
into the framework of the story provided for them at the earlier
stages of their educational career. In doing this a special stress
has been laid on administrative, social, economic, and cultural
aspects, which do not always receive in studies of this kind the
attention that is their due. A prominent place has also been given
to such important topics as the colonial and cultural expansion
of the ancient Hindus, the evolution of different types of art and
architecture, and the growth of a new India as a result of the
impact of different civilisations in recent times.
The history of the latest periods has been Avritten on a somewhat
novel plan. Instead of dealing separately with the brief rule of
each succeeding Governor-General, an attempt has been made to
treat in their logical sequence such absorbing subjects as the rise
and growth of a remote island people as a political power in our
country, the different phases of constitutional and administrative
changes, and the social, religious, and economic conditions during
well-defined periods. In other words, in treating the events of the
modern age, attention has in the main been focused not so much
on personalities as on movements and courses of policy. This
method may involve some loss of dramatic interest but has the
merit of tracing clearly the main threads of history in a given epoch.
VI
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
We have tried to make the details as accurate and authentic
as possible in the light of the latest researches, and where no
definite conclusion is possible we have sought to indicate the
different view-points in a detached spirit. An attempt has been
made to add flesh and blood to the dry skeleton of history, particu-
larly that of the earlier periods, with the help of such materials as
may be gleaned from a close scrutiny of the original som.'ces. The
maps, select bibliographies, and genealogical and chronological
tables, will, it is hoped, be of some use to earnest investigators.
We need not dilate upon other special features of the book which
cannot be missed by anyone who examines it.
A joint literary production, in spite of its obvious advantages,
is not unlikely to suffer from some serious defects. The authors
sought to minimise these as far as possible by periodical discussions
and scrutiny of the contents of each chapter. Whether, and how
far, they have been able to avoid the imperfections that are apt
to occur in a work of this kind, it is for others to judge. Apart
from this, some defects may be attributed to the printing of the
book in Great Britain at a time when communication between the
authors and the publishers was rendered more and more difficult
by circumstances over which they had no control. All these short-
comings may, we hope, be largely removed in future editions of
the work. In the meantime we can only crave the indulgence of
our readers for such errors of omission and commission as they
may detect in the foUowing pages.
In writing Oriental names and expressions we have adopted in
a general way the method of transliteration which has been followed
in standard works like the Cambridge History of India.
We take this opportunity of expressing our deep obligation to
the purva suris and to various individuals and associations who
have lent us illustrations, etc., belonging to them, with permission
to make photographic reproductions. Our special thanks are due
to the representatives of the publishers for the keen interest they
have taken in the progress of the work. If the book now offered
to students helps in some measure to prepare the ground for a
fuller and clearer view of the “broadening stream” of our country’s
history, the labour of the authors will be amply repaid.
R. 0. Majumdar
H. C. Raychaudiiuut
Kalikinkar Datta
Calcutta
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
Political changes of a momentous character have taken place in
India since the first publication of this volume. The most important of
these is the abdication of power and authority in India by the British ,
with the grant of virtual independence to the Dominions of India
and Pakistan. It has therefore been thought desirable to bring this
history up to August 15, 1947, when power was actually transferred
to the hands of the Indians. Although in general this revised edition
does not go beyond that date and does not even refer to such notable
events as the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, nevertheless pass-
ing allusion has occasionally been made to later happenings in order
to make the treatment of some non-controversial topics up-to-date.
The recent integration of Indian States into different Unions took
place after August 15, 1947, but the readjustment of the boun-
daries of these states has so completely changed the political geo-
graphy of modern India that it would be unwise to ignore it in a
text-book of Indian History. We have accordingly dealt with this
matter in an Appendix.
A second Appendix gives a summary of the new" Constitution of
India which came into force on January 26, 1950.
A new chapter has been added to describe India’s struggle for
independence, and the accounts of constitutional changes in 1935
have been somewhat abridged. The whole book has been thoroughly
revised m order to correct errors and incorporate the results of the
latest researches.
The appreciation of this book by the press and the public has
exceeded our greatest expectations, and we have spared no pains
to make it still more useful by means of the new material added to
this edition.
B.C.M.
H.C.R.C.
K.K.D.
vii
CONTENTS
PART II
ANCIENT INDIA
CHAPTER PAGE
I. PHYSICAL ASPECTS AND TJNDEBLYING UNITY . . 3
II. THE PRE-HISTOEIC PEBIOD ... .9
m. THE EARLY VEDIO AGE 24
IV. LATER VEDIC CIVILISATION . . . . . 41
V. THE BEGINNINGS OF MAGADHAN ASCENDANCY AND THE
COMING OF THE YAVANAS 55
VI. CIVILISATION IN THE EARLY DAYS OF MAGADHAN
ASCENDANCY . . . . . . . 70
Vn. THE MAUEYA EMPIRE 97
Vm. THE DISRUPTION OF THE MAGADHAN EMPIRE AND
INCURSIONS FROM CENTRAL ASIA AND IRAN . . 113
IX. CIVILISATION IN THE ERA OF MAURYAN IMPERIALISM
AND OF GRAECO-SCYTHIAN INVASIONS (c. 324 B.C.~
,A.D. 320) . .124
X. THE GUPTA EMPIRE 144
XI. THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE HUNS, AND THE ASCEND-
ANCY OF KANAUJ, KASHMIR AND GAUDA . . 163
Xn. THE DECCAN FROM THE FALL OF THE SATAVAHANAS
TO THE END OF RASHTRAKUTA SUPREMACY — ^RISE
OF THE EMPIRES OF KANCHI AND KARNATA . . 172
Xin. THE PASSING OF THE OLD HINDU KINGDOMS . . 181
XIV. INDIAN CIVILISATION UNDER THE IMPERIAL GUPTAS
AND THEIR SUCCESSORS . . . . . 191
XV. COLONIAL AND CULTURAL EXPANSION . . .211
XVI , MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT INDIA .... 224
GENEALOGICAL TABLES . . . , . . . 255
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART I . . . . . 264
’^Part I, chapters i, and iii-xiv, are by Dr. H, C. Raychaudhuti; chapters
ii, XV and xvi by Dr R. C. Majurodar.
. ix
CONTENTS
PART II.
MEDIEVAL INDIA
Book I i
THE MUSLIM CONQUEST AND THE DELHI SULTANATE
OHAPTEB PAGE
I. THE ADVENT OF THE MUSLIMS , . . .275
II. THE SO-CALLED SLAVE DYNASTY AND THE CONSOLIDA-
TION OF MUSLIM POWER IN NORTHERN INDIA . 281
m. THE KHALJTS AND THE EXPANSION OF THE SULTANATE
TO THE SOUTH 296
IV. THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ AND THE BEGINNING OF
DISRUPTION . . . . . . .314
V. DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTANATE . , 338
VI. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TURKO-AFGHANS IN INDIA,
AND MORAL AS WELL AS MATERIAL CONDITIONS OF
THE COUNTRY DURING THEIR RULE . . .391
Book 11^
THE MUGHUL EMPIRE
1. MUGHUL- AFGHAN CONTEST FOB SUPREMACY IN INDIA,
A.D. 1526-1656 .425
II. AKBAR THE GREAT. ...... 447
m. JAHANGIR AND SHAH JAHAN . . . . . 463
IV. AURANGZEB ‘alamgie (1658-1707) . . . . 491
V. DISINTEGRATION OF THE MUGHUL EMPIRE . . 527
VI. MUGHUL ADMINISTRATION . . . . . 554
vn. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE . . ... 5()6
VIII, EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND ART .... 578
GENEALOGICAL TABLES . . . . , . 603
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART U , . . . . 617
^ Book T, chapter i, is by Dr. R. C. Majumdar; and chapters ii to vj by Dr.
Kalikinkar Datta.
* Book II is by Dr. Kalikinkar Datta.
CONTENTS xi
PART III.
MODERN INDIA
Book I ^
THE RISE AND GROWTH OF THE BRITISH POWER
CHAPTER PAGE
I. ADVENT OF THE EUROPEANS . . . . .631
n. RISE OF THE BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765 . . 645
ni. GROWTH OF THE BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798 . . 676
IV. ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH ASCENDANCY, 1798-1823 698
V. EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH DOMINION BEYOND THE
BRAHMAPUTRA AND THE SUTLEJ, 1824-1856 . . 729
VI. THE COMPANY AND THE MINOR INDIAN STATES (1774-
1858) 764
vn. THE INDIAN REVOLT OF 1857-59 .... 772
VIII. ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION UP TO THE REVOLT . 784
IX. TRADE AND INDUSTRY, 1757-1857 . . . . 805
X. THE DAWN OF NEW INDIA 812
Book II *
MODERN INDIA
I. POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1858-1905 . . . . 829
n. WHITEHALL AND THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (1858-
1905) 847
III, INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1858-1906 . . . 854
TV. THE GROWTH. OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905 . . . 876
V, POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1906-1937 .... 902
VI. CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, 1906-1937 . . . 911
vn. INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION AND GENERAL CONDITION,
1906-1938 . ... . . . 928
^ Book I, diuptors ii and viii-x are by Br. R. C. Majumdar and the other
chapters by Dr. K alikinkar Datta.
** ik)ok li, fhaptors i~iv and ix are by Dr. R. C. Majumdar ; and chapters v
to viii and Appeu dix I by Dr, Kalikinkar Datta.
Xii CONTENTS
OHAl’TKB
VUI. INDIA DURING AND AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR
IX. THE STRUGGLE FOB FREEDOM ....
APPENDIX i: THE INDIAN STATES IN NEW INDIA
APPENDIX n: THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
GENEALOGICAL TABLES . . . • • •
BIBUOGEAPHY TO PART HI .
UST OF GOVEENORS-GBNERAL, ETC.
CHRONOLOGY .......
INDEX . . .
968
980
997
1005
1013
1023
1042
1046
1069
LIST OF MAPS
Ancient India (Bharata-Vabsha)
Page
48
Early Mediaeval India ....
176
Ancient Asia ......
208
India (Tdbko-Aeghan Period) .
293
Mughul India . . ' .
489
India (Decline oe the Mughul Empire) .
525
Mediaeval India and the West
. facing page
631
COLOURED MAPS
India at End of Bbitish Pbeiod, 1947 . . Af end of volume
India (Physical) „
India (SnowiNa the Main Linguistic Divisions) „ „
India and Pakistan; Political Re-obganisation,
1952 „
India and Pakistan : Political Re-organisation,
1956
PART I
ANCIENT INDIA
CHAPTER I
PHYSICAL ASPECTS AND UNDERLYING UNITY
India is tlie name given to the vast peninsula which the continent
of Asia throws out to the south of the magnificent mountain ranges
that stretch in a swordlike curve across the southern border of
Tibet. This huge expanse of territory, which deserves the name
of a sub-continent, has the shape of an irregular quadrilateral,,...
Ancient geographers referred to it as being “constituted with a
four-fold conformation” {chatuh samsthdna samsthitam), “on its
south and west and east is the Great Ocean, the Himavat range
stretches along its north like the string of a bow”. The lofty
mountain chain in the north — to which the name Himavat is
applied in the above passage — ^includes not only the snow-capped
ridges of the Himalayas but also their less elevated offshoots —
the Patkai, Lushai and Chittagong Hills in the east, and the
Sulaiman and Kirthar ranges in the west. These lead down to the
sea and separate the country from the wooded valley of the
Irrawaddy on the one hand and the hiUy tableland of Iran on
the other.
Politically, the Indian empire as it existed before August 16,
1947, extended beyond these natural boundaries at several points
and included not only Baluchistan beyond the Kirthar range, but
also some smaller areas that lay scattered in the Bay of Bengal.
With the exception of the outlying territories beyond the seas, the
whole of the vast region described above lay roughly between
Long. 61° and 96° E. and Lat. 8° and 37° N. Its greatest length
was about 1,800 miles, and its breadth not less than 1,360 miles.
The total area of the empire, excluding Burma which was con-
stituted as a separate unit under the Government of India Act of
1935, might be put at 1,575,000 square miles and the population
inhabiting it at three hundred and eighty-eight millions.
The sub-continent of India, stretching from the Himalayas to
the sea, is known to the Hindus as Bhdrata-V arsha or the land
of Bharata, a king famous in Purapic tradition. It was said to form
part of a larger unit called Jambu-dmpa which was considered
to be the innermost of seven concentric island-continents into
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
which the earth, as conceived by Hindu cosmographers, was supposed
to have been divided. The Piiranic account of these insular con-
tinents contains a good deal of what is fanciful, but early Buddhist
evidence suggests that Jambu-dvlpa was a territorial designation
actually in use from the third . century b.o, at the latest, and was
appUed to that part of Asia, outside China, throughout which the
prowess of the great imperial family of the Mauryas made itself
felt. The name “India” was applied to the country by the Greeks.
It corresponds to the “Hi(n)du” of the old Persian epigraphs. Like
“Sapta sindhavah” and “Hajyta Hindu’'— -the appellations of the
country of the Aryans in the Veda and the Vendidad — ^it is derived
from the Sindhu (the Indus), the great river which constitutes
the most imposing feature of that part of the sub-continent which
seems to have been the cradle of its earliest known civihsation. Closely
connected with ''Hindu” are the later designations "Hind” and
" Hindusthdn” as found in the pages of mediaeval writers.
India proper, excluding its outlying dependencies, is divided
primarily into four distinct regions, viz.,jlj the hill country of the
north, styled Parvatdirayin in the Purapas, stretching from the
swampy jungles of the Tarai to the crest of the Himalayas and
affording space for the upland territories of Kashmir, Kangra,
Tehri, Kumaun, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan ; (2) the great northern
plain embracing the flat wheat-producing valleys of the Indus
and its tributaries, the sandy deserts of Sind and Rajputana as
well as the fertile tracts watered by the Ganges, the Jumna and
the Brahmaputra ; (3) the plateau of South Central India and the
Deccan stretching south of the Gangetic plain and shut in from
the rest of the peninsula by the main range of the Paripatra,
roughly the Western Vindhyas, the Vindhyas proper,' the Sahyadri
or the Western Ghahs and the Mahendra or the Eastern Ghats;
and (4) the long and narrow maritime plains of the soutli
extending from the Ghats to the sea and containing the rich ports
of the Kohkan and Malabar, as well as the fertile deltas of the
Godavari, the Krishpa and the Kaveri.
These territorial compartments marked by the hand of nature
do not exactly coincide with the traditional divisions of the country
known to antiquity. In ancient literature we have reference to a
fivefold division of India. In the centre of the Indo-Gangetic plain
was the Madhya-desa stretchuig, according to the Brahraanieal
accounts, from the river Sarasvati, which flowed past Tiulnesar
and Pehoa (ancient Prithudaka), to Allahabad and Benares, and,
according to the early records of the Buddhists, to the Rajmahal
Hills. The western part of this area was known as the
PHYSICAL ASPECTS AND UNDERLYING UNITY
Bralimarshi-deia, and the entire region was roughly equivalent
to Ary maria as described in the grammar of Patanjali. But the
denotation of the latter term is wider in some law-books which
take it to mean the whole of the vast territory lying between the
Himalayas and the Vindhyas and extending from sea to sea. To
the north of the Iladhya-ddsa, beyond Pehoa, lay Uttardpatha
or Uduhya (North-west India), to its west Apardnta or Pratlchya
(Western India), to its south DahshinApatha or the Deccan, and to
its east Purva-deia or Prdchya, the Prasii of Alexander’s historians.
The term Uttardpatha was at times applied to the whole of Northern
India, and Dakshindpaiha was in some ancient works restricted
to the upper Deccan north of the Krishna, the far south being
termed TamilaJcam or the Tamil country, while Purva-deSa in
early times included the eastern part of the “middle region”
beyond the Antarvedl or the Gangetic Doab. To the five primary
divisions the Puranas sometimes add two others, viz., the Parva-
dirayin or Himalayan tract, and the Vindhyan region.
The course of Indian history, like that of other countries in
the world, is in large measure determmed by its geography. Each
of the territorial units into which the hand of nature divides the
country has a distinct story of its own. The intersection of the
land by deep rivers and ivinding chains flanked by sandy deserts
or impenetrable forests, fostered a spirit of isolation and cleft the
country asunder into small political and even social units, whose
divergences were accentuated by the infinite variety of local
conditions. Tendencies towards union and coalescence are most
marked only in the vast riparian plain of the north and the
extensive plateau in the interior of the peninsula, enriched and
regenerated by the life-giving streams that flow from the heights
of the Himalayas and the Western Ghats. The stupendous mountain
chain which fences this country off from the rest of Asia, while
it constituted India a world by itself and favoured the growth
of a distinct typo of civilisation, never sufficed to shelter the
sunny realms of the Indus and the Ganges from the inroads
of ambitious potentates or wandering nomads. These invaders
stormed one after another through the narrow defiles that break
through the great rocky barrier and lead into the plains of the
interior. The long coast studded with wealthy ports “lay oj)en
to the barks of” intrepid buccaneers and adventurers from
far-off climes.
The mountain passes and the sea, however, were not mere
gates of invasion and conquest. They fostered also a more pacific
intercourse with the outside world. They brought to this country
6
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the pious pOgrim and the peaceful trader and constituted high-
ways for the diffusion of Indian culture and civilisation through-
out the greater part of the Asiatic continent as well as the islands
that lie off the coast of Coromandel and the peninsula of Malaya,
The size of India is enormous. The country is almost as large
as the whole of the continent- of Europe without Russia, and
is almost twenty times as big as Great Britain, Even more
remarkable than the immensity of its area is the extreme diversity
of its physical features, India embraces within its boundaries
lofty mountains steeped in eternal snow, as weU as flat plains
“salted by every tide”, arid deserts almost untouched by the
feet of man, as well as fertile river valleys supporting a population
of over three thousand persons to the square mile. The greater
part of this sub-continent had been knit into one political unit in
the nineteenth century. But from August 15, 1947, two self-
governing Dominions were carved out of it, known respectively as
India and Pakistan, which form parts of the British Common-
wealth. There are, however, certain areas, e.g. Nepal, Bhutan, and
the French and Portuguese possessions, which lie outside the limits
of this Commonwealth, There were, moreover, more than five
hundred states, ruled by Indian Princes, with a total area of about
700,000 square miles, which ^ commemorated the vanished glory of
defunct kingdoms and empires, and enjoyed a certain amount of
autonomy in internal affairs under the aegis of the British Crown.
With very few exceptions they are now undergoing a process of
integration with either India or Pakistan.
"^The magnitude of the population of India is quite in keeping with
the immensity of its geographical dimensions. As early as the fifth
century B.o. Herodotus observed that “of all the nations that we
know, it is India which has the largest population”. The total
number of inhabitants included within the sub-continent, excluding
Burma, according to the Census of 1941, amounts to three hundred
and eighty-eight millions, or about one-fifth of that of the whole
world. This huge assemblage of human beings is made up of diverse
ethnic groups, split up into countless castes, professing numerous
creeds, speaking about two hundred different languages and,
dialects. It represents every phase of social evolution, from
that of the primitive tribesman who still lives by hunting
and collecting forest produce, to that of the polished inhabitant
of cities well equipped with the most up-to-date scientific or
humanistic lore.
A close examination of this variegated conglomeration of races,
castes and creeds reveals, however, a deep underlying unity which
PHYSICAL ASPECTS AND UNDERLYING UNITY 7
is apt to be missed by the superficial observer. This unity was
undoubtedly nurtured in the nineteenth century by a uniform system
of administration and the spread of education on modern fines.
It is a mistake, however, to suppose that it is wholly the outcome
of recent events and was quite non-existent in ages long gone by.
The fundamental unity of India is emphasised by the name Bhdrata-
Varsha, or land of Bharata, given to the whole country in the Epics
and the Puranas, and the designation Bhdratl santati, or descend-
ants of Bharata, applied to its people.
“ Uttar am yat samudrasya
Himddreichaiva dahshinam,
Varsham tad Bhdratam ndma
Bhdratl yatra santatih.”
(Vishnu Rirapa, 11, 3. 1.)
“The country that lies north of the ocean and south of the
snowy mountains is called Bharata; there dwell the descendants
of Bharata.”
This sense of unity was ever present before the mmds of the
theologians, political philosophers and poets who spoke of the
“thousand Yojanas (leagues) of land that stretch from the
Himalayas to the sea as the proper domain of a single universal
emperor” and eulogised monarchs who sought to extend their
sway from the snowy mountains in the north to Adam’s Bridge
in the south, and from the vaUey of the Brahmaputra in the east
to the land beyond the seven mouths of the Indus in the west.
In the third century b.c. a single language, Prakrit, sufficed to
bring the message of a royal missionary to the doors of his humblest
subjects throughout this vast sub-continent. A few centuries later
another language, Sansltrit, found its way to the royal archives
of the remotest corners of this country. The ancient epics — the
Rdmdyana and the Mahdbhdrata — were studied with as much
devotion in the courts of the Tamil and Kanarese countries as
in the intellectual circles of Taxila in the western Punjab, and
Naimidhdranya in the upper Ganges valley. The old religion of
the Vedas and tlie Puranas still gives solace to the vast majority
of the people of this country, and temples in honour of ^iva and
Vishnu raise their spires on the snowy heights of the Himalayas
as well as in the flat deltas of the Krishpa and the Kaveri. The
religious communities tliat do not worship in these shrines have
not been altogetlier unaffected by their Hindu surroundings.
Instances are not unknown of friendship and communion between
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
saints and prophets of rival creeds. Since the days of al-Birimi
many adherents of Islam, the second great religion of India in
point of numbers, have shovTi a profound interest in the science,
philosophy and religion of their Hindu brethren, and to this day
Hindu practices are not altogether a negligible factor in the village
life of this country for the votaries of a different creed. Islam
with its ideals of social democracy and imperialism has, in its
turn, done much to counteract the fissiparous tendencies of caste
and check the centrifugal forces in Indian politics by keeping alive
the ideal of a Pan-Indian State throughout the Middle Ages.
CHAPTER II
THE PKE-mSTORIO PERIOD
History is a record of the achievements of man. The history
of India, hke the annals of every other country, should therefore
begin with an account of the times when men first settled in this
land. But history proper only deals with facts, and facts can only
be known from records of some kind or other. We cannot know
the history of any people who have left no record of their existence.
There may have been people or peoples who lived in India in
primitive times, but the evidence of whose existence has not yet
been discovered. For the present, at any rate, they must be left
out of account altogether. We shall only deal with those inhabitants
of India whose existence is known to us from some records they
have left behind.
To begin with, these records consist almost solely of the rude
implements which the people used in their daily lives. According
to the nature and material of these implements, the earliest settlers
in India have been divided into two classes, viz., Palaeolithic and
Neolithic.
Palaeolithic Men
The term Palaeolithic is derived from two Greek words meaning
Old Stone. This name is applied to the earliest people, as the only
evidence of their existence is furnished by a number of rude stone
implements. These are small pieces of rough undressed stones,
chipped into various forms, which were originally fitted with
handles made of sticks or bones. They served as weapons for
hunting wild animals, and could also be used as hammers or for
purposes of cutting and boring.
These chipped stones have been found in large numbers in
different parts of India, They are usually, though not exclusively,
made of a species of hard rock called “quartzite”. From this
fact the Palaeolithic men in India are also known as “Quartzite
men”,
From the rough and rude stone implements which are the only
records left behind by the earliest^known inhabitants of India, we
' 9 ' . '
•>'-v lT8b,
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
STBAIGHT-BDGEB OLEAVBE OF BKOWN-
ISH QUARTZITE : OEINGEEPUT DISTRICT,
MADRAS PRESIDENCY
can form only a very vague idea of their lives and habits. It is
obvious that they were ignorant of any metals, and most of thorn
had no fixed homes, though a few might have made huts of
some sort with trees and leaves. They lived in constant dread of
wild animals like tigers, lions, elephants and the rhinoceros. They
PODISBCED CELT WITH POirSfTED
BUTT OF SPECKLED TRAP ;
BANDA DISTRICT, AGRA PBO-
VINOH (U.P.)
POBISHED SHOULDERED CEBT
WITH ADZE-LIKE EDGE, OF DARK
GREY SLATE, FROM THE TRANS-
GANGETIO AirEA
11
THE PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD
had no idea of agriculture, but lived on the flesh of animals and
such fruits and vegetables as grew wild in jungles. They could
not make pottery, and probably did not even know how to make
a fire. In short, from our standpoint we can only regard them
as savages, little removed from an animal life. It is well to remember
this if we are to judge aright the long strides that men have made
in developing that culture and civilisation of which we are so
justly proud to-day.
It has been suggested that the Palaeolithic men belonged to
the Negrito race, like the modern people of the Andaman Islands,
and were characterised by short stature, dark skin, woolly hair
and flat noses.
Neolithic Men
The capacity for progress is, however, an inherent characteristic
of human beings which distinguishes them from animals. Conse-
quently, as years rolled by, men acquired greater knowledge and
skill in mastering the forces of nature. The rate of progress is,
of course, difficult to estimate, and it may have been hundreds
or thousands of years before a distinctly higher type of civilisation
was evolved in India. The men who belonged to this age are called
Neolithic. This term is also derived from two Greek words meaning
New Stone. The significance of this name lies in the fact that in
this age also men had to depend solely on stone implements, and
were ignorant of any metals, except gold. But their implements
were very different from those of the preceding age, for they
used stones other than quartzite, and these were not merely
chipped, but in most cases “ground, grooved and polished”
as well. They were highly finished articles made into different
forms to serve various purposes. They can be easily distinguished
from the rough and rude implements of the Palaeolithic Age.
Remains of the Neolithic men are found in almost every part
of India. An ancient factory for the manufacture of stone imple-
ments has been discovered in the Bellary district, Madras, where
we can still trace the various stages of their construction.
The civilisation of the Neolithic men shows distinct traces of
advance. They cultivated land and grew fruits and corn. They
also domesticated animals like the ox and the goat. They loiew
the art of producing fire by the friction of bamboos or pieces of
wood, and made pottery, at first by hand, and then with the potter’s
wheel. They lived in caves and decorated their walls by painting
scenes of hunting and dancing. A few of these can be seen to-day
both in Northern and Southern India. They also painted and
12
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
decorated their pottery. They constructed boats and went out to
sea. They could spin cotton and wool and weave cloth. They
used to bury their dead, and neolithic tombs have been discovered
in some parts of India. Sometimes the dead body was put in a
large urn and many of these urns have been discovered intact under
the ground. The tombs known as Dolmens consist of three or more
stone props in a circle, supporting’ a massive roof stone. These
dolmens or megalithic tombs are characteristic of the Neolithic
Age all over the world.
The age of the Palaeolithic and Neolithic men is called pre-
historic, as we know hardly anything of this period save the meagre
evidence supplied by the cave drawings and stone implements.
We have not even any definite knowledge regarding the relations
between these two groups of men. There are indications that
suggest that the Neolithic men may have been the descendants of
their Palaeolithic predecessors. But there are certain facts which
militate against this view. Some scholars are of opinion that not
only are there no such relationships, but that there was a gap of
many hundreds or thousands of years between the two periods.
So long as our evidence remains as meagre as it now is, there will
always be scope for such differences of opinion, and we shall have
to deal with theories or hypotheses based on speculations. The
question, however, belongs to the domain of anthropology rather
than history, and need not be pursued any further.
The Age of Metals
There is, however, a general agreement that Neolithic men were
the ancestors of the people who ushered in the next stage of
civilisation which is distinguished by the knowledge and use of
metals. That the transition from stone to metal was a slow
and gradual process is proved by two undeniable facts, viz.,
the use of stone and metallic implements side by side, and
the close resemblance in the shape of early metal and Neolithic
implements.
There was, however, no uniformity in the use of metals in
different parts of India. In Northern India, copper replaced stone
as the ordinary material for tools and weapons. Axes, swords, spear-
heads and various other objects made of that metal have come
to light in different parts of the country. It was not till centuries
later that iron came to be known and gradually used as a vsub.stitute
for copper, can thus distinguish between a Copper Age an<l
the Early Iron Age in Northern India. In Southern India, however,
THE PRE-HISTOEIC PERIOD 13
the Iron Age immediately succeeded the Stone Age, and we find
no traces of the intermediate Copper Age.
Bronze is a good substitute for copper. It is an alloy made up
of nine parts of copper and one of tin, and, being harder than
copper, is more suitable for the manufacture of tools and weapons.
We find accordingly that in some countries in Europe a Bronze
Age succeeded the Neolithic. Bronze implements of early date
have been found in India along with those of copper, but it does
not appear that that metal was ever generally used in India to
the exclusion of copper. In other words, there was, properly
speaking, no Bronze Age in India. _
With the Copper and Iron Ages we enter the limits of the histori-
cal period. It is a moot point to decide whether the period of the
Big-Veda — ^the earliest period of Indian history for which we
possess written documents — ^belongs to the former or to the latter
epoch. The general opinion is in favour of the view that the Iron
A^e had already commenced when the Big-Veda was composed.
Be that as it may, we have now a splendid example of the civilisa-
tion of the Copper Age. This civilisation flourished in the Indus
Valley and spread over the neighbouring regions to a considerable
distance. It is known as the Indus Valley civilisation and merits a
detailed treatment in view of its importance. But before taking
it up we must say a few words about the races of India.
Races
If we examine the people of India, both according to physical
type and language, we can easily distinguish four broad classes.
First, the majority of high-class Hmdus, who are tall, fair-
skinned and long-nosed and whose language is derived from
Sanslmt. These are known as Aryans or Indo- Aryans. _
Secondly, the people mostly living in the South Indian Penin-
sula whose features are somewhat different from those of the
first’ group and whose languages— Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese and
Malayalam-are entirely different from Sanskrit. These are called
by the generic name of “Dravidians’’. ^ nc
Thirdly, primitive tribes living in HUs and jungles who offer a
striking contrast to the fii'st category in physiol type, being
short in stature, dark-skimied and snub-nosed. Their languages
are also quite different from those of the preceding two. Ihe
Kols, Bhils and Mupdas belong to this class. ^ y •,
Fourthly, a people with strong Mongolian features, beard-
less, yellow in colour, snub-nosed, with flat faces and prominent
14
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
cheekbones. These mostly live on the slopes of the Himalayas and
mountains of Assam. The Gurkhas, Bhutiyas and KJiasis are
striking examples of this class. ■
The last two classes of people may be regarded as descendants
of the Neolithic peoples. We have already referred to the primitive
type of civilisation in the Neolithic Age, and it does not appear
that these peoples have made any appreciable progress during
the thousands of years that have elapsed since then.
There is hardly any doubt that these primitive races at one
time spread aU over India. But they had to yield to the superior
forces of the Dravidians, who gradually occupied some of their
lands. The same process was repeated when large tracts of the
country were conquered at a later time by the Aryans, The effect
of these successive invasions by more cultured races on the primitive
peoples was far-reaching. Many must have perished, and many
more, reduced to subjection, formed the lowest strata in the com-
munity of the conquerors, while a few bands were saved from a
similar fate by the shelter offered by fastnesses and jungles. This
last category alone has preserved, to a certain extent, the physical
features, the languages, and the habits of their remote ancestors,
offering us a fair glimpse of the sort of life they must have led
in times long gone by.
Philological researches have established a connection between
these Neolithic peoples of India and the primitive tribes that lived
in Indo-China, the Malay Peninsula and the Indian Archipelago.
The German scholar Schmidt, for example, holds that the
languages of the Mupdas and Khasis belong to the same family of
speech (called Austrie) from which those of the peoples of Indo-
China and Indonesia have been derived. According to this view,
these peoples, who were originally settled in India, “passed
gradually to the east and south-east and traversed, at first the
whole length of the Indo-Chinese peninsula, and then over all
the islands of the Pacific Ocean up to its eastern extremity'’.
Schmidt further believed that another current of emigration of
the same people also started from India, but turned more directly
towards the south and, touching only the western fringe of the
Pacific Ocean, proceeded, perhaps by way of New Guinea, towards
the continent of Australia.
According to Schmidt’s view, the Neolithic men of India |)layed
a dominant part in the early history of South-eastern Asia. But
his theory has already been challenged by other scholars and can
only be regarded as a provisional hypothesis.
THE PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD
15
The Indus Valley Civilisation
In recent years archaeological excavations have been carried
on at Mohenjo-Daro in the Larkana district, Sind, and at Harappa,
in the Montgomery district of the Punjab. These and smaller
trial excavations at various other sites in Sind and in Baluchistan
have proved beyond doubt that some five thousand years ago
a highly civilised community flourished in these regions. The
antiquity of civilisation in India is thus carried back nearly to
the same period which witnessed the growth of ancient civilisations
in Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia. The vaUey of the Indus
thus takes its rank with the valleys of the Nile, the Tigris, and
the Euphrates as having contributed to the most ancient phase of
human civilisation of which we are yet aware.
Unfortunately we have no written records about the Indus
vaUey civilisation comparable to those we possess in respect of
the others. A number of seals have certainly been discovered
with a few letters engraved on each, but these still remain
undeciphered. We are therefore totally ignorant of the political
histoty of the Indus valley and are not in a position to form an
adequate idea of its culture and civilisation. We possess, at best,
a vague and general idea of the subject which is entirely derived
from a careful examination of the objects unearthed at Mohenjo-
Daro and Harappa.
Mohenjo-Daro — ^Mound of the Dead — is the local name of
a high mound situated in the plains of Larkana in a narrow strip
of land between the main bed of the Indus river and the western
Nara canal. The surrounding region is wonderfully fertile and is
called even to-day Nakhlistan, or the “Garden of Sind”. Here
a city was built some five thousand years ago. This city was
successively destroyed and rebuilt no less than seven times, the
inundation of the Indus being perhaps the chief agency of destruc-
tion. The rebuilding did not always immediately follow the
destruction, but sometimes the city remained in rums for a con-
siderable period before a new city rose upon them. Thus, after the
foundation of the city, many centuries passed before it was finally
abandoned.
The ruins of this city have now been laid bare, and we shall
try to sum up what we have been able to learn about it and the
people wdio Lived therein.
MOHENJO'DABO. THE ©BEAT BATH
In addition to the numerous dwelling-houseB, wo find a few
spacious buildings of elaborate structure and design. Some of
these contain large pillared halls, one of them measuring 80 feot
square. The exact nature and purpose of these buildings cannot
be ascertained. They are thought to have been palaces, temples
or municipal halls.
The most imposing structure in the city is the Great Bath,
It consists of a large open quadrangle in the centre with galleries
and rooms on all sides. In the centre of the quadrangle is a large
swimming enclosure, 39 feet long, 23 feet wide and about 8 feet
deep. It has a flight of steps at either end and is fed by a well
The City
The city is fairly big. The dwelling-houses are many in number
and vary m size from a small building with two rooms to a palatial
structure havmg a frontage of 85 feet and a depth of 97 feet, with
outer walls four to fi.ve feet thick. They are made of bricks which
arc usually well burnt and of good quality. Sometimes very large
bricks, measuring 20| inches long, 10| inches broad and 3-| inches
thick, are used. The big houses have two or more storeys and
are furnished with paved floors and courtyards, doors, windows
and narrow stairways. It is specially noteworthy that almost
every house has wells, drains and bathrooms.
m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
r
i
THE PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD 17
situated in one of the adjoining rooms. The water is discharged
by a huge drain with a corbelled roof more than six feet in height.
The Great Bath is 180 feet long and 108 feet wide, and its outer
walls are about 8 feet thick. The solidity of the construction is
amply borne out by the fact that it has successfully withstood the
ravages of five thousand years.
Oopvnghi. ATctuBoloaical SuTvey oj InAia
LIMBSTONIC STATOT. MOHBJSTJO-DARO
The streets of the city are wide and' straight and are furnished
with an elaborate drainage system together vdth soak-pits for
sediment.
On the whole, the ruins leave no doubt that there was on this
site a large, populous and flourishing town whose inhabitants freely
enjoyed, to a degree unknown elsewhere in the ancient world, not
only the sanitary conveniences but also the luxuries and comforts
18 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OE INDIA
of a highly-developed municipal life. We must also conclude
that the art of building had reached a high degree of perfection.
The People
The ruins of Mohenjo-Daro tell us a great deal about the people
who lived in this luxurious city, and, as they afford us the first
comprehensive view of the culture and civilisation of India, we
must note the essential features of the social, economic and religious
condition under appropriate heads or items.
MOHENJO-DARO. JEWELLERY
Food. Wheat was the principal article of food, but barley and
palm-date were also familiar. They also used mutton, pork, fish
and eggs.
Dress and ornaments. Cotton fabrics were in common use, but
wool was also used, evidently for warm textiles. Ornaments wore
worn by both men and w^men of aU classes. Necklaces, fillets,
armlets, finger-rings and bangles were worn by both men and w^omen ;
and girdles, nose-studs, ear-rings and anklets by women alone.
There was great variety in the shape and design of these orna-
ments, and some of them are of singular beauty. These ornaments
were made of gold, silver, ivory, copper and both precious and semi-
precious stones like jade, crystal, agate, carnelian, and lapis lazuli.
THE PRE-HISTOKIC PERIOD
19
Household, articles. The earthenware vessels, of rich variety,
were made with the potter’s wheel and were either plain or painted.
In rare cases they were glazed. Vessels of copper, bronze, silver,
and porcelain were known, though very rarely used. It is important
to bear in mind that not a scrap of iron has been found, and that
metal was obviously unknown.
Among other articles of domestic use may be mentioned spindles
and spindle whorls made of baked earth, porcelain and shell ;
needles and combs, made of bone or ivory; axes, chisels, knives,
sickles, fishhooks and razors made of copper and bronze; small
cubical blocks of hard stone, probably used as weights.
The children’s toys included, in addition to familiar articles,
small wheeled carts and chairs, and we may easily infer that these
were used in actual life. The discovery of dice-pieces shows the
prevalence of that game.
Domesticated animals. The remains of skeletons prove that the
humped bull, the buffalo, sheep, elephant and camel were
domesticated. There are some doubts about the horse. The
carvings of dogs on children’s toys show that that animal was
also familiar.
Weapons of War. These include axes, spears, daggers, maces
and slings, with comparatively fewer specimens of bows and
arrows. The absence of swords is significant. Shields, helmets
or any other defensive armour are conspicuous by their absence.
The weapons of war, aU offensive in character, are usually made
of copper and bronze, though a few stone implements have also
been found.
Seals. More than five hundred seals have been discovered.
These are made of terra cotta and small in size. Some contain
fine representations of animal figures — both mythical and real —
engraved on them. All of them contain a short record inscribed
in a sort of pictorial writing which still remains undeciphered.
Fine Art. The representations of the animals carved on these
seals often exhibit a high degree of excellence. A few stone images
found at Harappa recall the finish and excellence of Greek statues
and show a high degree of development in the sculptor’s art.
Trade and Commerce. The seals were most probably used in
connection with trade. Indeed there is abundant evidence that
the people traded not only with other parts of India but also
with many countries of Asia. It is certain that they secured tin,
copper and precious stones from beyond India.
Arts and Crafts. Some aspects of the art and industry of the
early Indus people have been dealt with above. Agriculture must
20 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
have played an important part in the daily life of the common
people, and among other things wheat, barley and cotton were
cultivated on a large scale. Among the industrial classes, the
potter, the weaver, the carpenter, the mason, the blacksmith, the
goldsmith, the jeweller, the ivory- worker and stone-cutter were
the most important.
A great advance in technical knowdedge is indicated by the
potter’s wheel, kiln-burnt brick, the boring of hard substances
hke carnelian, and the casting and alloy of metals. A high aesthetic
sense is indicated by the beautiful designs of ornaments, the superb
relief figures on seals and the execution of fine stone statues.
Religion. The objects found at Mohenjo-Daro also teach us
somethmg about the religious faiths and beliefs of the people. The
SBAIi. MOHaSNJO-DAKO
Copyright. Archaeological Survey of India
cult of the Divine Mother seems to have been widely prevalent,
and many figurines of this Mother-Goddess have come to light.
This cult may not be exactly the same as the ^^alcti-^vorship of later
days, but the fundamental ideas appear to be the same, viz., tlu*.
belief in a female energy as the source of all creation.
Along with this, there was also a male-god who has been
identified as the prototype of the God ^iva. On one particular seal,
he seems to be represented as seated in the Yoga posture, surrouiKlecl
by animals. He has three visible fiices, and tw^o horns on tovo
sides of a tall head-dress. It is very interesting to note bow this
figure corresponds with, and to a certain extent ox plain.s, the
later conception of Siva. As is well known, Siva is rcgardc.d as
a MaMyogin, and is styled Padupati or the lord of boasi;.s, his
chief attributes being three eyes and the Triiula or tiio trident.
21
THE PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD
Now the apparent Fojya posture of the figure in, Mohenjo-Daro
justifies the epithet MaJidyogin, and the figures of animals
round him explain the epithet The three faces of
the figure may not be unconnected with the later conception of
three eyes, and the two horns with the tall head-dress might have
easily given rise to the conception of a trident with three
prongs.
The identification of the male-god with ^iva is further strength-
ened by the discovery of stone pieces which look exactly lilce a
Siva-linga, the form in which ^iva is almost universally worshipped
to-day.
In addition to the worship of ^iva and Sakti, both in human
and symbolic forms, we find the prevalence of that primitive
religious faith which we caU animism. It means worship of stones,
trees and animals in the belief that these are abodes of spirits,
good or evil. A natural corollary of this faith is the worship of
Nagas, Yakshas, etc., who are embodiments of these spirits. Clear
traces of all these are found at Mohenjo-Daro.
It is obvious, therefore, that modem Hinduism, which possesses
all the features mentioned above, was indebted, to a great extent,
to the .Tndus-valley culture. Indications of the existence of the
Blialdi cult (loving devotion to a personal God), and even of some
philosophical doctrine like Metempsychosis, have also been found
at Mohenjo-Daro, We must therefore hold that there is an organic
relationship between the ancient culture of the Indus valley and
the Hinduism of to-day.
General Goncluaiona
The study of the Indus- valley civilisation raises several interest-
ing problems of a general nature. In the first place it offers a
striking resemblance to the ancient civilisations in Sumer and
Mesopotamia proper. The developed city-life, use of the potter’s
wimel, kiln- burnt bricks, and vessels made of copper and bronze, and,
above all, the pictorial writings, are some of the common and
distinctive features of all the three civilisations of the pre-historic
jieriod. The discovery of two seals of the Mohenjo-Daro type in
lilam and Mesopotamia, and of a cuneiform inscription at Mohenjo-
Daro, leaves no doubt that there was intercourse between these
countries. The question therefore naturally arises, were these three
civilisations developed independently, or was any of them an
offshoot of the other? To put the same thing in another form,
did the civilisation spread from the Indus valley to the west or
vice versa'^ Or are we to a.ssnm0 that the growth of civilisation
22
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
in the Indus vaUey was uninfluenced in any way by the sister-
civilisations in the west?
These and connected questions cannot be answered definitely.
It will suffice to say that all the alternative hypotheses mentioned
above have their supporters and opponents.
The next question, and one of greater practical importance,
is the relationship of the Indus-valley culture with the Vedic
civilisation of the Indo-Aryans, which is usually regarded as the
source from which issued all the subsequent civilisations in India.
On the face of it there are striking differences between the two.
The Vedic Arya,ns were largely rural, while the characteristic
features of the Indus-yalley civilisation are the amenities of a
developed city life. The former probably knew of iron and defensive
armour, which are totally absent in the latter. The horse played
an eminent part in the Vedic civilisation, but its early existence
is doubted in the Indus valley. There were also important differ-
ences in respect of religious beliefs and practices. The Vedio
Aryans worshipped the cow while the Indus people reserved their
veneration for buUs. Not only do the Mother-Goddess and Siva,
the chief deities of the Indus valley, play but a minor part in the
early Feda, but the latter, according to some interpreters, defin-
itely condemns phallic worship. The worship of images was familiar
in the Indus valley, but almost unknown to the Vedic Aryans.
In view of these striking dissimilarities, the Indus-valley oivilisa.
tion is usually regarded as different from and anterior to the culture
of the Vedic period. This also fits in well with the generally accepted
chronological scheme. For, as noted above, the Indus-valley
civilisation goes back to the third millennium B.C., while the date
usually assigned to the Rig-Veda does not go beyond the second
millennium b.o. But some would place the Vedic civilisation
before that of the Indus valley and shift the date of the Rig-Veda
to a period before 3000 b.o.
The question is not indeed free from difficulties. While the points
of difference would undoubtedly incline us to the view that the
Tndus-vaUey civilisation and Vedic civilisation represent two
different types of culture, the arguments for the j»riority of the
one to the other are not conclusive. The reference to iron in the
Jiig-V eda wouldi have indeed been a very strong argnmont for
relegating the Vedic civilisation to a later period, but this is at best-
doubtful, As regards the other points, the data are not established
sufficiently well to warrant a definite conclusion. On the whole,
however, the priority of the Indus-valley civilisation appears to
be more probable, and at present holds the field.
THE PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD
23
Be that as it may, there is not the least doubt that we can no
longer accept the view, now generally held, that Vedic civilisation
is the sole foundation of aU subsequent civilisations in India. That
the Indus-valley civilisation described above has been a very
important contributory factor to the growth and development of
civilisation in this country admits of no doubt.
Lastly, there is the question of the race of the people among
whom the Indus-vaUey civilisation grew. The preceding discussion
would prepare us for some of the replies that have been given.
Some hold that they were the same as the Sumerians, while others
hold that they were Dravidians. Some again beheve that these
two were identical. According to this view, the Dravidians at one
time inhabited the whole of India, including the Punjab, Sind
and Baluchistan, and gradually migrated to Mesopotamia. The
fact that the Dravidian language is stiU spoken by the Brahui
people of Baluchistan is taken to lend strength to this view.
There is also a theory that the “Indus ” people were Aryans, but
this at present finds but few supporters. It is impossible to come to
any definite conclusion on this point, and there is always the
possibility that the people of the Indus valley might have belonged
to an altogether separate race.
CHAPTER III
THE EAELY VEDIO AGE
Early Aryan Settlements
India, as is weU known, derives its name from the Sindhu (Indus),
and the earliest civilisation of this country of which we have any
definite trace had its cradle in the vaUey of the same river. We
have seen in the last chapter that excavations at several places
in the lower part of the vaUey have laid bare the ruins of well-
built cities, and seals surprisingly similar to those discovered at
Eshnunna, Elish and Ur in Mesopotamia, and assigned by arch®-
ologists to the third millennium B.c,, have been found. The
identity of the originators of this early Indus culture is uncertain.
They appear to have professed a religion that was iconic and laid
emphasis on the worship of the Mother-Goddess and a male deity
who seems to have been the prototype of Siva. The phallic cult
was prevalent, but fire-pits were conspicuous by their absence.
Far different is the picture of another civilisation wdich had its
principal home higher up the Indus vaUey. The people who evolved
this culture called themselves Ary as or Aryans. Their earliest
literature makes no reference to life in stately cities comparable
to those whose remains have been unearthed at Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro. Their religion was normally aniconio,^ and in their
pantheon the female element was subordinated to the male, and
the place of honour was given to deities like Indra, Varuna, Mitra,
the Nasatyas, Surya, Agni (Fire) and other supernal beings who
seem to have been quite unknown to the originators of the
“Indus” culture as described in the last chapter. Unfortunately,
the early literature of this remarkable people — called the Veda
— cannot be dated even approximately, and it is impossible to say
with absolute precision in what chronological relation the civilisa-
tion portrayed in the Veda stood to the “Indus” culture of the
third millennium b.c. Max Muller hesitatingly placed the beginning
of the Vedic literature in the latter half of the second millennium
B.c. Tilak and Jacobi, on the other hand, tried to push the date
^ i.e. in which images played no part.
THE EARLY VEDIO AGE
25
mucli farther back on astronomical grounds. But, as pointed out
by several Indologists, astronomical calculations prove nothing
unless the texts in question admit of unambiguous interpretation.
Tiiak liimself points out how unsafe it is to act upon calculations
based on loose statements in literature regarding the position of
the heavenly bodies.
In the chaotic state of early Aryan chronology, it is a welcome
relief to turn to Asia Minor and other cohntries in Western Asia
and find in certain tablets of the fourteenth century b.o., discovered
at Boghaz Keui and other places, references to kings who bore
Aryan names and invoked the gods Indra, Mitra, Varuna and the
Nasatyas to v/itness and safeguard treaties. It is certain that the
tablets belong to a period in the evolution of the Aryan rehgion
when Indra, Varupa, and the other gods associated with them,
still retained their early Vedic pre-eminence, and had not yet
been thrown into the shade by the Brahmapic Prajdpati or the
epic and Puraific Trimurti.
Did the worshippers of Indra go from an earlier home in the
Indus valley to Asia Minor or was the process just the reverse
of this? In this coimection it is interesting to note that in one
passage of the liig-Veda a worshipper invokes from his pratna
okas, or ancient abode, the god Indra whom his ancestors formerly
invoked. We are also told that Yadu and Turva§a, two among
the most famous Rig- Vedic tribes, were brought by Indra from
a distant land. The former is in several passages brought into
special relation with Padu or Pariu, a name borne by the ancient
peoxfie of Persia. The latter took part in a conflict with a king who
is styled a PdrtJiava. The contest is thus described in the Big- Veda :
“Favouring Abhyavartin, the son of Chayamana, Indra
destroyed the race of Vara^ikha, killing the descendants of
Vrichivat (who were stationed) on the Hariyupiya, on the
eastern part, whilst the western (troop) was scattered through
fear.
“Indra, the invoked of many, thirty hundred mailed warriors
(wore collected) together on the Yavyavati, to acquire glory,
but the Vrichivats advancing hostilely, and breaking the sacri-
ficial vessels, wont to (their own) annihilation.
“He whose bright prancing horses, delighted with choice
fodder, proceed between (heaven and earth) gave uj) Turvasa
to Srifijaya,-, subjecting the Vrichivats to the descendants of
Devavata (Abhyavartin).
“Tiie opulent supreme sovereign Abhyavartin, the son of
26
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
Cliayamana, presents, Agni, to me two damsels riding in cars,
and twenty cows: this donation of the Parthava cannot be
destroyed.”
We have in the above passage an account of a great struggle
in which the Turva^as, whom Indra had brought from a distant
country, apparently took part on behalf of a local foBs; known as
the VricMvats, The Turva^as were abandoned by their deity, who
granted victory to the Srinjayas, apparently led by a prince who
is styled a Parthava, a name that reminds us of Iran and is com-
parable to Pariu mentioned in connection with the Yadus. If
the name Hariyupiyd, which is the designation of a river or a
city according to the commentators, and is associated vdth the
mysterious people called VricMvats who “broke the sacrificial
vessels”, can be connected with Harappa, as has already been
suggested by some, we have here an interesting glimpse of a period
when that great centre of early Indus civilisation formed a battle-
ground of fierce invaders exulting in the worship of Indra, clad
in coats of mail (varminah) and possessed of “prancing horses”,
both of which the warriors of the lower Indus culture possibly
acked.
The Indra-worshipping tribes seem to have been divided into
two rival groups. One of these included the Srinjayas and their
allies the Bharatas, both lauded by the priestly family of the
Bharadvajas. To the other group belonged the Yadus, Turva^as,
Druhyus, Anus and Purus who are found frequently in alliance
with indigenous tribes. The first two tribes of the second group
are branded as Ddsas in one passage of the Rig -Veda, and of the
remaining three, the Purus are styled mridhravdchah, “of hostile
speech”, an epithet otherwise applied only to the non- Aryan
Dasyus.
Distinct from both these Indra-w^orshipping groups were the» ,
Ddsas proper or Dasyus, a dark-skinned, flat-nosed race who s])oke
a tongue unintelligible to the Aryans, possessed fori.s and herds
of cattle coveted by the new-comers, despised the sacrifi<jial religion
of the latter and possibly worshipped the phallus. This lati(?r
characteristic connects them with the men who evolved the ju-c-
historic civilisation of the lower Indus valley.
It may be that the folk {jana) of the Bharatas represents an
Aryan stock altogether different from that of the Yadu group.
The memory of the migration of the Bharatas ivS not distinctly
preserved in any of the hymns, while Yadus and Turvasas are
expressly mentioned as new arrivals. In the Rig-Veda Bharata
THE EARLY VEDIC AGE
27
princes are found sacrificing on the Drishadvati, the Sarasvati and
the Apaya, all rivers in the western part of the Madhya-de^a, far
away from the north-west frontier. It is interesting to note that
they are specially associated with the cult of Agni, the Eire-God,
a deity conspicuous by his absence in the Boghaz Keui records of
the fourteenth century b.o., and of whose worship no traces are
found in the early ruins of Mohenjo-Daro.
The Bharatas were at first admittedly inferior to their foes and
were “shorn of their possessions, like the staves for driving cattle,
stripped of their leaves and branches : but Vasishtha became their
family priest, and the people of the Tritsus prospered”. Tritsu
seems to have been the name of the ruling dynasty of the Bharatas,
the most famous representatives of which were Divodasa and
his son or grandson Sudas.
Opposed to the Tritsus and the allied tribe of the Srinjayas
stood the Yadus, Turva^as, Druhyus, Anus and Purus. The first
two tribes figure as enemies of Divodasa, and appear to have
pushed their conquest as far as the Sarayu, which may be the
river of the same name in Oudh, although the possibility of its
being a river in Iran cannot altogether be excluded. The Druhyus
are connected by tradition with the people of Gandhara — the
Gandharis, who are mentioned in a Jdig-Yedic passage as famous
for their sheep and wool, and who occupied the territory round
modern Peshawar. The Anus are closely associated with the
Druhyus, while the Purus are found along with their enemies, the
Bharatas, on the banlts of the Sarasvati, though settlements in
the western Punjab are also known.
It is clear that the Bharatas and their allies did not like the
idea of being permanently “shorn of their possessions” by their
enemies. The result was that the two rival groups of tribes engaged
in a deadly struggle with one another. In one of these contests
the Srinjayas scattered the forces of the Turvasas and their allies
the Vrichivats. In another and a more famous conflict, known
as the Battle of the Ten Kings, Sudas, the Tritsu king, defeated
the hostile tribes, who were joined on the river Parushpi by the
Slvas, Pakthas and associate tribes from the north-west. The
Bharatas now definitely established their pre-eminence among the
Aryan folks, and a late Vedic text — ^the ^ata'patha BrdJimana —
refers to an old gdthd which describes “the greatness of the Bharatas
neither the men before nor those after them attained”.
More important than the internal conflicts of the Aryans were
their struggles with the non-Aryans, which gradually led to a
considerable extension of the Aryan dominion towards the east.
28
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
To Divodasa belongs the credit of fighting against a Ddsa
chieftain named ^ambara. His policy was continued by Sixdas who
crushed a hostile combination of indigenous tribes on the banks of
the Jumna. Under the guidance of a priest named Vi^vamitra, the
Bharatas even seem to have entertained designs against the
KikataSj a non-Aryan people traditionally associated with South
Bihar. In the campaign against the Ddsas, the Bharatas
were ably seconded by their rivals the Purus, one of whose kings
bore the significant name of Trasadas3m, i.e. “terror to the
Dasyus”.
The geographical area eventually occupied by the Rig-Vedic
tribes is clearly indicated by the mention of certain rivers which
permit of easy identification. The most important among these
are the Kubba (Kabul), the Suvastu (Swat), the Krumu (Kurram),
the Gomatl (Gumal), the Sindhu (Indus), the Su.shoma (Sohaii),
the Vitasta (Jhelum), the Asikni (Ohenab), the Marudvridha
(Maruw'ardwan), the Parushpi (Ravi), the Vipa^ (Bias), the Sutudri
(Sutlej), the Sarasvati, the Drishadvati (the Rakshi or Chitang),
the Jumna, the Ganga, and the Sarayu. The mention of these
rivers implies the possession by the ilryans of a considerable
portion of the country stretching from eastern Afghanistan to the
upper valley of the Ganges. The major part of this area came to be
kno\TO as Sapta Sindhu — ^the land of the Seven Rivers. The
whole of this extensive tract of land could not have been occupied
entirely by Aryan tribes, because we hear also of the clans ( Vikih)
of the Ddsas who must have occupied some part at least of this
territory, and whose supersession in any case must have been a
slow and gradual process. Moreover, vast tracts of country were
still covered with forest {aranydni) or were altogether barren,
containing only a few wells (prapd) here and there.
Political Organisation of the Rig-Vedic Aryans
The basis of the political and social organisation of the Rig-
Vedic people was the patriarchal family. The higher units were
styled grama, vU and jana, and in some rare jxassages we o\'en
hear of aggregates of janas. The precise relationship between the
grama, the vii and th&gana is nowhere distinctly stated. Sometimes
the words seem to have been used almost synonymously. The
Bharatas, for example, are described in one passage as VUah
(people) of the Tritsus, and in another text the jana (folk) of the
Bharatas is styled thei grama (horde) seeking cows. That the grama
was normally a smaller unit than either the vU or tho jana appears
THE EARLY VEDIC AGE
29
probable from the fact that the grdmam, the leader of the grama
(horde or village), who is usually a V-aiiya, is clearly inferior to the
lord of the viS (vispati) or the protector (gopd) of the jana, who is
often the king himself.
It is more difficult to say in what relationship the vU stood to
the jana. In some Vedic passages there is a clear contrast between
the two, and Iranian analogies seem to suggest that the vis is a
sub-division of a jana, if the latter may be taken as a parallel to
the Iranian Zantu. It is also to be noted that the Bharatas are
referred to as a single jana, but when the word vU is used in refer-
ence to them, we have the plural VUdh possibly pomting to the
existence of a plurality of such units.
The prevailing form of government among the Rig-Vedic tribes
was monarchical. But names applied in later ages to non-mon-
archical communities were also known. We have references to
the gana with the gawpati or jyeshtha (elder) at its head. The
mention of the term jyeshtha, which corresponds to jeUhalca of the
Pali texts, possibly points to some sort of organisation parallel to
that of the well-known tribal republics of early Buddhist times, hi
The Rig-Vedic state {rddhtra) seems, however, to have been nor-
mally ruled by a potentate styled rdjan (king) who was “without
a rival and a destroyer of rivals”. Kingship was usually hereditary.
Thus the Purus and the Tritsus, two among the most famous of
the Rig-Vedic clans, had as their rulers djmasties of princes, some
of whose names are recorded in the RiJc-Samhitd. Elective monarchies
were perhaps not altogether unknown, though the Rig-Veda has
no clear reference to them. In the Atharva Veda and the Great
Epic, however, we have several explicit references to the election
of the rdjan to the kingship by the people, and in the Rig-Veda
itself the need of the people’s approval, if sovereignty is to be
steady and unvacillating, is emphasised in the consecration hymns.
In addition to the title rdjan we come across the designation
samrdt, which in later times undoubtedly meant a paramount
ruler. In the Rig-Veda, however, there is no trace of any terrestrial
kingship of the Mauryan or Gupta type, though the idea of a
universal monarch {vUvasya bhuvatiasya rdjd) is met with.
The rdjan occupied a position of pre-eminence in the tribe. He
wvas formally consecrated to kingship and was marked out from
the commonalty by his shining robes and the splendid palace
where he lived, surrounded by his officers and retainers and lauded
by priests and singers.
The foremost duty of the king was the protection of the tribe
and the tribal territory. He fought against external enemies.
30
m ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
He employed spies (spaSa) to watch over the conduct of the people
who were apparently punished when they went wrong. He had
to maintaia a body of priests who performed the sacred rites and
received a contribution (bali) from the people. The king was
assisted by a number of functionaries of whom the most important
was the Purohita or chaplain. The Purohita not only gave advice
to the ruler, but used his spells and charms to secure the success
of his patron’s arms and lauded his exploits when victory was won.
Another important official was the Sendnl or the leader of the
army. About the organisation of the Send or army which he led,
our information is meagre. It must have included foot soldiers,
later called Patti, as well as Bathins or warriors v/ho fought from
chariots. “Prancing horses” are also alluded to in certain battle
songs. But the use of the elephant in war was as yet uncommon.
Warriors of noble descent wore coats of mail, metal helmets, and
hand-guards. The chief offensive weapon was the bow. Two
kinds of arrows were used ; one was poisoned and had a head of
horn; the other was copper or iron-headed {ayomulcham). Spears,
swords and axes are also mentioned. We have also reference to
the pur charishnu or moving fort which may have been an engine
for assaulting strongholds. Banners were used in war, and mu.sical
instruments are mentioned.' The army may have been divided
into units termed dardha, vrdta and gam, but the matter is obscure.
Kulapas or heads of families fought under the banner of the
Vrdjapati, who is sometimes identified with the Ordmanl. The
latter functionary was probably the head of the village both for
civil and military purposes. Forts or strongholds were under the
Purpati. The Vedic king had a system of espionage and also
employed dutas or messengers.
The rdjan, though the lord of the people, did not govern witli-
out their consent. The business of the tribe was carried out in a
popular assembly styled Satniti, at which princes and people were
alike present. We have also references to another body, turned
Sablid, which some regard as a Council of Elders. Otliers think
it was a village assembly or the place of meeting which also sorvod
as a centre for social gatherings. Certain passages of tlio llig- Vedn
seem to connect the SabJtd with the men of wealth, opulence and
goodly form, and this lends countenance to the view that in the
main it functioned as a Council of Elders rather than an asHombly
of the whole tribe. Women at any rate were, according to a later
Vedic text, excluded jErom the The SabM gave dedsions
regarding matters of public moment and, in later literature, figures
prominently in connection with the administration of justice.
THE EARLY VEDIC AGE
31
Social Life
Xt has already been stated that the foundation of the political
and social structure in the Rig-Vedic age was the family. The
members of a family lived in the same house. Houses in this age
were presumably built of wood or reed. In every house there was a
fireplace {agnUdld), besides a sitting-room and apartments for the
ladies. The master of the house was called grihapati or dampati.
He was usually kind and affectionate, but occasional acts of
cruelty are recorded. Thus we have the story of a father who
blinded his son for his extravagance.
Eamilies being patrihneal, people prayed for abundance of sons.
The birth of daughters was not desired, but once bom they were
treated with kindness and consideration. Their education was not
neglected, and some of them lived to compose hymns and rise
to the rank of seers like Vi§avara, Ghosha and Apala. Girls were
given in marriage when they attained full development. Marriage
for love as weU as for money was known. Weddings were celebrated
in the house of the bride’s parents. Ordinarily a man married but
one wife. Polygamy was, however, practised, but not polyandry.
Remarriage of widows was permitted. ^Women were not inde-
pendent persons in the eye of the law, and had to look to their
male relations for aid and support. Their position in the house-
hold was one of honour. The term dampati is sometimes used to
designate the mistress as well as the master of the house. The
wife participated in the religious offerings of the husband and was
the queen of his home. There is no evidence in the Big- Veda of the..,,-
seclusion of women, and ladies trooped to festal gatherings “decked,
shining forth wdth sunbeams
Particular attention was paid to dress and adornment. The
Vedic costume seems to have consisted of three parts — an under-
garment styled nivi, a garment called vdsa or paridhdna and a
mantle styled adhivdsa, atka or drdpi. The clothes were of different
hues and were made of cotton, deer skin or wool. Garments were
often embroidered with gold. The use of gold ornaments and of
floral wreaths was common, especially on festive occasions. Both
the sexes wore turbans. The hak was worn long and combed.
The long locks of women were folded in broad plaits.
The daily fare of the Vedic household consisted mainly of
parched grain, cakes {apupa), mflk and its various products such
as curd and butter, and many sorts of vegetables and fruits. The
use of animal food was common, especially at the great feasts and
family gatherings. The slaying of the cow was, however, gradually
32
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
looked upon with disfavour as is apparent from the name aghnyd
(not to be killed) applied to it in several passages. Curiously
enough, we have no reference to the use of salt in the Mg- Veda.
Drinking water was obtained not only from rivers and springs
{utsa), but also from avatas or artificial wells from wliioli. it was
raised by a wheel of stone and poured into buckets of wood.
Reference is also made to more exhilarating drinks such as Sonia
and Surd.., The former was the juice of a famous plant that grew
on mountains, especially on the Muyavat peak of the Himalayas.
It was identical with the Haoma of the Avesta. Its use was
restricted to religious ceremonies. On the other hand Surd was
an ordinary intoxicating drink, the use of which, was condemned
in later ages.
The favourite amusements of the more virile classes were racing,
hunting and the war-dance. The chariot-race was extremely
popular and formed an important element of the sacrifice celebrated
in later times as the Vdjapeya. No less popular was hunting. The
animals hunted were the lion, the elephant, the wild boar, the
buffalo, and deer. Birds also were hunted. Another favourite
pastime was dicing, which frequently entailed considerable loss
to the gamester. Among other amusements, mention may be
made of boxing, dancing and music. Women in particular loved
to display their skill in dancing and singing to the accompaniment
of lutes and cymbals. Lute-players played an important part in
the development of the epic in later ages.
The Vedie singers loved to dwell on the joys of life and seldom
referred to death except in the case of enemies. When a man died,
he was either cremated or buried. The burning of widows does
not appear to have been prevalent.
The Vedic Kulas or families were grouped into larger units in
the formation of which Varna (colour) and Sdjdtya (kinship) played
an important part. From the beginning, the white-lmed (hitnya)
Aryan invaders were marked out from their dark-skinned opjKjnenis,
who were called ddsa, dasyu or ivdra. In tlie Aryan community
itself men of kingly family {rdjanya or Icshatra) and dc.scondanls
of priests {Brdlimarias) were clearly distinguished from tixo <;oTnmon
free men, the vii. The quadruple division of society is mentiotuHl
in some of the earlier hymns, but it makes its foniud aj)|)earau(:o
in the Purushasukta which seeks to explain the existing divisions
by adumbrating the theory that “when they divhlod ilio ] primeval
being [Purusa) the Brdhma'm his mouth, iho Jidjanya Ix^eanu?
his arms, the was his thighs, and from his feet sprang the
Sudra8^\
THE EARLY VEDIO AGE
33
The social divisions mentioned here have their parallel in other
Indo-European communities. But it is important to remember
that in the hymns of the Rig-Veda there is little trace of the rigid
restrictions typical of caste in its mature form. There was hardly
any taboo on intermarriage, change of occupation or commensahty.
We have instances of marriages of BrahTtiamts with Bdjanya women,
and of the union of Arya and ^udra. Families were not wedded to
a particular profession. “I am,” says the author of a hymn, “a
poet, my father is a doctor, and my mother is a grinder of corn.
With our different views, seeking after gain, we run, as after cattle.”
There was no ban on the taking of food cooked by the Sudras, and
there is no evidence that impurity was communicated by the touch
or contact of the inferior castes.
The rigid restrictions with regard to occupation, comraensality,
etc., originated, according to recent writers, not with the Aryans
but with the totemistic proto-Australoid and the Austro-Asiatic
inhabitants of pre-Dravidian India who dreaded the magical
effects of the practice of strange crafts and the taking of tabooed
food. A taboo on intermarriage is also traced to a similar source.
The Aryan invader, with his ideas about colour and hypergamy,
simply crystallised and perpetuated a system which was already
in existence and was based on the taboo arising from magical
ideas. Other factors, geographieal, economic, and religious, have
had their share ia later developments.
In later ages, a member of each of the three higher castes, who
wished to lead an ideal life, had to pass through the rigorous
discipline of the Airamas or the four stages of life. First he was
a hrahmachdrin or Vedic student vowed to chastity, then a grihastha
or married householder, next a vdTiaprastha or forest hermit, and
finally a sanyiydsin, that is, an ascetic who had renounced the world.
The germ of the system of Airama is already met with in the Vedic
hymns. Besides the grihapati, we have reference to the brdhmachdrin
as well as the muni. The hrahmachdrin practised self-restraint and
studied the sacred lore. “The master recited the texts and the
disciple repeated them after him as frogs croak one after another.”
The munis are described as “long-haired, some were wind- clad,
others wore a soiled garment of brown colour and led a life of
wandering”.
Economic Life
The Rig-Vedic Aryans were mostly scattered in villages. The
word nagara (city) does not occur in the hymns. We find indeed
mention of purs wliich were occasionally of considerable size and
34
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
were sometimes made of stone {asmamayl) or of iron {dyasl). Some
were furnished with a hundred walls (databhuji). But the purs
were in aU probability rather ramparts or forts than cities, and
served as places of refuge, particularly in autumn, as is suggested
by the epithet Sdradl applied to them in some passages. It is
significant that, unlike the later texts, the JRig-Yeda makes no
clear mention of individual cities like Asandivat or Kampila.
Regarding the organisation of the village we have a few details.
There was an official styled the Ordmanl who looked after the
affairs of the village, both civil and military. We have also refer-
ence to a functionary called Vrdjapati who may have been identical
with the Qramanl, and who led to battle the various Kulapas or
heads of families.
Homestead and arable lands in the village appear to have been
owned by individuals or families, while grass lands {khilya) were
probably held in common.
Agriculture was the principal occupation of the village foUi:.
The importance of the art of tilling is clearly brought out by the
name Krishti or Charshani (agriculturist) which is applied to people
in general, and in particular to the five principal tribes into which
the early Vedic community was divided. Cultivated fields were
known as Urvard or Kshetra. They were often watered by irrigation
canals. The use of manure was also known. The grain grown on
he soil was styled dhdna or yava, but the exact significance
of these terms in the earliest literature is not known. In later
times they meant rice and barley. When ripe, they were cut
with a sickle, tied in bundles and threshed on the floor of the
granary. They were next winnowed, ground m the mill and made
into cakes (apupa).
The rearing of cattle and other domestic animals was scarcely
less important than agriculture. Cows were held in much esteem,
and milk, as we have seen, formed an important part of the dietary
in the Vedic household. Herds of cattle W'ere daily led to the
pasture by the gopa (cowherd). The valley of the Yammid wji.s
especially famous for its wealth of kine. The marldng of tlui ears
of cattle was a common practice, as is showm by the use of the
expression aahtakarnl (having pierced ears or having tlie sign of
8 marked on the ear) to mean a cow.
Other useful animals were the draught-ox, the horse, the dog,
the goat and the sheep. The ewes of the land of Gantihara w'ore
famous for their wool.
Though mainly an agricultural and pastoral people, the Vedic
tribes were not indifferent to trade and industry. Commerce
THE EARLY VEDIC AGE
35
was largely in the hands of a people styled Pani, who were probably
non-Aryans and whose niggardliness was proverbial, but amongst
them we have reference also to bountiful merchants like Bribu.
Trade probably consisted mainly of barter. The chief articles' of
trade, Judging by the evidence of the later Samhitds, were clothes,
coverlets and skins. The standard unit of value was the cow,
but necklets of gold {nishha) also served as a means of exchange.
Whether nishJcas in the early period possessed all the characteristic
marks of a regular coinage, is a highly debatable question. No gold
coin of the old indigenous type has yet been discovered in India,
but the transition to the use of coined money was clearly prepared <
^by the nishha, which was a piece of metal that came to possess
a definite weight, if not the hall-mark of State authority. We
have also in the Rig-Veda, in an enumeration of gifts, reference
to the golden mand which some authorities identify with the
old Babylonian weight-unit, the manah (Latin Mina).
The principal means of transport by land were chariots {ratha)
and wagons {anas), the former usually drawn by horses and the
latter by oxen. The epithet patAi-Zcni, “path-maker”, applied to
the Fire-God, suggests that the services of the deity were frequently
requisitioned to burn the primeval forests, infested by wild animals
and haunted by highwajmen {taskara, stand), to make roads for
the use of travellers and merchants.
A great controversy has centred round the question as to
whether marine navigation was practised in Rig-Vedic times.
Accordmg to one view, navigation was limited to the crossing
of rivers in boats, but we have undoubted references to navigators
sailing in ships with a hundred oars. In the story of the ship-
wTeck of Bhujyu, mention is made of the Samudra, “which giveth
no support, or hold, or station”. Some think that Samudra means
no more than the stream of the Indus in its lower course. Others
regard the story as a matter of hearsay knowledge gathered from
travellers, but acquaintance with the' sea is rendered probable
by references to the “treasures of the deep”. If the identification
of the Vedic mand -with the Babylonian manah is correct, we
have indubitable testimony to a very early intercourse between
Vedic India and distant lands beyond the seas.
Of the industries of the Rig-Vedic period, those of the wood-
worker, the metal-worker, the tanner, the weaver and the potter
deserve special mention. The wood-worker or carpenter not only
made chariots, wagons, houses and boats, but showed his skill
in carved work of a finer type such as artistic cups. The metal-
worker or smith fashioned all sorts qf weapons, implements and
36 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
ornamenta from various kinds of metal including gold and the
mysterious ayas, which some authorities take to mean copper
or bronze while others favour the sense of iron. Workers in leather
made water-casks, bow-strings, sHngs and hand-guards for the
protection of the archers. Weavers included men as well as women.
The latter showed their skill in sewing, weaving and the plaiting
of mats from grass or reeds. The potter {Kuldla) also plied his
craft for the benefit of the people.
Arts and Sciences
The art of poetry was in full bloom as is evidenced by the splendid
collection of lyrics known as the Bik-Samhitd which consists of
hymns in praise of different gods. The number of hjmms is 1,017.
These are grouped into books termed ashtakas or man^las contain-
ing eight and ten hymns respectively, which were recited by priests
styled Tiotria or reciters. The old hymns are chiefly to be found in
the so-caUed Family Books (II-VII), each of which is ascribed
by tradition to a particular family of seers {rishis). Their names
are Gritsamada, Vi^vamitra, Vamadeva, Atri, Bharadvaja and
Vasishtha. Book VIII is ascribed to the Kanvas and Angirases.
Book IX is dedicated to Soma. The latest parts of the collection
are to be found in Books I and X, which, however, contain some
old hymns as well.
Fine specimens of lyric poetry are to be found among the Rig-
Vedic hymns, notably in those addressed to the Goddess of the
Dawn.
“The radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white
splendour like the waves of waters.
She maketh paths all easy, fair to travel and ricli, hath shown
herself benign and friendly.
We see that thou art good: far shines thy lustre; thy beams,
thy splendours have flown up to heaven.
DecMng thyself, thou makest bare thy bosom, shining in
majesty, thou Goddess Morning.”
A knowledge of the art of writing has been deduced from refcr-
ences to ashtakarnl cows, where the epithet ashta-karnl is inter-
preted to mean “having the sign for the number 8 marked on
the ear”. But the expression admits of other interpretations.
The prevailing view has been that the Rig-Vedic people did not
possess the art of writing, and that the old script in which the
THE EARLY VEDIC AGE
37
inscriptions of ASoka and his successors are written goes back to
a Semitic, and not Vedic Aryan, origin. Writing was no doubt
practised by the pre-historic people of the Indus valley who
developed the ancient culture of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, but
it is significant that the early literature of the Aryans was trans-
mitted orally.
Architecture made some advance in Rig-Vedic India. There are
references to mansions supported by a thousand columns and
provided with a thousand doors. Mention is also made of stone
castles and structures with a hundred walls. Allusions to images
of Indra possibly point, according to some, to the beginnings of
sculpture.
The medical art of the age distinguished quite a number of
diseases. But the physician (bMshaj) was still a fiend-slayer as
well as a healer of disease, and charms and spells were regarded
as equally efficacious with healing herbs and drugs. The use of
iron legs as a substitute for natural ones points, however, to some
advance in surgery. The science of astronomy made definite
progress, and certain stars had already been observed and named.
Religion
The early Vedic religion has been designated by the name of
henotheism or kathenotheism — a belief in single gods, each in
turn standing out as the highest. It has also been described as
the worship of Nature leading up to Nature’s God. The chief
deities of the earlier books owe their origin to the personification
of natural phenomena. Abstract deities like Dhdtri, the Bstablisher ;
VidJidtri, the Ordainer ; Viivaharmany the All-Creating, and Prajd-
pati, the Lord of Creatures , Sraddhd, Faith ; Manyu, Wrath, make
their appearance at a later stage. Besides the higher Gods, lauded
by priests, we have reference to others whose worship was not
countenanced in orthodox circles. Some scholars find in the
hymns traces of the cult of the Ungay and even of Krishna. Mention
is made in this connection of the ^i^nadevaSy “worshippers of the
phallus”, the i^ivas who opposed the Indra- worshippmg Tritsus,
and a foe of Indra named Krishna who lived on the banks of the
Am^umati. But SUmdeva ta taken by some to mean simply
“incontinent”. The Siva opponents of the Tritsus appear to have
been a tribe, not a religious sect, and ^iva occurs as an epithet
of the god Rudra worshipped by the Vedic priests. The Krishna
mentioned in Rig-Vedic hymns can hardly be identified with his
epic and Puramc namesake, as the river with which he is
38 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
associated in the Rig-Veda is not the Jumna but some stream in
the Kuru country, as we learn from the Brihadd&vatd.
Father Dyaus (Zeus, Diespiter), the Shining God of Heaven,
and Mother Prithim, the Barth Goddess, are among the oldest
of the Vedic deities, but the hymns scarcely reflect their former
greatness. They have been cast into the shade by Varuna, the
Encompassing Sky, and Indra, the God of Thunder and Rain.
Varuiia is the most sublime deity of the early Vedic pantheon.
He bears the epithet Asura (Avestan Ahura) and he is the great
upholder of physical and moral order, ^ita, the idea of which is
at least as old as the fourteenth century e.o,, as we learn from
inscriptions mentioning the names of the Mitanni kings. To
Varuua people turned for forgiveness of sin just as they did to
Vishpu in a later age.
“If we have sinned against the man who loves us, have ever
wronged a brother, friend, comrade,
The neighbour ever with us, or a stranger, 0 Varupa, remove
from us the trespass.
“0 Varuna, whatever the offence may be which we as men
commit against the heavenly host,
When through our want of strength we violate thy laws,
punish us not, O God, for that iniquity.”
The worship of Varupa, with its consciousness of sin and trust
in the divine forgiveness, is undoubtedly one of the first roots
of the later doctrine of Bhakti.
If Varupa is the sovereign of the Universe and the guardian
of the moral laws, Indra is the puissant God of war, the lightning'
wielder, who
“ . . . slew the serpent, then discharged the waters,
And cleft the caverns of the lofty mountains”,
“ . . . made aU earthly things unstable,
Who humbled and dispersed the Daaa colour,
Who, as the player’s stake the winning gambler,
The foemen’s fortune gains. ...”
Indra came to occupy the chief place among the Vedic gods,
while Varupa receded to the background and became merely the
Lord of Waters, a sort of Indian Neptune.
Closely connected with Varupa is Mitra, the friend, the personi-
fication of the sun’s beneficent agency, and the two belonged to
the class of deities styled Aditya, sons of Aditi, the Goddess of
THE EARLY VEDIC AGE
39
Eteraity. Other important deities of the upper realm of light
are Surya, the lUuminator; Savitri, the Enlivener; Pushan, the
Nourisher; Vishnu Uruhrama, the wide-striding Sun; the Aivins
or the Ndsafyas, perhaps the Morning and Evening Stars, later
the gods of healing, parallel to the Dioscuri ; and Ushas, the lovely
Goddess of the Dawn.
Between the world of light above and the earth below lies the
realm of the air, and the chief deities of this region are, besides
Indra, the Maruts (Storm Gods), Vdyu and Vdta (the Wind Gods),
Budra (the Howling God of Storm and Lightning), and Parjanya
(the God of Rain). Of the terrestrial deities, the chief are Agni,
Soma and Sarasvati. Agni, or the Fire-God, received special
homage because no sacrifice could be performed without offerings
to him. The libation of Soma was also regarded as specially sacred.
Sarasvati was a river deity who came to be regarded later as the
Goddess of Learning. Of the three principal deities of the later
mythology, Vishpu and Rudra (Siva) are, as we have seen already,
known to the Rig -Veda, and Brahma, though not explicitly
mentioned, has his precursors in Vidhatri (the Ordainer),
Hkap-yagarbha (the Germ of Gold), Prajapati (the Lord of
Creatures) and Brahmanaspati (the Lord of Prayer).
An important characteristic of Vedic Mythology is the pre-
dominance of the male element. Goddesses like Prithivi, Aditi,
Ushas, and Sarasvati occupy a very subordinate position. In this
respect the Vedic civilisation presents a contrast to the prehistoric
culture of the Indus valley, where the Mother Goddess is co-equal
with her male partner.
Another important feature of the Vedic religion is the tendency
towards monotheism and even monism. The hymns foreshadow
the idea of universal unity, and express the belief that God is
One although he bears many names.
“They call him Indra, Mitra, Varupa,
And Agni ; he is the heavenly bird Garutmat :
To what is One, the poets give many a name,
They call it Agni, Yama, Matari^van.’’
The monotheistic conception appears more prominently in the
hymns addressed to Hiranyagarbha (the Gold Germ), and to
Visvakarman (the All-Creating),
“Who is our Father, our Creator, Maker,
Who every place doth know and every creature,
40 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
By Whom, alone to gods their names were given,
To Him aU other creatures go, to ask Him.”
Finally, we have a song of Creation according to which in the
beginning
“ . . . neither death nor deathlessness existed ;
Of day and night there was yet no distinction.
Alone that One breathed calmly, self-supported,
Other than It was none, nor aught above It.”
Sacrifices occupy a prominent place in the Vedic ritual. These
include offerings of milk, grain, ghee, flesh and juice of the Soma
plant. The use of material objects as symbols of deities was
perhaps not altogether unknown, and one passage apparently
makes a reference to an image or symbol of Indra. The symbol
of phaUio worship is, as we have seen, detected by some in
the allusions to the Sihiadevas.
Regarding life after death, the Rig- Vedic h3nnns have no con-
sistent theory. According to some passages, the dead dwell in the
realm of Yama, the beneficent king of the departed. The idea of
metempsychosis is, however, not yet developed.
CHAPTER IV
LATEB VEDIO CmUSATION
Aryan Expansion
We have seen that in the Rig-Vedic period the Aryan tribes had
spread over the whole country from the Kabul to the upper Ganges,
and had built up small kingdoms mostly under hereditary monarchs
who held their own against the non- Aryan peoples by whom they
were surrounded. But internecine strife in which some of the
tribes engaged even in Rig-Vedio times produced far-reaching
results. Some of the weaker tribes were absorbed by their more
powerful neighbours, and the increase in the wealth and territory of
the conquering tribes was reflected in the growth of the power
of the kings, who governed large and compact kingdoms. Stately
cities made their appearance for the first time in the later Vedic
texts.
Simidtaneously with the growth of large kingdoms, we have a
further extension of the political and oultxiral sway of the Aryans
towards the east and the south. This was due as much to the
adventurous spirit of kings and princes as to the desire of the
priests to cause Agni, the Eire-God, to taste new lands through
sacrifices. Before the close of the later Vedic period, the Aryans
had thoroughly subdued the fertile plains watered by the Jumna,
the upper Ganges and the Saddmrd (the Rapti or the Gapdak).
Adventurous bands penetrated into the Vindhyan forest and
established powerful kingdoms in the Deccan to the north of the
Godavari.
The centre of the Aryan world was the “firm middle country”
{dhruvd madhyamd dU) stretching from the Sarasvati to the Gangetio
Doab and occupied by the Kurus, the Panchalas and some adjoin-
ing tribes. It was from this region that Brahmaijical civilisation
spread to the outer provinces, to the land of the Kosalas and the
Kaais drained by the jSfara?/w and the VaraimvaVi, to the swamps,
east of the Gandak colonised by the Videhas, and to the valley
of the Wardha occupied by the Vidarbhas. Beyond them lived
the tribes of mixed origin like the Angas of East Bihar and the
41 ■
42
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Magadhas of Soutli Bihar, as well as Dasyus or aboriginal folk
like the Pundras of North Bengal, the PuHndas and Savaras
of the Vindhyan forest, and the Andhras in the valley of the
Godavari.
The most distinguished among the tribes of the period were at
first the Kurus and the Panchalas with their capitals at Asandivat
and KampUa (Kampfiya) respectively. The former occupied
Kurukshetra — ^the tongue of land between the Sarasvati and the
Drishadvati (Chitang-Rakshi) — as well as the districts of Delhi
and Meerut. The latter occupied the Bareilly, Budaun and Earrukh-
abad districts of the United Provinces and some adjoining tracts.
The Kuru nation was probably formed by the amalgamation of
several smaller tribes including a section of the Purus and the
Bharatas, while the Panchalas sprang from an obscure Rig-Vedic
tribe known as the Krivis, with whom were associated the Srinjayas
and the Turva^as.
The later Vedic texts mention powerful Kuru kings like Balhika-
Pratipiya, Parikshit and Janamejaya, aU of whom figure promin-
ently in epic legends. Parikshit is the hero of a famous song of
praise found in the Atharva Veda. It describes him as a universal
king {rdjd viivajanlna) and his kingdom as flowing with milk and
honey. His son Janamejaya is credited with having gone round
the earth, completely conquering on every side. His successors
were not so powerful as he was. They sustained disasters and were
finally obliged to fly from Kurukshetra. According to later
tradition a scion of the Kuru race transferred his residence to
Kau^ambi (Kosam, near Allahabad) and ruled over a powerful
kingdom which survived till the rise of Buddhism.
The Panchalas also produced conquering kings who engaged in
wars and alliances with the Kurus. But their chief title to fame
rests on their land being the home of theologians and phflosophers
like king Pravahana-Jaivali and the sages Arani and Svetaketu.
In the time of the Upanishads the fame of the land of the
Panchalas as a centre of Brahmanical learning was eclipsed by
the country of the Videhas, whose king Janaka, the patron of
Yajnavalkya, won the proud title of Samrdt. He gathered the
celebrities of the Kuru-Panchala countries at his court “much as
the intellects of Athens gathered at the Court of Macedonian
princes”. The Videhan monarchy fell shortly before the rise of
Buddhism, andy^its overthrow was followed by the rise of the
Vaj jian Confederacy.
LATER VEDIC CIVILISATION
43
Growth of Royal Power and Elaboration of the Administrative
Machinery
The amalgamation of tribes and the increase in the size of
kingdoms in the later Vedic age, coupled with the successful leader-
ship of the kings in war, inevitably led to a growth in the royal
power. Kings now claimed to be absolute masters of all their
subjects, excepting perhaps the Brahmapas who proclaimed Soma
to be their king. Btit even the Brahmapas were “liable to removal
at will”. The common free men had to pay tribute {hali, iulha
and bhdga) and could be “oppressed at wiU.”, while the members
of the servile classes were liable to be “expelled and slain at
wiU”.
The chief functions of the king were of a mditary and judicial
character. He was the protector of his people and the laws, and
the destroyer of their enemies. Himself immune from punishment,
he wielded the rod of chastisement {danda).
Successful monarchs set up claims to the rank of universal king
(rdjd vUvajanlna), lord of all the earth (sarvabhumi) or sole ruler
(eJcardt) of the land down to the seas, and celebrated sacrifices
befitting their status Like the Bdjasuya (royal consecration), the
Vdjapeya (drink of strength) and Ahamedha (horse-sacrifice). The
Edjasiiya included offerings to divinities in the houses of of&cials,
styled ratnins, and a formal abhisheJca or besprinkling by the priest,
besides certain popular rites such as a cow raid, a sham fight and a
game of dice in which the king is made to be the victor. The most
interesting feature of the Vdjapeya rites was a chariot-race in which
the sacrificer was allowed to carry off the palm. This was followed by
homage to Mother Earth and a formal enthronement. In the
Aivamedha ceremonial, a horse was set free to roam abroad under
the guardianship of youths of rank who were fully armed. If the
period of wandering were successfully passed, the steed was
sacrificed. The features of the rite included a circle of tales
narrated by a priest, and laudatory verses sung by a lute-player.
While the kings of the middle country were generally content
with the title of rdjd, rulers in the outlying parts of India preferred
other designations. The eastern kings were styled Samrdt, the
southerners Bhqja, those in the west Svardt, while the rulers of
the northern realms (janapadas) were called Virdt. The association
of the Samrdt, whose status was now regarded as higher than that
of the rdjan, with the east is important. It probably points to the
growth of imperialism in the east— -a tendency that became more
marked in the early days of Buddhism.
44 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
The king was usually, though not invariably, a Kshatriya. The
office of monarch now, as before, was normally hereditary, though
cases of election by the people were probably not rare, as is apparent
from the coronation songs of the Atharva Veda. But popular
choice seems to have been generally limited to members of the
royal family.
The royal claim to absolutism did not pass unchallenged. The
ceremonial of consecration included certain rites which required
the king to descend from the throne and make obeisance to the
Brahmapas. He had also to take an oath not to play false to
the priest, and was specially charged with the duty of protecting the
Brahmapas and the laws of the realm. That the Brahmapas did
not tamely acquiesce in all that the king did, appears from several
stories about the conflict of kings and Brahmapas recorded m the
later Vedic texts. As to the commonalty, they supplied important
officials lilie the Suta and the Ordmanl, whose title rdjd hartri
or “king-maker” indicated their importance m the body politic.
The popular assemblies styled the Sabhd and the Bamiti were still
regarded as important, and it is stated in the Atharva Veda that
concord between the king and the assembly was essential for the
former’s prosperity. Popular wrath vented itself in the expulsion
of tyrannical kings together with erring officials.
With the growth of royal power came an elaboration of the
machinery of administration. In the Rig-Vedic period we have,
barring the Purohita (chaplain), scarcely any reference to a purely
civil fimotionary among the higher officials of the king. But in
the later Vedic texts we come across the JSamgrahitri (treasurer),
the Bhdgadugha (collector of taxes), the Suta (royal herald, bard
or charioteer), the Kshattri (Chamberlain), the Akshdvdpa (super-
intendent of gambling), the Qo-vikartana (king’s companion in
the chase), the PdZdgaZa (courier), in addition to the older ecclesi-
astical and military officials like the Purohita (chaplain), the
S&ndnl (general) and the Gramani (leader of the host or of the
village). Mention is also made of the generic title Sachiva applied
to ministers in later ages. The references to the Samgrahitri and
the Bhdgadugha, coupled with the mention of regular contributions
from the people in the shape of bali and iulka, point to important
developments in the system of taxation and revenue administration.
The beginnings of a regular system of provincial government
may be traced in references to the Sthapati and the Satapaii,
The former was apparently charged with the duty of administering
outlying areas often inhabited by aboriginal tribes, while the
latter probably looked after a '^oup of a hundred villages and was
LATER VEDIC CIVILISATION 45
the precursor of the long chain of rural officials mentioned in the
law-books. On the lowest rung of the ladder stood the village
officials (adhihrita) appointed by the king himself according to the
Praina Upanishad. Regarding police arrangements, we know very
little. Some find a reference to police officials in the Jlvagribh oi
the Rig- Veda and the Ugras of the Upanishads. But the matter
is not free from doubt. ^ _ x- • •
The king had a very large part in the administration of justice,
but power was sometimes delegated to Adhyahshas or overseers.
Certain cases were referred to the tribe for adjudication. The
judicial work of the tribal assembly was usually entrusted to a
small body of SahMsads or assessors. Petty cases in the^ village
were decided by the Grdmyavddin or village judge and his court
{8abM). The use of Ordeal as a part of jufficial procedure was not
unknown. Civil cases were sometimes- decided by arbitration, and
private vengeance in criminal cases was still recognised.
Social Changes
Little change can be traced in the mode of house-building and
the style of dress. In regard to dietary, the eating of meat was
being looked upon with disfavour. New forms of social entertain-
ment had come into existence. We have references to the Bailmha
or actor, and gdtUs or verses were sung by the lute-players
(vindgdthin) at great public festivals to the accompaniment of
musical instruments which were sometimes furmshed with a
hundred strings {4ata-tantu). Such gdtMs foreshadow the songs
of victory” which developed into the Great Epic.
In regard to the position of women, there was hardly any improve-
ment. Daughters were regarded as a source of misery. Women
could not go to the tribal council or assembly {SabM), neither could
they take an inheritance. Married women of the upper classes had
often to suffer the presence of rival wives. The lot of queens was
speciaUy unenviable in this respect. While some of them, e.g. the
maUsM or chief queen, and the vdvdtd or the favourite, were
loved and honoured, others like the parivrihh were admittedly
neglected. But they continued to have their share in rehgious
rites. The education which some of them received was of a high
order, as it enabled them to take a prominent part in phnosophical
disputations at royal courts. The rules of marriage underwent
a change towards greater rigidity, and there were mstances ot
child marriage. , . . ,
As regards class distinction, changes of far-reaohmg importance
46
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
were taking place. The two higher classes, namely the Brahmana
and the Kshatriya, enjoyed privileges denied to the Vai^ya and the
Siidra. The latter could be “oppressed at will”. Different modes
of address were laid down for the four castes. Change of caste was
becoming difficult, if not impossible, but the higher classes were
still free to intermarry with the lower orders, though marriage
with Sudras was not much approved. The life of a member of the
higher castes was now rigidly regulated. The Clidndogya Upanishad
makes pointed reference to three stages, that of the householder
engaged in sacrifice, study and charity, that of the hermit who
practised austerity, and that of the Brahmacharin who dwelt
with his Acharya or teacher. The power and prestige of the
Brahmanas had increased immensely. But though the priest
claimed to be a god on earth and the protector of the realm, and
the same individual might be the Purohita of several kingdoms,
there was no pope to oppose the king. The Brahmapa claim to
supremacy was now and then contested by the Kshatriya, and
we have declarations to the effect that the Kshatriya had no
superior and that the priest was only a follower of the king. The
great community of ordinary freemen was splitting up into small
functional groups and we have references, in addition to those
engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, to the merchant,
the chariot-maker, the smith, the carpenter, the tanner, the fisher-
man, etc., as names of distinct castes. Some of them were sinking
in social estimation, and m a Brahmana passage a carpenter’s
touch is said to impart ceremonial impurity. The ^udra, too, was
regarded as impure and was not allowed to touch the milk needed
for oblations to the Eire- God. The gulf separating him from the
humbler freeman was, however, becoming narrower. He was not
infrequently grouped with the Vai^ya, and the two together were,
set against the priest and the noble. The right of the Sudra to live
and prosper was gradually recognised and prayers were even
uttered for his glory. The ranks of Sudms were constantly
swelled by the admission of new aborigina 1 tribes into the Aryan
polity.
Outside the regular castes stood two important bodies of men,
namely, the Vrdtyas and the Nishadas. The Vrdtyas were proliably
Aryans outside the pale of Brahmanism. They did not observe
Brahmapic rules, spoke some Prakritic language and led a nomadic
life. They appear to have had some special connection with the
people of Magadha and the cult of Siva and of the “Arhate”.
They were permitted to become members of the Brahmapieal
community by the performance of some prescribed rites.
LATER VEDIC CIVILISATION
47
The Nishddas were clearly a non- Aryan people who lived in
their own villages and had their own nilers (Sthapati). They
were probably identical with the modem Bhils.
Economic Condition
The people, including even men of wealth (ibhyas), still lived
mostly in villages, but the amenities of city life were no longer
unknown. In certain villages peasant proprietors, working in
their own fields, were being replaced by a class of landlords who
obtained possession of entire villages. Transfer of land, however,
did not meet with popular approval during this epoch, and allot-
ments could only be made with the consent of clansmen.
Agriculture continued to be one of the principal occupations
of the people. Considerable improvement was effected in agri-
cultural implements, and new kinds of grain and fruit trees were
grown on the soil. But the cultivator was not free from trouble,
and an Upanishad passage refers to a hailstorm or a swarm of
locusts that sadly afflicted the land of the Kurus and forced many
people to leave the country. Trade and industry flourished. A
class of hereditary merchants (vdnija) came into being. There
was inland trade with the ICiratas inhabiting the mountains, who
apparently exchanged the drugs which they dug up on the high
ridges for clothes, mattresses, and skins. The sea was knovm
intimately, and the mention of the legend of the flood in the
Satapatha BrdJimana is taken by some authorities to point to
intercourse with Babylon. Commerce was facilitated by the use ot
convenient units of value like the nishha, the iatamdna, and the
krishnala, but it is doubtful if these had acquired aU the character-
istics of a regular coinage. The nishka, formerly a necklet, was now
probably a lump of gold possessing a definite weight which was
equal to three hundred and twenty ratis, which was also the weight
of a iatamdTia. A krishnala weighed one rati, that is, 1-8 grams.
Merchants were probably organised into guilds, as appears from
references to ganas or corporations and the ireshthins or aldermen.
The variety of industrial occupations was remarkable. Specialisa-
tion had gone far. The chariot-maker was distinguished from the
carpenter, the maker of the bows from the maker of the bow-strings
and of arrows, the tanner from the hide-dresser or funier. Women
took part in industrial fife as makers of embroidered garments,
workers in thorns, dyers, etc.
50 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Religious Development
Great changes took place in the religious life of the people.
Th7luLe of^he older gods was graduaUy dimmed though one
would still find, here and there, especiaUy m the Atharva Veda,
magnificent hymns celebrating the omniscience of Farwwa or
the\>eneficence^ the Earth-Goddess. The sacrificial side of religion
was pTatly developed by the priests, while
ViaH J in snirits, imps, spells, incantations and witchcraft found a
place in the sacred canon. The monotheistic and monistic tendencies
that showed themselves prommently towards the close of
tt ver period, became more marked with the efflux of toe.
^Ijapati, the lord of created beings, cast aU ^
inti the shade. The germ of the later doctrme of the Avataras,
or divine “descents” or incarnations, can be traced m stones
about Prajdpati assuming the form of a boar to raise the earth
from the pr^eval waters and becoming a tortoise when about
to create offspring. While the priests and the theologians^ were
absorbed in elaborate sacrificial rites and muttered htames m
honour of Prajdpati, the First Sacrificer and the Embodiment
of Sacrifice, philosophers threw doubts on the efficacy of ritual,
Iculaterkbout the underlying unity of the universe and strove
fOT union with the supreme Brahman or Pararmtman, the umversal
Soul or the Absolute “that dweUeth in every thing, that guideth
nil beings within, the Inward Guide, Immortal .
The fommon people, however, did not understand abstruse
theological or philosophical speculations and began to show
predilfotion for certain deities already known to the $ig-VsAa
but not so prominent as Indra or Varuna. One of them was Budra
X “toady bore in the early litanies the epithet o (prop lous
and soon came to be regarded as the Great God (Jfatotoa) and
the lord of animate beings (PiApati). His popularity
bX due to his identification with the chief male deity of the
nre-historic people of the Indus. , _ t „
^ Side by sffle with Rudra arose another figure— Vish^iu, a solar
dehy famed in the ^ig-Veda for his three strides As the source
of cLmio and moral order, the deliverer of mankind in distress
and saviour of the Gods, Vishnu soon came to occupy *1“ Pj'ioo
of Varuna as the most sublime among the celestials, and lus highest
step (paramampatam) became the goal of sages mid see” Before
the toal dose of the Vedio canon, he came to be identitod with
Vasudevor—^. hero or demi-god known to epic tradition as
DevaMputra. In one Upanishad we find Erishpa associated with
LATER VEDIC CIVILISATION
61
a school of thought that rejected the purely ritualistic inter-
pretation of sacrifice and considered the practice of virtue to be as
effective as gifts to priests. In the final hour one should, according
to this school, take refuge in these three thoughts: “You are the
imperishable, the never-falling and the very essence of life.” The
goal of spiritual endeavour according to them, was the realm of
light higher than heaven where dweUeth the God among the gods.
Here we see the germ of some of the doctrines that received a
more systematic treatment in later ages and lay at the root of the
Bhagavata creed.
Literature and Science
Before the close of the Vedie period, the Aryans possessed an
extensive literature handed down in the Brahmaiiical schools by
memory. Some idea of the wide range of subjects in which the
people interested themselves may be obtained from several lists
given in the Upanishads. One such list makes mention not only
of the Vedas but of Itihdsa-purdna (legend and ancient lore),
Pitrya (the science relating to the Manes), Rdii (mathematics),
Daiva (knowledge of portents), Nidlii (chronology), Vdkovdkya
(dialectics), Ekdyana (ethics), Deva-vidyd (etymological interpreta-
tion of divine names), Brahrmvidyd (Imowledge of the Absolute),
Bhutavidyd (demonology, or science of elements), Kshatra vidyd
(the military science), Nakshatra vidyd (astronomy), Sarpa vidyd
(the science of snakes), and Devajana vidyd (dancing and music or
mythology). Another list mentions the Vedas^ phonetics {Mkshd),
ritual {kalpa), grammar (vydkarana), etymology {nirukta), metrics
{chhandas) and astronomy {jyotiska). If all the subjects mentioned
in the former list were dealt vith in special treatises, most of
them have not come down to us. A brief account of the extant
works of Vedic literature included in the second hst is given
below.
The word Veda comes from the root vid^ to know. It means
knowledge in general. It is specially appUed to a branch of literature
which has been handed down from time immemorial by verbal
transmission and is declared to be sacred knowledge or divine
revelation (SruU).
The Veda consists of four different classes of literary com-
positions:
(1) The Mantra (saying, song, formula) constitutes the oldest
division of Vedic literature, and is distributed in foux Samhitds
or collections known as the Mk, Sdma, Tajiis, and Atharva
Samhitds. The first three are^sometmes spoken of as the Trayl
52 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
or threefold knowledge, being alone recognised at first as canonical
scriptures.
The J^ikSamhitd is a collection of lyrics in praise of different
gods. These were recited by the priest styled the hotri. Most
of the songs belong to an age anterior to what we have called the
Later Vedic period, but the collection as a whole may not be
so old. The Samhitd of the Sdmaveda, or the Book of Chants,
contains hardly any independent matter, ail its verses except
seventy-five being taken directly from the Rig -Veda. Its songs
were meant to be sung at the Soma sacrifice by a special class of
priests called Udgdtri. The Samhitd of the Yajurveda, or Book
of Sacrificial Prayer, consists not only of stanzas taken from the
Big-Veda, but also of original prose formulas to be uttered by
the Adhvaryu priest who performed the manual work involved
in a sacrifice. The collection has two divergent texts, viz,, (a) the
SavhMtd of the Black Yajurveda preserved in the Taittmya,
Maitrdyam and Kdthaica recensions, and (6) the Samhitd of the
White Yajurveda preserved in the Vdjasaneyi recension.
At a time considerably later than the Sarlihitds mentioned
above, a fourth attained to canonical recognition, the Atharva
Yeda, or the Book of Magic Formulas. Though its recognition came
late, much of the matter contained in the collection is old. Some
of the Atharvan hymns were of popular rather than priestly origin
and may be as old as the earliest parts of the J^ig-Veda. The
AtJiarva-Sarh'hitd is, in the main, a collection of songs, spells and
incantations for the healing of disease, the restoration of harmony,
the exorcism of evil spirits, etc. But there are certain hymns of
rare beauty that celebrate the power and omniscience of God and
the beneficence of Mother Earth.
May Earth pour out her milk for us,
a mother unto me her son.
O Prithiid, auspicious be thy woodlands,
auspicious be thy hills and snow-clad mountain.s.
(2) The second class of Vedic works are known by the name of
Brahmaims, i.e. treatises relating to prayer and sacrificial ceremony.
They are mainly prose texts containing observations on sacrifice.
They also contain cosmogonic myths, old legends and gut/uls or
verses celebrating the exploits of ^gs famed in priestly tradition,
(3) Next come the Ara-^yakas or forest texts, books of instruction
to be given in the forest or writings meant for wood-dwelling
hermits, which are found as appendices to the Brdhmams, These
treatises resemble the Brdhmaigas in language, style and even
LATER VEDIC CIVILISATION
63
content, but they are concerned more with the allegorical significa-
tion of rites, and the mystic meaning of the texts of the Samhitds
than with elaborate rules for the performance of the great sacrifices.
The bulk of the Aranyaha literature is old, but certain portions may
belong to a date posterior to the period under review.
(4) Lastly we have the Upanish^ads, “secret or esoteric doctrines ”.
The name is derived by some from the root upa-ni-sad which means
“to sit down near some one” and is applied to doctrines that may
be imparted to a son or a trusted pupil seated near the teacher. The
Upanishads are either imbedded in the Aranyakas or form their
supplements. They are also found as independent works. They
contain deep speculations of a philosophical character which
“revolve around the two conceptif)ns of Brahman and Atman’\
i.e. the universal soul, the Absolute and the individual self. The
oldest Upanishads are usually regarded as pre-Buddhistic, but
some of the treatises bearing the name “Upanishad” certainly
belong to a much later period.
The classes of literary works named above are alone classed
as Sruti, or Revelation, and constitute the Vedic literature proper.
But closely connected with them as auxiliary treatises, though
not regarded as a part of the Revelation, there exist a class of
compositions called Veddhga, “members or limbs of the Veda”.
They are regarded as less authoritative than the Sruti, and are
styled Smriti, memory or tradition, as handing down only the
tradition derived from ancient sages to whom the Vedas were
“revealed”. They originated mostly in Vedic schools (Oharanas)
and their contents are often expressed in an extremely condensed
style of prose intended for memorisation, to which the name
Sutra (thread, clue, guide, rule, aphorism) is given. Some of the
treatises were versified in later times.
The Veddngas are six in number, viz., Mkshd (phonetics), Kalpa
(ritual), Yyakarana (grammar), NiruMa (etymology), Chhandas
(metrics), and Jyotisha (astronomy). These subjects are already
mentioned in some of the Upanishads, though the extant manuals
may belong to a much later period.
The manuals of Sikshd deal with the correct pronunciation and
accentuation of the Vedic hymns. The productions of the Siksha
school include the “connected text” of the Rig-Veda as well as
the “word- text” which gives the text of the verses in a complete
grammatical analysis. But the most remarkable compositions of
the ^iksha class are the Prdtisdhhya Sutras which contain the rules
by the aid of which the Sarhhita-paiha (connected text) can be
formed from the Pada-pdtha (word-text).
54
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The treatises on Kalpa or ritual include the Srauta Sutras which
lay down rules for the performance of the great sacrifices, the
Grihya Sutras which give directions for the simple ceremonies of
daily life, and the Dharma Sutras which deal with sacred and
secular law and administration. As integral parts of the Srauta
Sutras are found compositions styled Sulva Sutras which lay
down rules for the measurement and building of the place of
sacrifice and the fibre-altars, and are the oldest treatises on Indian
geometry.
There are manuals supplementary to the Kalpa Sutras styled
PariMshias or addenda.
In Vydkarana, Nirukta and Chhandas we have the great works
of Panini, Yaska, and Pingala. A metrical work on Jyotisha
Vedanga is extant, hut it seems to belong to a comparatively late
date.
CHAPTER V
THE BEGINNINGS OE MAGADHAN ASCENDANCY AND
THE COMING OF THE YAVANAS
The Great Janapadas
The idea of a universal king was present before the minds of the
Rig-Vedic poets, and in the later Vedie texts we M mention
of several rulers who went round the “earth” conquering on every
side. These conquests, however, did not normally involve a per-
manent annexation of the territories of the vanquished people,
though minor tribes may now and then have been reduced to
vassalage and governed by rulers (sthapati) appointed by the con-
quering rajan (kiug). But from the sixth centmy b.c. we can
trace a new development in Indian politics. We have the growth
of a number of powerful kingdoms in eastern India--the very
region which in the Brahmapa texts is associated with rulers
consecrated to a superior kind of kingship, styled samrdjyo— which
gradually absorbed the neighbouring states till at last one great
Lnarchy swaUowed up the rest and laid the foundations of an
empire which ultimately stretched from the Hmdukush to the
northern districts of Mysore. But before we take up the history
of this remarkable political transformation, it is necessary for us
to note the changes in the map of India since the period of the
Brahmapas and the classical Upanishads.
The widest area known to the Aryans of the Brahmana period
is that described in the Aitareya Brahrmwi. The boundanes of
the Aryan world stretched from the countries of the Uttara Kurus
and the Uttara Madras beyond the Himalayas to the land of the
Satvats (and Bhojas), south of the Jumna and the Chambal, and
from the territory of the Mchyas and Apdchym in the west to the
realm of the Prdchyas in the east. The exact position of the
Nichym and Apdchyas cannot be determined. But
were doubtless the Prasii of Greek writers, i.e., the people of Magac^a
and the neighbouring provinces. Beyond Magadha lived the
Purulras of North Bengal and the Vav^as of central and eastern
Bengal who were outside the pale of Aryandom. The Vangas,
56 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
however, are not mentioned in the BrdJmana proper but possibly
in the Aranyaka attached to it. In the south, besides the Aryan
realms of the Bhojas, we find the Andhras of the Godavari valley
and some aboriginal tribes inhabiting the Vindhyan forests.
The later literature of the Brahmapical Hindus and the sacred
canon of the Buddhists introduce some new names, e.g. Kalinga on the
east coast stretching from the Vaitarani in Orissa to the neighbour-
hood of the Godavari, A^maka and Mulaka on the Upper Godavari,
Avanti in Malwa, Surashtra in Kathiawar and Sindhu-Sauvira
in the lower valley of the Indus. In an early Buddhist text we
have a list of sixteen great nations that occupied the territory
from the Kabul valley to the banks of the Godavari shortly before
the rise of Buddhism. The names of these states are Anga (East
Bihar), Magadha (South Bihar), Kasi (Benares), Kosala (Oudh),
Vriji (North Bihar), Malla (Gorakhpur district), Chedi (between
the Jumna and the Narmada), Vatsa (Allahabad region), Kuru
(Thanesar, Delhi and Meerut districts), Panchala (Bareilly,
Biidaun and Farrukhabad districts), Matsya (Jaipur), Surasena
(Mathura), Atoaka (on the Godavari), Avanti (in Malwa), Gan-
dhara (Peshawar and Rawalpindi districts), and Kamboja (South-
west Kashmir and parts of Kafiristan), The palmy days of the
Kurus and the Panchalas were now over, and the centre of political
gravity had shifted to the east.
The Vrijian State *
Among the eastern nations mentioned in the above list, the
name of the Videhas is conspicuous by its absence, and in its
place we find mention of Vriji (Vajji). The Vrijian State w^as
formed by the union of several clans including the Lichchhavis
and the Jndtrikas. Its capital was at VaMali, modem Besarh or
Basarh and Bakhira in the district of Muzaffarpur. The Vriji
people have been represented by a modem writer as of Mongolian
origin because they foEowed certain customs that are classed
as Tibetan, such as exposure of the dead, and also because they
are regarded by the Brahmapa law-givers as Vrdtyas or degraded
Kshatriyas. But similar customs are found also among the
Iranians ; and the Fm%ow, judging from Vedic evidence, w'ere
clearly an Aryan people, though outside the pale of orthodox
Brahmanism. It is significant that in Buddhist literature the
fine appearance of the is compared to that of the
Tdvaiirhsa gods.
The VfijiU had no monarch, but a popular assembly and elders
BEGimiNGS OF MAGADHAN ASCENDANCY 57
who carried on the bnsinesa of the State. This type of polity was
known as a Gana or republic. The Mallas had a similar constitution
and there were besides these a number of smaller republics, e.g.,
the Sdkyas of Kapilavastu, the Bhargas of Sumsumara Hill, the
Mauryas of Pipphahvana, etc.
Four Great Kingdoms
The republics had soon to contend with formidable enemies in
the persons of the ambitious potentates of the neighbouring
monarchies. Four of the kingdoms had grown more powerful than
the rest and were following a policy of expansion and aggrandise-
ment at the expense of their neighbours. These were Avanti,
Vatsa, Kosala and Magadha.
The Idngdom of Avanti had its capital at Ujjain in modern
Malwa. It was ruled by King Chapda Pradyota Mahasena, who
brought the states in the vicinity of his realm under his control.
In the Vatsa temtory, i.e., the district round Kau^ambi or Kosam
near Allahabad, reigned Udayana, a scion of the Bharata race,
who carried off the beloved daughter of Pradyota and took a
wife also from the royal house of Magadha. The supremacy of
Udayana extended over the adjoining territory of the Bhargas.
Kosala was ruled by King Mahakosala and his son Prasenajit.
It roughly corresponded to modem Oudh. In the heroic age it
had its capital at Ayodhya, on the bank of the river Sarayu, and
was ruled by a dynasty that claimed descent from the illustrious
Ikshvaku, famed in Vedic and epic tradition. Kosala kings
like Para, sou of Atpara, won renown as conquerors and sacrificers.
Epic tradition represents Kosalan princes as having penetrated
through the wilds of Dandakaranya, in the Deccan, to the banks
of the Pampa or the Tuhgabhadra and even to the distant island
of Ceylon. A branch of the ruling family established itself in ^ravasti,
which has been identified with the great ruined city on the south
bank of the Rapti represented by Saheth-Maheth. Members of
this line extended the boundaries of Kosala in several directions
and absorbed the territory of the Sakyas in the Nepalese Tarai
and that of the Kasis in the present district of Benares. But the
ambitious designs of Kosala were soon frustrated by another power
that arose in the fastnesses of South Bihar.
Magadha, embracing the districts of Patna and Gaya m the
southern part of Bihar, could boast of powerful chieftains even
in the days of the Vedic JRisUs and the epic poets. As the probable
home of the non- Aryan were noted for their wealth
58 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of kine, it "was a coveted prize of the Aryan invader, who, however,
could not Brahmaijise it thoroughly even in the period of the Kalpa
Sutras. It came to possess a mixed population, Brahmapas and
ICshatriyas coming to the land were spoken of in a derisive tone
as Brahma-handhu and KsTiatra-bandhu, that is, so-called Brahmanas
and Kshatriyas. It had special relations with Ar5^ans outside the
pale to whom the name Vrdtya was given in the Vedic canon.
In the sixth and fifth centuries b.c. the throne of Magadha
was occupied by a line of kings styled ^ai.^unagas in the Purapas,
an appellation derived from ^i^unaga, the first king of the line
in the Purapic Kst. Buddhist writers, however, place ^ii^unaga
much lower in the list of kings, and split up the line into two
distinct groups. To the earlier of the two groups they give the name
Haryanka. The second and later group, consisting of ^isunaga,
his son and grandsons, alone deserve, according to their evidence,
the name ^aiSunaga.
Bimbisara
The most remarkable king of the Haryanka line was ^^repika
or Bimbisara, who was anointed king by his father while yet a
boy of fifteen. The event took place, according to Ceylonese
tradition, sixty years before the Parinirvdna, or the death of the
Buddha. The Parinirvdna happened in 544 b.c. according to a
Ceylonese reckoning and in 486 b.c. according to a Cantonese
tradition of a.d. 489. The date 544 b.c. can, however, hardly be
reconciled with a statement in the Ceylonese Chronicles that A^oka
Maurya, who is known to have flourished in the third century b.c.,
was consecrated two hundred and eighteen years after the Buddha
had passed into Nirvapa. This fact and certain Chinese and Chola
synchronisms led Geiger and a few other scholars to think that
the era of 544 b.c. is a comparatively modern fabrication and that
the true date of the death of the Buddha is 483 b.c. — a result
closely approaching that to which the Cantonese tradition leads
us.
The Chinese account of embassies which King Meghavarna sent
to Samudra Gupta and King Kia-che (Kassapa) sent to China in
A.D. 527 also speak in favour of the date 486 b.c. or 483 B.c. for the
Parinirvdn^a. Geiger’s date, however, is not explicitly recognised
by tradition. The Cantonese date, therefore, maj^- be accepted
as a working hypothesis for the A^okan and pre-A^okan periods.
The date of Bimbisara’s accession, according to tln.s reckoning,
would fall about 545 B.O.
From the first, Bimbisara pursued a policy of expansion. He
BEGINNINGS OF MAGABHAN ASCENDANCY 59
possessed certain advantages denied to many of his contemporaries.
He was the ruler of a compact kingdom protected on all sides by-
mountains and rivers. His capital, Girivraja, was enclosed by five
hills. It was also girded with stone walls which are among the oldest
extant stone structures in India. The soil of the country was
rich, yielding luxuriant crops. It was made richer by the gold-
bearing stream, the Hiranyavaha or the ^ona, which unites with
the Ganges near Patna. The people profited by the trade that
passed along the Ganges, or followed the land-route through the
city of Gaya. In liis war-elephants the eastern monarch had a
fighting machine which could be used with terrible effect against
his western neighbours.
The most notable achievement of Bimbisara was the annexation
of the neighbouring kingdom of Anga or East Bihar, which had
its capital at Champa near Bhagalpur. He also entered into
matrimonial alliances with the ruling families of Kosala and Vailali.
His Kosalan wife brought a Kasi village yielding a large revenue.
The Vaisali marriage ultimately paved the way for the expansion
of Magadha northward to the borders of Nepal. Bimbisara organised
an efficient system of administration. He is also credited by a
Chinese pilgrim with having built a new city at the foot of the
hills lying to the north of Girivraja, which he named Baj agriha,
or the kin g’s house, the modern Rajgir in the Patna district.
Under h im Magadha became a flourishing kingdom which attracted
the most enlightened men of the age. Both Vardhamana Mahavira,
the last apostle of the Jainas, and Gautama Buddha, the , great
Master of the Buddhists, preached their doctrines during the
reign of Bimbisara. Tradition affirms that in his old age the
king was murdered by his son Ajata^atm.
Ajata§atru
Ajata^atru, also known as Kumka, soon found that his throne
was not a bed of roses. Prasenajit of Kosala, brother of the queen-
dowager, who had died of grief, resolved to avenge himself on
the parricide. The republican tribes on the northern and north-
western borders of Magadha were restive and entered into a league
with the enemies of AjataSatru in Kasi-Kosala. The Magadhan
king had thus to face the hostility not only of the ruler of Sravasti
but also of the Vrijis of Vaisali and the MaUas of Ku^inagara
(Kasia in Gorakhpur) and Pava (probably Padraona on the Gapdak
river). To repel the Vrijis, Magadlian statesmen fortified the -village
of Pataligrama which stood near the confluence of the Ganges
m AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
aad the So^a. Thus was founded the famous fortress which,
within a generation, developed into the stately city of Pataliputra,
the metropolis of India for weU-nigh four centuries.
Thanks to his own tenacity and the Machiavellian policy of his
ministers, A.jata^atru succeeded in defeating aU his adversaries.
The Vriji territory was annexed to the kingdom of Magadha.
Kosala was humbled but not crushed, and, at a slightly later
period, we hear of a Kosalan king, a son of Prasenajit, powerful
enough to perpetrate a massacre of the ^akyas. Prasenajit himself
had to renounce his claim to the Kasi village which had hitherto
formed a bone of contention, and give his Magadhan antagonist
his daughter in marriage. In religious tradition Ajataiatru is
remembered as a patron of Devadatta, the schismatic cousin of
the Buddha, and also as a friend of both the Jainas and the Biiddliists,
Both Mahavira and the Buddha are said to have died early in his
reign. After the death of the latter, a Buddhist Council was held
at Raj agriha which took disciplinary measures against certain
prominent members of the Church and compiled the holy scriptures.
Successors of Aj§.tasatru
According to the Purapas, the immediate successor of Ajata-
^atru was Dar^aka, after whom came his son Udayi. The name of
Dar^aka occurs also in a play named Svapna-VasavadaUa, attri-
buted to Bhasa, which represents him as a brother-in-law and
contemporary of Udayana, king of Kau^ambi. But Buddhist and
Jain writers agree in asserting that Udayi was the son of Ajata^atrii
and also his successor. A Naga-dasaka is placed by the former at
the end of the list of kings of Bimbisara’s line, and this ruler is
identified by some with the Darsaka of the Purapas. In view of the
antiquity of the Buddhist tradition, it is difficult to accept the
Purapic statement about Udayi’s relationship with Dar&xka arui
Ajata^atru as correct.
Udayi had probably to fight with the king of Avanti, but the
most notable event of his reign was the foundatioti of the city of
Kusumapura or Pataliputra nestling under the slif3lter of the
fortress erected by the ministers of Ajata^atru.
The history of Magadha after Udayi is obscure. The Purapic
Chronioles place immediately after him two kings named Nandi-
vardhana and Mahanandin, the last of whom is said to ha^’-e had a
son, by a ^udra woman, named Mahapadma or Mahapadmajmti
Nanda, with whom began a line of ^udra or semi-l§Mra kings,
Buddhist writers, on the other hand, insert thirteen additional
BEGINNINGS OE MAGADHAN ASCENDANCY 61
names between Udayi and Nandivardhana. They omit Mabanandin
and mention in his place a prince named Panchamaka. According
to the Buddliist account, Uda3d was followed by Anuruddha,
Mupda, and Nagadasaka, aU parricides, of whom the last was
banished by the indignant citizens, who met together and anointed
as their king a worthy minister known by the name of Susunaga
(Sisunaga). Si^unaga was succeeded by his son Kalasoka, after
whom came his sons, ten in number, of whom the ninth was
Nandivardhana and the tenth Panchamaka. One Buddliist work,
the Asolcdvaddna, mentions Kakavarpin, instead of Kalasoka,
among the successors of Munda.
The most important divergence between the Buddhist and
Purapic accounts is in regard to the place assigned to Sisunaga
and Kakavarnin (Kakavarna) in the dynastic hsts. While Buddhist
writers place them long after Bimbisara, Ajatasatru and even
Udayi, and represent them as belonging to a different family, the
Purapas make them head the whole list and actually refer to them
as ancestors of Bimbisara and Ajatasatru. There is, however, one
detail in the Purapic account which throws doubt on the credibility
of the tradition it transmits, and tends to confirm the Buddhist
evidence. After mentioning the successors of Pradyota, king of
Avanti, whom we know to be a contemporary of Bimbisara and
Ajatasatru, the Purapas say: “&sunaga will destroy all their
prestige and will be king.” This clear assertion undoubtedly
supports the view that ^iiunaga came long after Bimbisara and
Ajatasatru, and carried on their forw’ard policy by the absorption
of the powerful kingdom of Avanti (Malwa),
{^iSunaga’s successor, Kalasoka or Kakavarpin, seems to have
been a ruler of some consequence. He transferred his royal resi-
dence permanently from Girivraja to Pataliputra, though Vai^ali
was occasionally graced by the presence of the sovereign. It was
in this last city that the second great Council of the Buddhists
is said to have been held in the tenth year of the king’s reign when
a century had gone by since the Parinirvdna of the Buddha. The
Assembly settled some disputed points of discipline and condemned
the action of certain Vrijian monks who tried to introduce a
relaxation of the rules. The end of Kakavarpa was tragic. Tradition
affirms that he had a dagger thrust into his throat m the vicinity
of a city which may have been Pataliputra, Vai^ali or some other im-
portant city in the empire. His sons were probably young and in-
experienced and soon made room for a man of sterner stuff.
62 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
The Nandas
The new king belonged to a family called Nanda by all our
authorities. His personal name or epithet was Mahapadma or
Mahapadmapati, “sovereign of an infinite host”, or “of immense
wealth”, according to the Puranas, and Ugrasena, “possessed of
a terrible army”, according to Buddhist writers. After him his
eight sons ruled in succession, and then the crown went to Chandra-
gupta Maurya, the founder of a new and more illustrious dynasty.
The total duration of the Nanda line was 155 years according to
the Jain texts, a century according to the Puranas, and only 22
years according to the Buddhist chronicles of Ceylon. The Jain
•figure is too high for a couple of generations. The Purapas agree
in assigning a period of 12 years to the sons of Mahapadma, But
they differ in regard to the duration of the reign of Mahapadma
himself, which some put at 88 years and others at 28 years. The
smaller figure 28 when added to 12 does not make up the total 100.
The higher figure 88 for one reign is incredible and its rejection
involves a reduction of the total period of 100 years assigned by
Purapio tradition to the Nandas. In view of this, the Ceylonese
account cannot be lightly dismissed.
The total number of kings belonging to the dynasty is nine.
Some recent writers, however, take the word Nava, in the expres-
sion Navananda occurring in the texts, to mean not nine but new
or later. They contrast the Navanandas with the so-called Purva-
nandas, or earlier Nandas, alleged to be mentioned by Kshemendra,
and take the latter to be identical with the last kings of the
SaMunaga line. But the dynastic designation Nanda is never
applied to the kings of the ^ai^unaga family. Our authorities know
of only one Nanda line, and are unanimous in taking Nava to
mean nine and not new. In Kshemendra’s story, Purvanandu
is the name of a single individual and not a dynasty, and he is
distinguished, not from the Navanandas, but from Yogananda
or Pseudo-Nanda, reanimated corpse of king Nanda.
Regarding the parentage of the fikst Nanda, we have two distinct
traditions. The Pmapas represent him as son of Mahanandin, the
last king of the Saisunaga dynasty, by a Sudra woman. Jaina writers,
on the other hand, represent him as the son of a courtesan by a
barber. The Jaina tradition about the barber origin of the first
Nanda is strikingly supported by the testimony of Quintus Curtins.
Referring to the father of the predecesaor of Chandragupta M!aurya
who must be identified with the first Nanda, Cartius says that he
was a barber who gained the affections of the queen, murdered his
BEGINNINGS OF MAGADHAN ASCENDANCY 63
sovereign, and then, under the pretence of acting as guardian of
the royal children, usurped the supreme authority. He next put
the young princes to dehth. The murdered sovereign seems to have
been Kakavar^iin, whose sons were evidently the young princes
who were done to death by the ambitious barber.
The new king, though of humble origin, was a vigorous ruler.
Puranic tradition affirms that he exterminated all Kshatriyas and
became sole monarch, bringing aU under his undisputed sway.
The ascription of a wide dominion to the Nanda king is supported
by Greek evidence which refers to the most powerful peoples who
dwelt beyond the Beas in the time of Alexander as being under
one sovereign who had his capital at Pataliputra. A Kalihga
inscription of eaily date refers to Nanda’s connection with an
aqueduct in that country. This may be taken to imply that King
Nanda held sway also in Kalihga, that is. Southern Orissa and the
contiguous part of the Northern Circars.
The first Nanda was succeeded by his eight sons, of whom the
last was named Dhana-Nanda, the Agrammes or Xandrames of
classical writers. This monarch owned a vast treasure and com-
manded a huge army of 20,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, 2,000
chariots and no less than 3,000 elephants. Some writers raise the
number of horsemen, chariots and elephants to 80,000, 8,000,
and 6,000 respectively. To amass the treasure and maintain the
huge force, the king had to resort to heavy taxation. His conduct
towards the people bespoke his low origin. It is therefore no wonder
that he was “detested and held cheap by his subjects”. The dis-
affected element found a leader in Chandragupta who overthrew
the Nanda dynasty, and laid the foundation of the illustrious
family of the Mauryas. If tradition is to be believed, a Taxilian
Brahmana named Kautilya or Chapakya played a leading part in
the dynastic revolution. The conqueror of the Nandas had also
another problem — ^the presence of foreign invaders in the north-
western provinces of his country.
Persian and Macedonian Invasions
Gandhara, the territory round Peshawar and Rawalpindi, was,
in the time of Bimbisara, under a king named Pukkusati, who
sent an embassy and a letter to the king of Magadha. What the
object of the mission was we do not know, but about the middle
of the sixth century b.o. we find the hordes of Cyrus (c. 558-530 b.c.),
the founder of the Achaemenian empire of Persia, knocking at the
gates of India and destroying the famous city of Kapi^a near the
64
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
junction of the Ghorhand and Panjshir rivers north-east of Kabul.
The district west of the river Indus became tributary to the
Persians, and the name of Gandhara began to appear prominently
among the subject nations in the early inscriptions of Darius
(522-486 B.O.), the most illustrious among the successors of Cyrus.
Darius followed up the earlier, successes of his house by sending
a naval expedition to the Indus under the command of Sky lax.
This expedition paved the way for the annexation of the Indus
valley as far as the deserts of Bajputana. It constituted the
twentieth and the most populous satrapy of the Persian empire.
It paid a tribute proportionately larger than all the rest — 360
Euboic talents of gold dust, equivalent to more than a million
sterling.
Xerxes, the son of Darius I, and his successors seem to have
maintained some control over the Indian provinces, which furnished
contingents to their army. Reference is made in certam inscriptions
of Xerxes to the suppression of rebellion in lands ‘‘where, before,
the Daivas were worshipped; then, by Ahuramazda’s will, of such
temples of the Daivas I (the king) sapped the foundations”. The
Daiva- worshipping lands may have included the Indian satrapies.
But the hold of the later Achaemenians on their eastern possessions
gradually became weak, and towards the middle of the fourth
century b.o. the Indian borderland was parcelled out among
various small States, the rulers of which were practically independent.
The hill country north of the Kabul river, drained by the Kunar
'and the Swat, was occupied mainly by the ASvakas, a people
whose name is derived from the Sanskrit Adva, Iranian Aspa
(horse). Somewhere in this mountain region stood also the city
of Nysa, alleged to have been founded by Greek colonists. The
old territory of Gandhara was divided into two parts by the Indus.
To the west of the river lay the kingdom of Pushkalavati in tlio
modem district of Peshawar and to its east was the realm of
Taxha in the present district of Rawalpindi. Taxila was a pros-
perous kingdom governed by good laws. Its capital was a noble
city which, occupied the site of the present Bhir Mouiui near
Saraikala, twenty miles north-west of Rawalpindi, It lay on the
high road from Central Asia to the interior of India, and the fame
of its market-place spread to the distant corners of the civilised
world. Great as an emporium of commerce, the city was greater
stiU as a centre of learning. Crowds of eager scholars ilockod to
it for instruction in the three Vedas and the eighteen branches of
knowledge. Tradition affirms that the Great Epic, the Mahdbkdraia
was ffist recited in this city.'))
i
BEGIlSnsriNGS OF MAGADHAN ASCENDANCY 66
^he mountain territory just above the Taxila country was
occupied by the kingdoms of UraiSa (Hazara district) and Abhisara
(Punch and Naoshera). To the south-east of Taxila lay the twin
kingdoms of the Purus or Pauravas, a people already famous in
the Vedic hymns. The territory of the prince mentioned by Greek
historians as t|ie elder Poros, was situated between the Jhelum
and the Ghenali, while the principality of his nephew, the younger
Poros, stretched from the Chenab to the Ravi. On the confines of
the country of the Pauravas lay the territories of the Glaukarukoi
and Kathaioi and the principality of Saubhuti. The southern
part of the Jhang district with the contiguous portion of the lower
valley of the Ravi was occupied by the iSibis and the Mdlavas,
with whom were associated the Kshudrahas, while lower down the
Chenab hved the AmbasJithas. These tribes were autonomous and
some of them are expressly mentioned as having a democratic
government. Upper Smd was divided among a number of poten-
tates of whom the most important was Mousikanos, whose capital
probably lay at or near Alor. In the Indus delta stood the city of
Pattala which, like vSparta, was governed by two kings and a
Senate of Elders. )
The distracted condition of the country invited invasion from
without, and political changes in western Asia and the land of the
Yavanas or the Greeks and Macedonians indicated the quarter
from which it came. The door was opened to the invader by certain
Indians whose hatred for their neighbours made them blind to
the true interests of their country.
In 336 B.o. the throne of Macedon, a powerful military State
in the land of the Yavanas in south-east Europe, was occupied by
Alexander, a prince of remarkable energy and abiUty. In 333
and 331 b.o. Alexander inflicted two severe defeats on the great king
of Persia, the last of the line of Darius and Xerxes, and occupied
his realm. In 330 b.o. the Persian king died, leaving his conqueror
the undisputed master of the Achaemenian empire. Three years
later, in 327 b.o., Alexander crossed the Hindukush and resolved
to recover the Indian satrapies that had once acknowledged the
sway of his Persian predecessors. To secure his communications,
he garrisoned a number of strongholds near modem Kabul and
passed the winter of 327-326 B.o. in warfare with the fierce hill
tribes of the Kunar and Swat valleys. He stormed the fortresses
of Massaga and Aornos and received the submission of the city
of Nysa. His generals took the city of Pushkalavati. Massaga
probably lay to the north of the Malakand Pass. Aornos has
recently been identified with the height of Una between the Swat
66 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
and the Indus, while Nysa has been located on the lower spurs
of the three-peaked Koh-i-Mor between the Kimar and Swat
valleys. Pushkalavati is represented by the modem Charsadda
near the junction of the Swat and Kabul rivers, about seventeen
miles north-east of Peshawar.
The conqueror next forced his way through dense jungles to
Ohind and crossed the Indus by a bridge of boats (326 b.c.). In
his operations, he received valuable help from Ambhi, Idng of Taxila ,
who now received the invader in his own capital with obsequious
pomp. After a brief respite, Alexander resumed his march and
pushed on to the Hydaspes (Vitasta, modern Jhelum). According
to one theory, he followed the Une of the modern Grand Trunk
Road to the town of Jhelum. According to another view, he
descended through the pass of Nandan to the right bank of the
Hydaspes close to the village of Haranpur. On his arrival, he
found a huge army drawn up on the other bank of the river to
oppose his further progress.; The formidable host was led by the
elder Paurava king, a man of gigantic and powerful build, who
was mortified at the pusillanimous conduct of his Taxilian neighbour,
and resolved to defend his hearth and home against the audacious
invader from the west., = Alexander found it impossible to cross
the stream, which was then in full flood, in the face of a mighty
array of warriors and elephants. He diverted the attention of
his enemy by demonstrations in different directions and then
stole a passage at a sharp bend of the river about seventeen miles
above his camp, under cover of a thickly wooded promontory
and an island in mid-stream covered with jungle. The place of
crossing is located by some above the town of Jhelum and by
others at Jalalpur. A small force that had hurried to dispute the
passage of the invaders was easily routed, and Alexander advanced
quickly to give battle to the Indian king. The I'aurava, too,
marched forth to meet his adversary and drew up his army in
battle array. He had with him 30,000 foot, 4,000 horses, 300
chariots, and 200 elephants. He arranged his elephants in front
of the infantry and placed the cavalry on the wings with ehariois
in front of them. The vast force looked Hke a city with elephants
as bastions and men-at-arms as the circumvallating wall. The
field of battle camiot be definitely located. Scholars who place
Aexander’s camp at Jhelum think that the hostile forces mot in
the Karri plain.
The Indian king made the mistake of allowing the Macedonians
to take the offensive with their superior cavalry. The latter began
by an attack on the Indian left wing. The Indian charioteer and
BEGIOTINGS OF MAGADHAN ASCENDANCY
67
horseman could not withstand the onslaught of the mounted
archers in the Macedonian ranks, and the Indian infantry were
preTented by the slippery slush under foot from making an effective
use of their formidable bows. The elephants for a time spread
havoc in the enemy’s ranks, but many of the monsters were
maddened by womids and rushed on friends and foes alike. The
Paurava force suffered most and was soon scattered by the veterans
of Alexander. The Indian king, however, did not flee, but went
on fighting on a mighty elephant until he received a severe wound.
He was then brought to the presence of the conqueror, who asked
him how he would like to be treated. “Act like a king,” answered
the valiant Paurava. The Macedonian treated his gallant adversary
generously and gave him back his kingdom. It was no part of
Alexander’s policy to alienate the sympathy of powerful local
princes if it could be helped, and he understood the value of brave
and chivalrous allies in a newly-acquired territory, far away from
the seat of empire, who could be trusted to uphold the authority
of the supreme ruler and serve as a check on one another.
[ \^ The invader next overran the petty principalities and tribal
territories in the vicinity of the realm of the great Paurava. He
crossed the Akesmes' (Chenab) "iand the Hydraotes (Ravi), stormed
Sangala, the stronghold of the Kathaioi, probably situated in
the Gurudaspur district, and moved on to the Hyphasis (Beasji"
He wished to press forward to the Ganges valley, but bis war-
worn troops would not allow him to go farther. The king erected
twelve towering altars to mark the utmost limit of his march,
and then with a heavy heart retraced his steps to the Jhelum.
He sent part of his troops down the river in a flotilla of boats under
the command of Nearchos. The rest fought th^ way through
the territory of free and warlike tribes inhabiting^he lower valley
of the Ravi and the Chenab. Thousands of people, including women
and children, perished in the course of the struggle, and the inhabit-
ants of one city, preferring death to dishonour, threw themselves
into the flame in the manner of the Rajputs who practised Jauhar
in later times.
; The conqueror himself received a dangerous wound while storming
- one of the citadels of the powerful tribe of the Malavas. The
subdued nations made presents of chariots, bucklers, gems, draperies,
lions, tigers, etc. Alexander next reduced the principalities of Sind
and sailed to the open sea (325 b.c.). A portion of the Macedonian
host had already been sent home through Afghanistan, Another
division, led by the king himself, trudged through the deserts of
Baluchistan and, after terrible sufferings, reached Babylon. The
68
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
rest of the troops returned by sea to the north of the Tigris under
the command of Nearchos. Alexander did not long survive his
return to Babylon, where he died in 323 b.o.
Administrative arrangements made by Alexander
The Macedonian king had no desii-e to renounce his new con-
quests. He wished to incorporate them permanently into his
extensive empire. He formed the districts to the west of the
Hydaspes into regular satrapies under Persian or Macedonian
governors who were assisted, in some cases, by Indian chiefs
like Sa^igupta of Aornos and Ambhi of Taxila. Beyond the river
he created a system of protected States under vassal kings, among
whom the great Paurava and the king of Abhisara were the most
eminent. Macedonian garrisons were stationed in Pushkalavati,
Taxila, and other important strategic centres. New cities were
built, mostly on the great rivers, to establish the authority of the
conqueror fcmly in the acquired territories and stimulate trade
and navigation in the Land of the Five Rivers.
Effect of the Persian and Macedonian Invasions
The Macedonian prefectures and garrisons were soon swept
away by Chandragupta Maurya, and within a few years all vestige
of foreign domination disappeared from the Punjab and Sind.
But the invasions of Darius and Alexander had not been in vain.
The Persian conquest had unveiled India probably for the first
time to the Western world and established contact between this
country and the peoples of the Levant. Indian spearmen and
archers fought under the Persian banner on European soil in
the fifth century b.o. and quickened the interest of the peoples
of Hellas in this land of strange folks and surpassing wealth.
Persian and Greek officials found employment in the Indus pro-
vinces and made their presence felt in various ways. The intro-
duction of new scripts — Aramaic, KharoshtM and the alphabet
styled Yavandm by Panini, is probably to be traced to this source.
Whether some important features of the architecture of the
Maurya period and certain phrases used in the A^okan edicts
are also to be attributed to their enterprise, is a highly debatable
question. The hold of the great king on the Indian frontier slackened
considerably in the fourth century b.o. The arduous campaigns
of Alexander restored the fallen fabric of imperialism and laid
the foundation of a closer contact between India and the Hellenic
BEGINISriNGS OF MAGADHAN ASCENDANCY 69
world. The Macedonian empire in the Indus valley no doubt
perished within a short time. But the Macedonian had welded
the political atoms mto one unit and thus paved the way for the
more permanent union under the Mauryas. The voyages and
expeditions planned by Alexander widened the geographical
I horizon of his contemporaries, and opened up new lines of com-
j munication and new routes for trade and maritime enterprise.
The colonies that the conqueror planted in the Indian borderland
do not appear to have been altogether wiped out by the Mauryas.
Yavana officials continued to serve the great king of Magadha
as they had served the great king of Ecbatana and PersepoHs,
and Yavana adventurers carved out independent kingdoms in the
north-west when the sun of Magadha set. If Greeks in later ages
learnt lessons in philosophy and re ligion from Indian Buddhist
and Bhagavatas, the Indians on their part imitated the Greek
coinage, honoured Greek astronomers and appreciated Hellenistic
art. This was due ultimately to the measures that Alexander
had adopted “to set little bits of HeUas down” in the wilds of
Western and Central Asia and on the banks of the Indus and
the Akesines.
CHAPTER VI
CIVILISATION IN THE EAELY DAYS OF MAGADHAN ASCENDANCY
Sources
Fob the history of the Indian civilisation during the early period
of Magadhan hegemony we have to turn to various sources. No
single set of documents gives a picture of the whole of India. For
an authentic account of the Indus valley and the north-western
borderland, we have to depend mainly on Greek evidence. For
the Madliya~deia or the upper Ganges vaUey, and particularly its
western part, the land of the Kurus and the Panchalas which
was the cradle and centre of Brahmanism, we have to look to the
Brahmapical Sutras and the early epic. The epic, no doubt, looks
back to the heroic age which is coeval with the later Vedic period,
but the extant poems have a wider geographical outlook than
the later Vedie texts. It is, however, significant that neither epic
mentions the city of Pataliputra. Girivraja, Raj agriha, or Vasumati
is mentioned as the capital of Magadha. Both the epics are
familiar with the prowess of the king of Magadha, and the longer
poem pre-supposes a Magadhan empire. The lesser epic mentions
a powerful Kosalan realm contemporaneous with VaUdlilca Nrvpas
(rulers of Vai^ali). References to Buddhism occur in both but
are extremely rare. Greeks and 6akas are familiar but have no
essential connection with the original tale. Barring the bulk of
the didactic books and the latest episodes and cantos, the evidence
of the epic may with confidence be utilised for our period. For
north-east India the most useful information is to bo found in
the early Pali canon and the sacred books of the Jainas. Stray
notices of the peoples of Southern India are found in some of
these works, but detailed information is lacking and the picture
is dim. South India possesses a splendid literature of its own,
but the date of the extant works is comparatively late and can
hardly be utilised for the pre-Mauryan period.
70
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADHAN EPOCH
71
Administration
Neither in the east nor in the west was monarchy the only form
of government in the beginning of our period or towards its close.
There were, no doubt, powerful rajas in South Bihar and Oudh,
as well as in Malwa and the Punjab, who were fighting to extend
their authority at the expense of their neighbours and build up
true imperial States. But they had to reckon with free and war-
like tribes, governed by their own elders and owning the authority
of no monarch. Kingship, again, was not everywhere of the same
type. Some of the kingdoms in eastern India were true Sdmrdjyas,
governed by rulers who could justly call themselves Elcardt or
sole monarch. In the Indus delta, on the other hand, we have
kings who commanded in war but left the work of government
to a Senate of Elders. The number of khigs was two, as in Sparta,
an early mstance of dvairdjya or diarchy, so famous in Indian
history and tradition. While Madras acquired supreme power in
the lower Ganges vaUey, the state of things in the lower valley
of the Indus was different, and great political power was exercised
by the Brahmapas. The rdjd of the Madhya-deia, judging by the
testimony of the epic, was no autocrat. He carried on the affairs
of his realm with the assistance of the SabM, usually consisting
of princes of the blood and military chiefs. The circle of advisers
was sometimes enlarged by the admission of priests and officials
or representatives of lower orders like the Sutas. Among certain
tribes, all clansmen had a right to attend the Sabhd, which was
thus a popular assembly and not a council of magnates. Even
in kingdoms where the popular assembly is not much in evidence,
the monarch had to defer to the wishes of Brahmapas, elders of
corporations and the commonalty. He had to do what was pleasing
to the people. For the efficient discharge of his duties he had to
learn the Vedas and the iSdstras, Tyrannical princes were not
infrequently expelled from the throne. Even in Magadha, the citadel
of imperialism, the king consulted the village headmen. A dynasty
was driven out by the citizens because of its delinquencies.
Monarchies were often hereditary and the reigning prince at
times nominated his successor. But cases of election are referred
to by all our authorities. Choice was sometimes limited to members
of the royal family, but on occasions selections were made from
outside. A Greek writer tells us that in a certain district of the
Punjab the handsomest man was chosen as king. Kingship was
no longer a monopoly of the Kshatriya caste, and one of the most
powerful dynasties of the age was of ^udra extraction.
72 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
With the growth of kingdoms and the incorporation of new
territory, the office of the viceroy and provincial governor became
more and more important. In the eastern and north-western
monarchies it was often held by a prince of the blood, a practice
that was followed in later times by the Mauryas and some of the
Timurids. The epic does not seem to favour the policy of permanent
annexation of foreign territory. Conquered provinces were usually
restored to the old ruling family, but when appointments to
rulership were made from the centre, the choice fell not on a prince
of the blood but on military chiefs at the imperial court. These
chiefs were not always Kshatriyas. The Kurus, for example,
appointed a Brahmana to rule over a portion of the Panchala
territory that they had conquered, and a Kuru king gave the
government of Ahga to a warrior who was believed to be the son
of a Siita. In Kosala Brahmapas received districts with power over
them as if they were kings.
Among State functionaries, the Purohita was of special import-
ance in Kasi-Kosala, as we learn from the Bdmdyana and several
Jdtahas. A Sutra work tells us that a single person was at one
time the Purohita of the three kingdoms of Kasi, Kosala, and
Videha. The eka-Purohita was the priestly counterpart of the
warrior eha-rdt. In the Kuru-Banch5.1a and Matsya countries,
on the other hand, the Purohita was over-shadowed by the Sendpati,
whose office was scarcely inferior to that of the king himself. The
Senapati was often a prince of the blood or a person of royal rank,
and, like the king, had to do judicial work in certain parts of the
country in addition to his military duties.
The most important feature of the administrative development
of the period under review was the rise of a class of high officials
styled mahdmdtras, who are unknown to the Vedic texts and
gradually tend to disappear after the Maurya and Satavahana
periods. They were charged with duties of a varied character.
Some looked after general affairs {sarvdrthaka). Others administered
justice (vydvahdrika). A third body had charge of the army
{seud-ndyaTca). Others were entrusted with the work of cadastral
survey (rajjugrdhaka) or measurement of the king’s share of the
produce {dronamdpaka).
In the administration of justice, the king continued to play
an important part. It was his duty to give decisions in accordance
with the special laws of the districts, castes, and families. But
much of the judicial work was now entrusted to the Vydvahdrikaa
or judges. The process of law in certain localities was, according
to Buddhist tradition, a complicated affair. There were various
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADHAN EPOCH
73
tribunals, set one above the other, from the court of the VinUchaya
mahdmdtra to that of the rdjan. Judgments were pronounced
according to the Book of Customs. But the work which records
the tradition is of late date, and it is difficult to say whether the
procedure outlined in it was the special characteristic of a particular
locality governed by a republic, or had a wider application. In
criminal law the use of Ordeals is recognised.
Scarcely less important than the administration of justice was
the protection of the people from armed foes. To do this duty the
rulers had to maintain big armies. Important changes were effected
in military organisation by the introduction of war-elephants as
a regular feature of the fighting forces, and the creation of the body
of mahdmdtras to take charge of the department of war. Armies
of the period usually consisted of four elements : infantry, cavalry,
chariots and elephants. To these the later epic adds the navy,
labourers, spies and local guides. Greek writers refer to expert
sailors in the Indus delta whom the Macedonians employed to
steer their vessels down to the ocean when their own attempts
at navigation failed. It is not improbable that rulers of the deltaic
regions maintained small fleets even before the organisation of
a big naval department by the founder of the Maurya dynasty.
About the equipment of Indian troops in the flfth and fourth
centuries b.o. we have fortunately a few details recorded by Greek
observers. The Indian infantry, clad in cotton garments, usually
carried long bows and iron-tipped arrows made of cane. Some
were armed with spears. They also carried a two-handed sword
and a buckler of undressed ox-hide. The cavalry had usually the
same equipment as the infantry. The chariots were drawn by
horses or wild asses and carried six men apiece, of whom two
were bowmen, two were shield-bearers, and two were charioteers.
Epic poets refer to the division of the army into alcshauMms,
vdhims, etc., mention different kinds of battle-array {vyuha),
and allude to various projectiles including the iataghni or hundred-
killer. Jaina writers refer to the use made by Ajata^atru of the
maMsildkantaga and ra{t)hamti8ala. The first seems to have been
some engine of war of the nature of a catapult which threw big
stones. The second was a chariot to which a mace was attached
and which, running about, effected great execution.
Greek writers bear testimony to the fact that in the art of war
Indians were far superior to the other peoples of Asia. Their
failure to offer a successful resistance to foreign invaders was often
due to an inferiority in cavalry. Indian commanders in ancient
times pinned their faith more upon elephants than upon horses.
74 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The maintenance of a splendid court, a big army and a large
body of civil officials reqtiired money. Weak rulers had some-
times to appease their conquerors by the pajrment of heavy tribute.
Some of the kings loved to hoard treasure to the amount of several
millions. The collection of revenue was, therefore, all-important
to the State, and sometimes strange expedients were resorted to
by rulers to fiU their treasuries. The oldest source of revenue
was the bali, a contribution mentioned as early as the Vedic hymns.
Balikrit, payer of contribution, was a common epithet for the
ordinary freeman in the Vedic period. The word Mha is found
by some scholars in a dubious passage of the Atharva Veda. The
use of the revenue term bhdga is implied by the name BMga-dugha
applied to a high State official in the Brahma'm texts. Bhdga,
the king’s share of reaped com, became, in course of time, the
most important source of State revenue, and shadbhdgin, “a sharer
of the sixth part”, a standing epithet of the king. The bhdga
was measured out either by the village authorities or by royal
officials at the barn-doors, or by survey of the crops. Among
the most important revenue officials was the Grdma-bhojaha or
village head-man. The office was sometimes held by royal ministers.
Bali gradually acquired the sense of an oppressive impost, and
the collectors of bali were apparently classed with man-eating
demons. Among other royal dues, mention may be made of “milk*
money”, payable by the people when an heir was born to the
king, and taxes and octroi duties paid by merchants. The ruler
also imposed at times forced labour and claimed the right to dispose
of forest land and unowned property.
About the kingless States or republics our information is mainly
derived from Buddhist and Greek sources, though some details
are given by the Sanskrit epics and works on polity as well as
the sacred literature of the Jainas. Coins and inscriptions are not
of much help for our period. The word for a republic was Sanigha
or Oa^m, but the terms were also applied to religious fraternities
and economic corporations. Like monarchies, the republics, too,
were not all of the same tjrpe. Some were tribal oligarchies, others
are expressly mentioned as having a democratic constitution.
Some of these States embraced several elans, others were liinited
to single Kulas or even cities. Some were sovereign States owning
no allegiance to any external authority. Others did homage to
some neighbouring potentate, though enjoying a considoral)le
degree of local autonomy. There were, however, certain features
common to all. Each had its pariskad or assembly which met
in the sarhsthdgdra or mote-hall where young and old alike were
75
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADHAN EPOCH
present. According to a high authority, the method of procedure
generally adopted in the tribal meetings was not by voting on a
motion. The point at issue was either carried unanimously or
referred for arbitration to a committee of referees. Besides the
central assembly at the capital, there were local parishads in all
the more important places in the State. The citizens honoured and
esteemed the MahallaJcas or elders and held it a point of duty to
hearken to their words. Executive government was in the hands
of a single chief or a number of chiefs styled Rdjan, Gana rdjan
or Sarhghamukhya, corresponding to the Roman consul or Greek
archon. The Rdjds or Samghamukhyas were either identical with
the MahaUakas or selected from them. The title Rdjan was some-
times loosely applied to all the chief men of the State, for we
hear of 7,707 Rdjds among the Lichchhavis, though one document
puts the figure at 500 and a Jaina text seems to limit the title to
only nine. A Buddhist commentary seems to suggest that the
Rdjds ruled by turns. The number of elderly citizens eligible for
the chief executive office probably fluctuated from time to time.
Besides the Rdjan there were other functionaries styled Upardjan
(vice-consul), Sendpati (general), Bhdnddgdrika (treasurer), etc.
Tradition points to the existence of a succession of officials for
the administration of criminal law in the Vrijian State — ^the
VinUchaya mahdmdtra (deciding magistrates), Vydvahdrika (lawyer-
judge), Sutradhara (canonist), Ashtakulika (representative of the
eight clans), Sendpati (general), Upardjan (vice-consul), and Rdjan
(consul). But the evidence is late and we do not know how far
the procedure was actually foEowed in our period.
Social Life
With the Aryan expansion over practically the whole of India,
came a wide diversity of social conditions. Customs not approved
in the Gangetic Doab were admitted as good usage in the north
beyond the river Sarasvati or the south beyond the Narmada.
Women, for example, enjoyed in southern India certain pri-
vileges denied to their mid*Indian sisters. The wife in the
south was allowed to eat in the company of her husband, and
restrictions on the marriage of cognates were not so strict in the
south as in the north. Widow marriage and Levfrate had not fallen
into disuse even in the Ganges valley, and burning of widows
was not sanctioned by the orthodox lawgivers. But the practice
of Sail could not have been unknown in the north-west. In the
epic we hear of the self-immolation of a princess bom in the Madra
76 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
country in the Punjab, and Greek writers refer to the widow of
an Indian commander who “departed to the pyre crowned with
fillets by her women and decked out splendidly as for a wedding”.
A few polyandrous marriages are alluded to in the epic, but these
were not sanctioned by general usage and must have been of
very rare occurrence.
The picture of the woman in the Greek accounts, Buddhist
discourses or epic tales does not always agree with that portrayed
in the formal codes of law. The women of the JDharma-Sutraa
were helpless beings who were always dependent on their male
relations and were classed with properties of minors or sealed
deposits. The women known to Adexander’s contemporaries took
the arms of their fallen relatives and fought side by side with
the men against the enemy of their country. The epic matron
exhorted her indolent son to “flare up like a torch, though it be
but for a moment, but smother not like a fixe of chaff just to
prolong life”. Education was not denied to women, some of whom
are described as bemg widely known for their knowledge, learning,
and dialectic skfll. Buddhist texts refer to princesses who com-
posed poems that are preserved in the Therl-gathd or the Psalms
of the Sisters. In several epic stories we find references to
svayamvara or choice of a husband by the bride herself, and in
a famous episode of the MaMbhdrata a king asked his daughter
to choose a husband and said that he would give her the man
of her choice. Seclusion of women was practised in certain families,
but many of the epic tales bear witness to a freer life where women
laid aside their veils and came out of the seclusion of their houses.
This was specially the case on the occasion of a great national
festival or sorrow. “Women should not be slain,” says one great
epic poet. “A wife is half the man,” says another, and adds that
“Whene’er we suffer pain and grief
Like mothers kind they bring relief.”
The common people mostly lived in villages in humble dwellings
made of thatch which were sometimes mud-plastered for fear of
fire. Kings resided in fortified towns {pur) or cities {uagara) provided
with lofty walls, strong ramparts, watch-towers and gates. These
cities contained pleasure parks, streets lighted with torches and
watered, assembly halls, dancing halls, gambling houses, courts
of justice, booths for traders and work-places of artisans. The
number of big cities was not large. Early Buddhist texts refer
to six such places— Champa (near Bhagalpur), Raj agriha (in the
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADHAN EPOCH 77
Patna district), Sravasti (Saheth-Maheth.), Saketa (Oudh), Kau^ambi
(near Allahabad), and Benares — as flourishing in the days of the
Buddha. Taxila is omitted in this list, either because it had not
yet risen to greatness or because it was far away in the north-west.
The city of Pataliputra was founded after the death of the sage
of the ^akyas. One of the capital cities, that of a kingless State,
is expressly mentioned as a ‘Tittle wattle and daub town”, “a
branch township” surrounded by jungles.
The royal residence in the Brahmapical Sutras is a modest
structure probably built of wood. Buddhist texts refer to a palace
of stone, but it was in fairyland. They also mention buildings of
seven storeys in height (swigla hhumaka jordsdda). It is suggested
by a high authority that in early times the superstructure at least
of aU dwellings was either woodwork or brickwork. But certain
texts refer to workers in stone who built houses with material from
the ruins of a former village. The imperial palace described in the
epic is a noble mansion made of stone and metal and provided
with arches and roofs supported by a thousand pOlars.
The inner court of the palace contained playgrounds with flowers
and fountains where the women amused themselves. Little
princesses had their dolls, panchdlikd. They also played with a
ball, kanduka, while the boys sported with a bah. or hockey (vUd),
which they rolled or tossed about. The usual recreations of women
were singing, dancing and music. There was a dancing hall attached
to almost every palace. Men, too, are represented by Greek authors
as being very fond of singing and dancing. But the chief pastimes
of knights were gambling, hunting, listening to tales of war, and
tournaments in amphitheatres surrounded by platforms for
spectators. Buddhist texts refer to acrobatic feats, combats of
animals and a kind of primitive chess play.
The dress of the people of the Indus valley consisted of a tunic
made of cotton and two other pieces of stuff, one thrown about
their shoulders and the other twisted round their heads. Men
wore ear-rings and dyed their beards. They used umbrellas and
shoes. Women of the aristocratic class were decked with golden
stars about their heads and a multitude of necklets and bangles
set with precious gems. Girls of the same classes in the Gangetic
region also wore necklaces besides waist-bands and anklets adorned
with bells. They were gaudily attired in linen or yellow or red
silk.
The early epic warrior did not feel much compunction in taking
meat, but in the later epic the slaughter of animals in the manner
of the Kshatriyas is regarded as cruel and ghoulish. The growing
78 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OE INDIA
feeling of pity for animate beings is reflected in tbe exhortation
“don’t kill the guiltless cow”, and the practice of substituting
images of animals made out of meal for real living creatures. The
ordinary fare of the Indians of the north-west borderland, according
to Greek observers, consisted of pulpy rice and seasoned meat.
These were served up on a gold dish placed on a table. The drinliing
of wine was not widely prevalent except on the occasion of religious
festivals. People m upper Sind had a kind of Lacedaemonian
common meal where they ate in public. Their food consisted of
what was taken in the chase.
Social distinctions were becoming rigid, though the epic
philosophers declared that “There was no distinction of caste.
The whole of this universe was divine, having emanated from
Brahman. Created equally by the supreme spirit men had on
account of their deeds been divided into various castes”. The
Greek writers note at the end of this period that the custom of
the country prohibited intermarriage between the castes. Custom
also prohibited anyone from exercising two trades, or from chang-
ing from one caste to another. The sophist only could come from
any caste. Brahmanical lawgivers developed the theory of defile-
ment and laid a ban on certain kinds of food as being intrinsically
unfit for consumption by the twice-born or upper castes. Others,
when defiled by the touch of certain classes of men and women,
were regarded as impure. The theory of mised castes is produced
so as to explain the presence of new communities like the Yavanas.
But such a theory tacitly admits that intermarriage between the
castes did take place, and was legally recognised, though it -was
looked upon with disfavour by some of the law-givers. Legal
maxims were counsels of perfection which \rere not always followed
in practice. Greek historians refer to the matrimonial alliance
between an Indian king and a Greek potentate. They also draw
attention to the political activities and mUitanoy of the Brahmanas
in the lower Indus valley, and aUude to the rise of a dynasty of
barber origin in the valley of the Ganges. Purapic writers refer l;o
marriages of Kshatriya kings with 6udra women and the assumption
of royal authority by the ^udras. Cases of mtermarriage between
castes and change of caste and occupation are also found in the
epic. An epic king marries a Brahmapa girl. A Kshatriya prince
is promoted to the rank of a Brahmapa. A Brahmapa warrior
leads the Kuru host against the Papdus and chieftains of the
Pauchala country. A Kshatriya prince does not hesitate to
embrace a Nishada whom he calls his friend, and takes food from
a ^avara woman who has already served several sages.
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADHAN EPOCH
79
Buddhist writers acknowledge the existence of the four varnas
and numerous degraded tribes and low trades {Mnajdti and Mna-
dilpa) besides aboriginal peoples, outcastes and slaves. They
refer to pride of birth and taboos on intermarriage and inter-
dining, especially with slave girls and outcastes. But they give
the palm to the Kshatriya and, like some epic poets, usually
regard character, and not birth or ceremonial purity, as the true
test of caste. Like the epic poets again, they refer to a certain
elasticity of caste rules in the matter of connubium, commensahty
and change of caUing. Brahmanas took wives from royal houses.
Princes, priests and pedlars ate together and intermarried.
Brahmapas and Kshatriyas took to trade and menial work.
Weavers became archers. It is clear that social divisions and
economic occupations did not exactly coincide, though the texts
testify to a natural predilection of artisans and traders for the
ancestral oaUing.
Economic Condition
As already stated, the vast majority of the people seem to have
preferred country life to residence in “towns covered with dust”.
The rural population consisted mainly of agriculturists and ranch-
men, but we have also references to “craft villages” of carpenters,
smiths and potters. Towns mainly attracted the ruling and
commercial classes.
The simple rites of the Orikya Sutras, such as “the furrow
sacrifice” and “the threshing-floor sacrifice”, testify to the import-
ance of the agricultural population. The farmers lived in villages,
the number of which was very large in every kingdom. Villages
were largely autonomous, though under the suzerainty of the
king who received certain dues that have already been specified
above and sometimes claimed the right of appointing the head-
man or officials who collected the village dues for him. The king’s
right to agricultural land was probably limited to a share of its
produce. The king could remit the tithe due to the Government or
make it over to anyone he wished to favour. But even royal officials
scrupulously avoided encroachment upon the rights of the peasant
householders {grihapati).
Nearchos refers to the cultivation of lands in the north-west
by a whole kinship. Each individual took what he needed out
of the produce and the remnant was destroyed to discourage
sloth. In the Ganges valley, the arable land of the village {grama-
kshetra) was split up into plots held by heads of houses who
managed their own holdings but co-operated for purposes of fencing
80 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
and irrigation under the guidance of the headman {Bhojaka,
Ordmika), The holdings were usually small, but large estates
farmed by Brahmanas were known though they were very rare.
The bigger holdings were to a great extent managed with the
assistance of hired labour. Slaves were not kept in large numbers
and were ordinarily employed as domestic servants.
The householders who had shares of the village field and
constituted the village community have been described as peasant
proprietors, but it is not clear whether they had any proprietary
rights as against the community or could transfer their shares
to outsiders. Sale or gift of land was not unknown in Oudh or
South Bihar, but the recorded cases generally refer to big estates
owned by priests or nobles, and not to the small holdings of the
ordinary members of the village community.
The village peasants were a generally contented lot, and both
men and women had the civic spirit to work for the common
good. The result of co-operation was seen in the construction
of reservoirs and the laying out of irrigation canals. In spite of their
best endeavours, however, villagers could not escape famine for
aE time. The calamity, however, was not of frequent occurrence
and, when it did come, its area was restricted.
The rural population included, besides the viUage agriculturists,
a considerable body of ranchmen who tended cattle. They avoided
towns and vElages and Eved in cattle-ranches styled ghosha.
Some of the cowboys roamed about with then* flocks in forests
and on the mountains. The herdsman was frequently employed
to guard the royal cattle and to take the flocks of the village folk
to the common grazing field beyond the cultivated lands.
Handicraftsmen constituted a large part of the population both
in rural and urban areas. The number of callings was large and
included workers in stone and ivory and painters of frescoes.
In some of the industries a considerable degree of specialisation
was reached. They were also, to a large extent, localised and
limited to particular families, for there was a general tendency
among artisans for the son to foUow the paternal calling. Eighteen
of the more important crafts were organised into guilds {Sre^t,
Buga), each of which was presided over by a Pramukha (foreman),
Jyeshfhaka (elder) or i§reshthin (chief). We sometimes hear of a
Mahdireshthin or supreme chief, and Anuireshthin or deputy chief.
Above aE. the guEd officials stood the Bhdvddgdrika who combined
the post of State Treasurer with supreme headship over aU the Frenis.
It is doubtful if the fuE guEd organisation had spread to sea-
men and traders. Some of them had a Jyeshthaka (elder) or a
81
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADHAN EPOCH
Sdrfhavdha (caravan-leader) and worked in union under a iSreshthin.
But subordination to the leader or elder was not always in evidence,
and merchants often pHed their trade alone.
The range of activities of sailors and merchants in the period
represented by the Pali texts whose exact date is unknown was wide.
We hear of sea* voyages and of trading journeys to the coast of Burma
and the Malay world {Suvarna-bhumi), Ceylon (Tdmraparm) and
even to Babylon (Baveru). But navigators for the most part
trafficked up and down the great rivers, especially the Indus,
the Ganges and its tributaries. The principal sea-ports were
Bhrigukachcha (Broach), ^urparaka (Sopara, north of Bombay)
and perhaps Tamralipti (Tamluk in West Bengal). Of the riparian
ports, Sahajati (in Central India), Kau^ambi on the Jumna,
Benares, Champa (near Bhagalpur), and latterly Pataliputra on
the Ganges and Pattala on the Indus deserve special mention.
The great inland routes mostly radiated from Benares and ^ravasti.
One great highway connected the chief industrial and commercial
centres of the Ganges valley with Central and Western Asia by
way of the prosperous city of Taxha. Another stretched from
Raj agriha in South Bihar by way of ^ravasti in Oudh to the banks
of the Godavari. Still another, and a far more difficult, route
lay across the desert of Rajputana to the ports of Sauvira in the
lower Indus valley and of the Upper Deccan near the mouth
of the Narmada. Adventurous merchants were guided along this
route with difficulty by land-phots who kept to the right track
by observing the stars.
The chief articles of trade were shk, muslin, embroidery, ivory,
jewellery and gold. The system of barter had not died out
altogether, but the use of coins as the medium of exchange was
becoming general. The standard unit of value was the copper
Kdrshdpa'm, weighing a little more than 146 grains. Silver coins
were also in circulation. King Ambhi of Taxha presented Alexander
with two hundred talents of coined silver. The weight of a shver
Karshapapa, also called Purdrm or Dharana, was a little more
than 68 grains, which is one- tenth of that of the Nishka or Satamdna
known to the Vedic texts. The weight and relative value of coins
seem to have varied in di ff erent localities.
Religion
From the point of view of religion, the early days of the Magadhan
ascendancy were among the most eventful in Indian history.
Great changes took place within the fold of Brahmapism. Old
82 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
ideas changed. New ones sprang into vigorous life. Popular cults
and beliefs obtained recognition at the hands of the upper classes,
and humanitarian and theistic movements gathered force and
momentum as popular faith in animal sacrifice and barren ritual
tended to dii-niulsh with the growth of free speculation presaged
in the Upanishads. Outside the Brahmapical Holy Land, spiritual
leadership passed from the hands of priestly theologians and
sacrificers to ascetics and wanderers 0ramana, Parivrdjaica) who
laid the utmost stress on non-injury to living beings and the
cessation of craving for the things of the world.
Greek references to the worship of Zeus Ombrios (Zeus of the
rain-storms) probably suggest that the Vedic rain-gods like Indra
and Parjanya were still honoured in North-West India. It is to
be noted that the deities in question figure prominently in the
ritual of the Cfrihya Sutras. Parjanya finds mention also in
the Buddhist Suttantas, which probably describe conditions in the
north-east, but the place of Indra was there occupied by Sakra
who is co-partner with Brahma in the lordship over the gods.
Brahmapical texts refer to the growing popularity of Vaisravapa,
Kumara (Karttikeya), and the goddesses Uma-Haimavati and
Va^ini who are regarded as different aspects of Durga, the
mother-goddess, consort of ^iva. Side by side with these
divinities appear the spirits dwelling m waters, herbs, trees, etc.
The mention of Vaisravapa points to the influence of the
YaJesha cult, the popularity of which is attested both by epic
and Buddhist evidence. The cult of trees and of water deities
like the Ganges is noted by Curtius and Strabo, and the idea
of the Kalpa-vrilcsha, the tree which w’ill give a man all he
wants, occurs prominently in literature, including that of the
Jainas.
Most of the deities are now thoroughly anthropomorphised and
become quite human in dress, talk and action. With the growth
of anthropomorphism came the increased use of images and the
construction of temples for daily service. Icons w'ore known to
the ancient people of the lower Indus valley, and stray allusions
to images have been traced in some Vedic texts. But the first un-
doubted historical reference to image-worship by an Aryan tribe
occurs in a passage of Curtius, who states that an image of Herakles
was carried in front of the Panrava army as it advanced against,
Alexander. Patanjali refers to the exhibition and sale of images
of ^iva, Skanda, and Vi§akha by the Mauryas who rose to power
at the end of our period. Temples of a primitive kind are mentioned
already in the ^atapath£t~Brdh7m'^, hut these were not meant for
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADHAN EPOCH 83
iconic worship. In the epic, however, we have clear references to
temples sacred to deities.
Blood sacrifices were sometimes offered to some of the gods,
but aU our authorities bear testimony to a new feeling of pity for
living beings. The MaMbMraku refers to the rescue by Pan.du
princes, led by Krishna, of hundreds of kings who were kept for
sacrifice in the fortress of Girivraja “as mighty elephants are kept
in mountain caves by the lion”. The Qrihya Sutras prescribe
rules for the substitution of images of meal at a sacrifice for real
living creatures. Greek and Latin observers note that Brahmanas
do not eat the flesh of animals which help man in his labours.
The remark undoubtedly confirms the Indian evidence regarding
the growing feeling of reverence for the cow. The doctrine of
Ahimsd or non-injury was specially inculcated by the ascetics
and wanderers who had great influence over the people especially
in Eastern India. An interesting glimpse of the ascetics of Taxila
is afforded by the account of Onesikritos who accompanied
Alexander to that city in 326 b.o.
Among the most important religious concepts of the period, a
prominent place should be assigned to the doctrines of Samsdra
and Karma ^ i.e. belief in repeated transmigration and the Law
of the Deed. The whole world is conceived as a “perpetual process
of creation, destruction and re-birth filling eternity with an ever-
lasting rhythm”, and the entire scheme is placed under the Law
of Karma which secures that every individual shall reap the fruit
of deeds performed in antecedent existences. “As a calf could
recognise its mother among a thousand kme, so the deeds of
the past would not fail to find out the doer.” The operation of the
Law might, however, be modified by the grace (prasada) of the
Lord, the Ordainer {Uvara, Dhdtri), combined with the loving
faith {BhaUi) of the worshipper. This new doctrine is preached
among others by the Vasudevakas, later called Blmgavatas. They
teach jB/iaifcii in Vasudeva, also known as Krishna Devakiputra,
who is identified in an Arapyaka with Vishpu and Narayapa. We
have already seen that the CJiMndogya Upanishad represents him
as the disciple of a solar priest who declared righteous conduct to
be as efficacious as fees given to a sacrificing priest. The epic
refers to him as a prince of the Satvata or Vrishpi clan of the
Yadava tribe of Mathura who put a stop to human sacrifice in
Magadha and avenged insults to womanhood in the Kuru country.
He is further represented as preaching the doctrines of nishkdma
Karma (deed done without seeking any reward) and loving faith
{BhaUi) in a God of Grace [prasada). The reKgious and philosophical
u Aisr ADViysrcED history or inbia
views of his followers are expounded in the Bhagavad OUd
which forms part of the sixth hook of the Mahdbhdrata. Bliahtas
of Vasudeva were known to Papini, and are probably to be
identified with the worshippers of the Indian Herakles whose
cult was specially popular with the Surasenas of Mathura in the
fourth century b.c.
Rival sects also make their appearance, the most notable being
the devotees of 6iva, later called the ^iva-Bhagavatas, Mahe^varas
or Pasupatas. In one of the later TJpanishads — the ^vetaSvatara
—Siva is the lord (Ba or Bana) of the universe— the Bhagavat
or the Blessed One, the object of devotion to the faithful. By
devoting oneself to him, ignorance is dispelled, the nooses of death
are snapped and eternal peace is attained.
The new theistic sects, though preserving their distinct individu-
ality, did not break away altogether from Brahmapism, and
attempts at a s 3 mthesis were made in the epics and later literature
whereby the gods of the Bhagavatas and the Pasupatas or &va.
Bhagavatas were recognised as emanations of the supreme divinity
of Brahmapism. This leads to the enunciation of the doctrine of
Trimurti which, in its mature form, belongs to a later age.
Eastern India saw the rise of a class of wandering teachers who,
though believing in the doctrine of transmigration and Karma,
rejected the authority of the Vedas and of Vedic priests, denounced
the blood sacrifices that constituted so large a part of the
Brahmapic ritual, and even denied the existence of God and
consequently the efficacy of divine grace. Right conduct, they
declared, was the way of getting out of the meshes of Karma and
Sarhsdra, and this right conduct included, among other things,
the practice of Ahirhsd or non-injury to living beings.
It is a notable fact that the greatest of the wandering teachers
were, like the lord of the Bhagavatas, scions of free Kshatriya
clans hailing from the territory that Hes on the fringe of the
Brahmapical Holy Land. One of them, Vardbamana Mahfivira,
belonged to the Jnatrika clan of Kupdapura or Kup(^agrama,
a suburb of Vai^ali in North Bihar. The other, Gautama Buddha,
was a prince of the Sakya clan of Kapilavastu near Rummindei
in the Nepal Tarai.
Mahavira and Jainism
The parents of Mahavira were Siddhartha, a Jnatrika chief of
Kupdapura, and Tri^ala, a Kshatriya lady related to the ruling
families of Vai^ali and Magadha. The early life of Mahavii'a is
veiled in obscurity. According to the tradition of the l^vetambara
INDIA IN EAELY MAGADHAN EPOCH 85
(white-robed) Jainas, he married a princess named Ya^oda. He
lived for some time the life of a pious householder, but forsook
the world at the age of thirty. He roamed as a naked ascetic in
several countries of eastern India and practised severe penance
for twelve years. Eor half the period he Hved with a mendicant
friar named Gosala who subsequently left him and became the
leader of the Ajivika sect. In the thirteenth year of his penance,
Mahavira repaired to the northern bank of the river Rijupalika
outside Jrimbhikagrama, a little-known locality in eastern India,
and attained the highest spiritual knowledge called Kevala-jMna.
He was now a Kevalin (omniscient), a Jina (conqueror) and
MaTidvira (the great hero). He became the head of a sect called
Nirgranthas (“free from fetters”), known in later times as Jainas
or followers of the Jina (conqueror). For thirty years he wandered
about as a religious teacher and died at Pava in South Bihar at
the age of seventy-two. The event is said to have happened 215
years before the Mauryas and 470 years before Vikrama. This is
usually taken to refer to 528 b.o. But 468 b.o. is preferred by some
modern scholars who rely on a tradition recorded by the Jaina
monk Hemachandra that the interval between Mahavira’s death
and the accession of Chandragupta Maurya was 165, and not 215,
years. The latter date does not accord with the explicit statement
in some of the earliest Buddhist texts that Mahavira predeceased
the Buddha. The earlier date is also beset with difficulties. In
the first place, it is at variance with the testimony of Hemachandra,
who places Mahavira’s Nirvana only 155 years before Chandra-
gupta Maurya. Again, some Jama texts place the Nirvana 470
years before the hirth of Vikrama and not his accession, and as
this event, according to the Jainas, did not coincide with the
foundation of the era of 58 b.o. attributed to Vikrama, the date
528 B.o. for Mahavira’s death can hardly be accepted as represent-
ing a unanimous tradition. Certain Jaina writers assume an
interval of eighteen years between the birth of Vikrama and the
foundation of the era attributed to him, and thereby seek to
reconcile the Jaina tradition about the date of Mahavira’s Nirvana
(58 -f* 18 + 470 = 546 B.o.) with the Ceylonese date of the Great
Decease of the Buddha (544 B.o,). But the suggestion can hardly
be said to rest on any reliable tradition, Merutunga places the
death of the last Jina or Tlrthahkara 470 years before the end of
^aka rule and the vicfory and not hir&i oi the traditional Vikrama.
The date 528 b.o. for the Nirvana of the Jnatrika teacher can to
a certain extent be reconciled with the Cantonese date of the
death of the Buddha (486 b.o.). But then we shall have to assume
86 AJSr ADVANCED HISTOEY OE INDIA
that Mahavira died shortly after Buddha’s enlightenment, forty-
five years before the Parinirvatm, when the latter could hardly
have become a renowned religious teacher of long standing as the
Buddhist canonical texts would lead us to believe. Certain Jaina
Sutras seem to suggest that Mahavira died about sixteen years
after the accession of Ajata^atru and the commencement of his
wars with his hostile neighbours. This would place the Nirvana
of the Jama teacher eight years after the Buddha’s death, as,
according to the Ceylonese Chronicles, the Buddha died eight
years after the enthronement of Ajata^atru. The Nirvana of the
Tirihanhara would, according to this view, fall in 478 b.c., if we
accept the Cantonese reckoning (486 b.c.) as our basis, and in 536
B.C., if we prefer the Ceylonese epoch. The date 478 B.c. would
almost coincide with that to which the testimony of Hemachandra
leads us, and place the accession of Chandragupta Maurya in 323
B.O., which cannot be far from the truth. But the result in respect
of Mahavira himself is at variance with the clear evidence of the
Buddhist canonical texts which make the Buddha survive his
Jfiatrika rival. The Jaina statement that their Tirihanhara died
some sixteen years after the accession of Kinfika (Ajata^atru)
can be reconciled with the Buddhist tradition about the death of
the same teacher before the eighth year of Ajata§atru if we assume
that the Jainas, who refer to Kupika as ruler of Champa, begin their
reckoning from the accession of that prince to the viceregal throne
of Champa, while the Buddhists make the accession of AjataSatru
to the royal throne of Rajagriha the basis of their calculation.
The Jainas believe that Mahavira was not the founder of a new
religious system, but the last of a long succession of twenty-four
Tirthanharas or “ford-makers across the stream of existence”.
The twenty-third teacher, ParSva, the immediate predecessor of
Mahavira, seems to have been a historical figure. He was a prince
of Benares, and he enjoined on his disciples the four great vows
of non-injury, truthfulness, abstention from stealing and non-
attachment. To these Mahavira added the vow of Brahmacharya
or continence. He also emphasised the need of discarding all extornai
things, including garments, if complete freedom from bonds is to
be attained. By following the three-fold path of Right Belief, Biglit
Knowledge, and Right Conduct, souls will be released from trans-
migration and reach the pure and blissful abode {Siddha Sild)
which is the goal of Jaina aspiration. There is no place in Jainism
for a supreme creative spirit. The doctrine of non-injury is given
a wide extension by attributing souls not only to birds and beasts
but also to plants, metals, water, etc.
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADHAN EPOCH 87
According to the tradition of the Svetawbara Jainas, the original
doctrine taught by Mahavira was contained in fourteen old texts
styled. Purvas. Towards the close of the fourth century b.o., when
a famine in South Bihar led to the exodus of an important section
of the Jainas, headed by Bhadrabahu, to the Mysore country,
those that remained behind in Pataliputra convoked a council
with a view to reviving the knowledge of the sacred texts which
was passing into oblivion. The result was the compilation of the
twelve Angas which are regarded as the most important part of
the Jaina canon. Another council was held at Valabhi in Gujarat
in the fifth or sixth century a.d. which made a final collection of
the scriptures and reduced them to writing. The complete canon
included not only the Angas, but sundry other treatises styled
Updnga, Mula Sutra, etc.
The followers of Bhadrabahu, on their return to the norths
refused to acknowledge the canon as drawn up by their co-
religionists at home, who came to be known as Svetdmbaras (clad
in white) as they wore white garments notwithstanding the injunc-
tions of Mahavira. Those who continued to follow scrupulously
the directions of the famous Jnatrika teacher regarding nudity,
came to be called Digambaras (sky-clad or naked). The division
of the Jaina Church into these two sects is at least as old as the
first century a.d. But it may be much older, and some scholars
find in the followers of Par^va, the Tirthahkara who immediately
preceded Mahavira, the precursors of the ^vetambaras of later ages.
Gautama Buddha
Among the notable contemporaries of Mahavira was a wandering
teacher who belonged to the Sakya clan of Kapilavastu in the
Nepal Tarai to the north of the Basti district of the United
Provinces. His name wa§^„ Siddhartha and he belonged to the
Gautama gotra or family. (He was born in the village of Lumbmi-
grama near Kapilavastu smout the year 566 b.o. according to the
system of chronology adopted in these pages. The site of his
nativity is marked by the celebrated Rummindei Pillar of Aioka
Maurya. He was the son of Suddhodana, a Raja or noble of
Kapilavastu, and of Maya, a princess of Devadaha, a small town
in the Sakya territory. Maya died in child-birth arid the little
Siddhartha >vas brought up by his aunt and stepmother P{r)a]apati
Gautami. At the age of sixteen the prince was married to a lady
knowm to tradition as Bhadda Kachchana, Ya^odhara, Subhadraka,
Bimba or Gopa, whom some authorities represent as a niece of
88 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Maya. After his marriage, Siddhartha grew up amidst the luxurious
surroundings of the palace till at last the vision of old age, disease
and death made him realise the hollowness of worldly pleasure.
He felt powerfully attracted by the calm serenity of the passion-
less recluse, and the birth of a son, Rahula, made him decide to
leave his home and family at once. The Great Renunciation took
place when Siddhartha reached the age of twenty-nine. For six
years he lived as a homeless ascetic, seeking instruction under two
religious teachers and visiting many places including Raj agriha,
in the Patna district, and Uruvilva, near Gaya. At Uru^va he
practised the most rigid austerities only to find that they were
of no help to him in reaching his goal. He then took a bath in
the stream of the river Nairanjana, modem Lilajan, and sat under
a pzpal tree at modem Bodh-Gaya. Here at last he attained unto
supreme knowledge and insight and became known as the Buddha
or the Enlightened One, Tathagata (“he who had attained the
truth”) and ^akya-muni or the sage of the ^akya clan.
The Enlightened One now proceeded to the Deer Park near
Sarnath in the neighbourhood of Benares and began to preach
his doctrine. For forty-five years he roamed about as a wandering
teacher and proclaimed his gospel to the princes and people of
Oudh, Bihar and some adjoining territories. He laid the foundation
of the Buddhist Order of monks {Sangha) and received important
gifts of groves and monasteries from friendly rulers and citizens.
Among his converts was his cousin Devadatta who subsequently
broke away from him and founded a rival sect that survived in
parts of Oudh and Western Bengal till the Gupta period. The
Buddha is said to have died at the age of eighty at KuSinagara,
modern Kasia in the Gorakhpur district of the United Provinces.
The date of his Great Decease (Parinirvdna) is a subject of keen
controversy. If the Ceylonese tradition that 218 years intervened
between the Parinirvdna and the consecration of Priyadariana
(A^oka) has any value, the date cannot be far removed from
486 B.o., the starting-point of the famous “dotted record” at
Canton.
Buddha taught his followers the four “Noble Truths” {Ary a
Satya) concerning suffering, the cause of suffering, the destruction
of suffering and the way that leads to the destruction of sorrow.
That way did not lie either in habitual practice of sensuality or
in habitual practice of self-torture. There was a “Mddle Path”
called the “Noble Eightfold-path”, that is to say, Right Views,
Right, A apirations . Ri ght Speec h. Ri^t Conduct, Right Liveiihood,
Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and "KigEt" Contemplation. This
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADHAN EPOCH 89
was the path that “opened the eyes, bestowed understanding, led to
peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to fuU enUghtenment, to
Nirvana Nirvapa literally means “the blowing out” or extinction
of craving, of the desire for existence in all its forms, and the
consequent cessation of suffering. But it is not mere extinction.
It is a tranquil state to be realised by one who “from aU craving
want was free”.
In his last exhortation to his disciples just on the eve of his
death, the Buddha said, “Decay is inherent in aU component
things. Work out your salvation with diligence {apraTndda),^’
The striving for salvation requires in the first place the observance
of the ^ilas or Moralities, that is to say, abandonment of killing,
stealing, incontinence, falsehood, slander, luxury, hankering for
wealth, performance of blood sacrifices, the worship of the Sun,
or of Brahma and smidry other practices. The next requisite is
Samddhi or concentration, and finally Prajnd or insight. These
ultimately lead to Sambodhi (enlightenment) and Nirvana.
The Buddhists shared with their fellow-countrymen of other
persuasions, including the Brahmanical Hindus and the Jainas, the
belief in Sarhsdra (transmigration) and Karma (retribution for
the deed done). Like the Jainas, they rejected the authority of the
Vedas, condemned blood sacrifices, denied or doubted the existence
of a supreme creative spirit, and inculcated reverence for saints
who, from their point of view, attained to supreme knowledge.
But unlike the followers of the Jnatrika teacher they did nob"-
acknowledge a permanent entity or an immortal soul, were not
convinced of the efficacy of discarding garments, and considered
rigid penance to be as useless as indulgence in sensua pleasure.
The disciples of Mahavira on the other hand, endowed even plants,
metals, water and air with souls and gave a wide extension to
the doctrine of non-violence. They considered all external things,
including garments, to be an impediment to spiritual progress,
and beheved that the ideal man should lead a life of rigid austerities,
putting up with aU sorts of torments and tribulations, never
seeking any relief. The saints and prophets of Jainism were of a
different type from the saints and prophets of Buddhism, and
the Jainas did not altogether dispense with the worship of the
old deities or the services of the Brahmapas.
Buddhist Scriptures
The unanimous tradition of all Buddhist schools records that
shortly after the death of the Master a great Gouncil {Sanglti)
90
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
was lield at Rajagriha to compile the Dharma (religious doctrine)
and the Vinaya (monastic code). A century later a dispute arose
regarding the code of discipline as the monks of Vaisali wanted
a relaxation of the rules in respect of ten points. A second council
was convoked at Vaisali which condemned the ten heresies and
revised the scriptures. A fresh condemnation of heresy is said
to have taken place in the reign of A^oka Maurya, under whose
patronage a third council was summoned at Pataliputra by a
learned monk, Tissa Moggaliputta, 236 years after the death of the
Buddha, to make a final compilation of the scriptures. The
council of Pataliputra was jirobably not a plenary assembly of
all Buddhists, but a party meeting of the school of Vihhajjamdins.
A fourth council was held under Kanishka which prepared elaborate
commentaries (UpadeSa ^dstras and VibMshd Sdstms) on the
sacred texts. This council was also not a general assembly but
probably a gathering of only the Hinayanists of Northern India.
The tradition about some of the earlier councils is not accepted
by all scholars. But the unanimity of tradition about the first two
assemblies and Asoka’s decrees against heretical monks indicate
that there must have been a substratum of truth behind the
stories narrated by the Chroniclers. The canon as we have it at
present may not be as old as the first or even the second council.
One text, the Kathavatthu, is admittedly a work of the third century
B.o. But quotations from scriptures in the A^okan edicts, and
references to persons well read in the sacred texts in inscriptions of
the second century b.c., suggest that works on doctrine and
discipline were current before the rise of the Maurya and Sunga
dynasties, though such works may not be exactly identical with
any of the extant texts. According to the Ceylonese tradition,
the sacred texts and commentaries were written down in books
in the first century b.o. during the reign of King Vattagamani
Abhaya. In the fifth century a.b. the texts, as distinguished from
the commentaries, came to be known as Pali. The use of the
term Pali to denote the language in which the texts were written
is not warranted by any early evidence. The language was called
Mdgadhdndm NiruUi or the idiom of the people of Magadha,
which was probably a dialect spoken in Magadha in the early
days of Buddhism and which had ceased to be the current speech
in the days of A§oka who used a somewhat different idiom in
his inscriptions.
The Pali Canon is divided into three Pitakas or baskets, viz,
the Butta, the Vinaya, and the Ahhidharmna. The first consists
of five Nikdyaa or collections of BuUas or Buttantas, i.e. religious
INDIA IN EABLY MAGADBAN EPOCH
91
discourses. The second contains rules of monastic discipline, and
the third contains disquisitions of a philosophical character. The
fifth Nihdya of the Sutta-Pitaha includes the famous Dhammapada,
the psalms of the brethren and of the sisters {TJieragathd and
Thengdthd) and the still more celebrated Jdtalcas or Buddhist
Birth Stories. The extant JdtaJca commentaries belong to a period
much later than the rise of the Maurya dynasty, but the original
stories are fairly old and are often illustrated in bas-reliefs of
the second and first centuries b.g. They were apparently not so
well-known in the second as in the first century b.o. The Jdtalcas
belong to a class of literature which foreshadows the epic, and
there are indications that the epic itself was assuming coherent
shape during the early days of the Magadhan ascendancy.
The Beginnings of Epic Poetry
In Vedio literature we come across lays in praise of heroes
and tales about the deeds of princes and sages. These hero-lauds
{gdthd 'mraiamsi) and narrative stories (dkhydTia) formed an
important feature of great sacrifices like the Bdjasuya (royal
consecration) and the AivamedJia (horse-sacrifice). In the horse-
sacrifice, a priest recited the pariplava dJchydna (circling narrative)
and tales of ancient kings, while a Kshatriya lute-player {vind<-
gdthin) sang to the lute extempore verses which referred to victories
connected with the sacrificer. Among such sacrificers were many
kings of the Kuru and Kosala realms. It is, therefore, not sur-
prising that some of the most famous lays and tales found in
the Vedic texts celebrated the benevolence and prowess of Kuru
kings like Parikshit and Janamejaya, and of Ikshvaku and Kosalan
monarchs like Harischandra and Para Atnara. The narration of
the Akhyana of the Ikshvaku Harischandra formed a part of
the ritual of the Mdjasuya, and another rite of the same sacrifice
was connected with an important episode of Kuru history. The
popularity of such stories is attested by Buddhist scriptures, and
the Buddha strongly reprobated the practice of narrating tales
of kings, of war, and of terror, in which certain Brahmapas and
even ascetics indulged. Some of the Ikshvaku and Kuru lays
and tales centred round heroes not explicitly mentioned in the
extant Vedio texts. One such story, that of Da^aratha and his
son Rama of the Ikshvaku family, is alluded to in the Jdtaka
gdtlids and illustrated in bas-reliefs of the second century b.o.
Another tale, that of the Papdus, is also known to the Jdtaka gdfhds
and is hinted at by Greek writers of the fourth century b.o. in
92 m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the confused legends about the Indian Herakles and Pandia.
Moreover, it is alluded to by the grammarians Paiiini, Katyayana and
Patanjali. The last-mentioned writer also shows some acquaintance
with the Kishkindhya episode of the Rama story. It is, however,
difficult to say when the ballads about Rama’s adventures or
the Pandus’ victory first assumed the form of a fuU-fledged heroic
Kdvya or epic. The names of Valmiki and Vyasa, son of Para^ara,
the reputed authors of the Rdmdya'm and the Papdu epic, the
Mdhdbhdrata, seem to occur in certain later Vedic or Vedahga
texts. But the first dated reference to the Rdmdyana as an epic
is contained in the works of Buddhist and Jaina writers of the
earliest centuries of the Christian era. But even then it contained
only 12,000 verses, i.e. only half of its present size. The Mahd-
bhdmta is first mentioned by A^valayana in his Grihya Sutra and
by Papini in his AsUddhydyl. It was admittedly at first only
about a quarter of its present size. The complete Mahdbhdrata
of 100,000 verses is mentioned for the first time in an inscription
of the Gupta period. By the sisth century a.d. the fame of both
the epics had spread to far-off Cambodia. Both the poems contain
a good deal of pseudo-epic or didactic material which came to
be included at a comparatively late date. The genuine epic refers to
a powerful Magadhan military State with its capital at Girivraja.
There is no reference to PataUputra. This probably points to a
date before the later Haryanka-^ai^unaga kings for the early
epic. The age of the epic cannot be pushed much farther back
because the knowledge, however inadequate, of Southern India
beyond the Godavari, and of Eastern India beyond the land of
the Pupdras and the Vangas, betrays a geographical outlook that
is distinctly wider than that of the entire Vedic canon and the
early Buddhist Nikayas. Of the two ancient Sanskrit epics the
Rdmdya'm is alluded to in, and was probably completed before,
the extant Mahdbhdrata. But wliile the Mahdbhdrata was known
to A^val%ana and Papini, there is no similar early reference to
the Rd'tnd'ya'^. The latter epic, moreover, mentions Janamejaya
and “Vishnu who upraised a mountain with his hands”, i.e.
probably Krishna. The latest books refer to Vasudeva of the
Yadu family and his close associate, the incarnation of Nara,
i.e. Arjuna.
The nucleus of the Rdmdya'm is the story of Rama, the eldest
son of Da^aratha, a prince of the Ikshvaku family of Ayodhya in
the Fyzabad district of Oudh, The prince married Sita, the daughter
of Janaka, king of Videha m North Bihar. Owing to a palace
intrigue, the Ikshvaku prince had to leave his home and go into
INDIA IN EARLY LIAGADHAN EPOCH
93
exile for a period of fourteen years. He repaired to the Dapdaka
forest in the Deccan with his wife and faithful half-brother Laksh-
mapa. He dwelt for some time on the banks of the Godavari in
Panchavati, which is usually identified with Nasik. Here he came
into conflict with the Rdkshasas or cannibal chieftains who were
a source of disturbance to the peaceful hermits of the locality.
Among the hostile chieftains were some persons closely related to
Ravapa, the mighty king of Lanka (Ceylon). That potentate sought
to avenge his injured relations by carrying off Sita, wife of Rama,
to his island home. In their distress, the Ikshvaku princes allied
themselves with Sugriva, Hanuman and other monkey chiefs of
Kishldndhya m the BeUary district of South India and crossed
over to Lanka. They killed the Rdkshasa king with most of his
clan and rescued the princess Sita. As the period of Rama’s exile
was now over, he returned with his wife and brother to Ayodhya
where he was warmly received by his half-brother Bharata in
whose favour he had been made to relinquish his rights. Mean-
while people came to question the propriety of taking back a
princess who had long been kept confined by a Rdkshasa king.
To silence the unreasonable clamour of the multitude, Rama had
to banish his faithful consort, the ideal of Indian womanhood.
The duty of a Rdjd, according to Hindu notions, was always to
please his subjects who were his “children”. The virtuous royal
lady found a shelter in the hermitage of Vahniki, where she gave
birth to the twins, Ku^a and Lava, who subsequently returned
to their ancestral home and succeeded to their heritage.
It is difficult to say if there is any kernel of historical truth
underneath this tale of a prince’s adventures in the land of
cannibals and monkeys. Rama and Sita are names met with in
the Vedic literature, though not always as appellations of human
beings. They are, however, in no way connected in the Vedic
texts with the fllustrious lines of the Ikshvakus or the Videhas.
The name of Ravapa is absolutely unknown to Brahmapical or
non-Brahmapical literature till we come to the epics themselves
or to works Mke the KauHUya Arthaidstra, which show acquaint-
ance with the epics. It is, however, possible that Ikshvaku princes
played a leading part in the colonisation of the Par South of India,
as names of Ikshvaku kings figure prominently in the early
inscriptions of Southern India. Whether the name of Ikshavku
was ffist popularised in the south by princes from Ayodhya or
by followers of the Sakya teacher of Kapilavastu, who also claimed
Ikshvaku descent, must remain an open question.
The kernel of the Mahdbhdrata seems to be the victory of the
94
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Pandus, helped by Krishpa and the Panchalas, over the Kurus
proper, the sons of Dhritarashtra Vaichitravirya, a king mentioned
already in the Kdihahi recension of the Yajur Veda. The epic is
often mentioned as the “tale of victory” {Jayandma itihdsa). Of
the leading figures on the side of the victors the name of one,
Krishpa, son of Vasudeva and DevaM, is mentioned in the
Ghhdndogya U^anishad and the latest book of the Taittirlya
Aranyaka. In the later text he is identified with the god Vishnu
or Narayapa. The name of another victor, Arjuna, is alluded to
in the Vajasaneyi recension of the Yajur Veda and the Satapaiha
Brdhma'm. In the Brdkvmna he is identified with Indra, and in
the epic he is the son of Indra. But the Brdhmana identification
of Arjuna with Indra is on a par with the identification in the
Aranyaka of Vasudeva, i.e, Krishna, son of Vasudeva, with Vishnu,
and cannot be adduced to support the view that he was from
the beginning nothing but a Brahmapic god. The ruin of the
Kurus is hinted at in the Ghhdndogya Upaniahad and one of the
Srauta Sutras. Among their principal enemies were the Srifijayas,
and the Kuru hostility to this people is alluded to in the Satapatha
Brdhmana.
According to the story related in the Mahdbhdrata, King
Vichitravirya of Hastinapura, in the Kuru country, identified
with a place in the Meerut district, had sons named Dhritarashtra
and Papdu. Dhritarashtra was born blind and hence Pilpclu
succeeded to the throne. He died in the lifetime of his elder
brother, leaving five sons, Yudhishthira, Bhimasena, Arjuna,
Nakula and Sahadeva. Dhritarashtra had more than a hmidred
children, of whom the eldest was Duryodhana. The sons of Pandii
married Draupadi, daughter of the king of Pailchala. The third
prince, Arjuna, married also Subhadra, sister to Kriahpa who
belonged to the powerful Yadava confederacy of Mathura and
Dvaraka (in Kathiawar). The Papdus claimed a share of their
paternal kingdom. They were given the Khapdava forest to the
south of the Kuru kingdom, where they built the stately city of
Indraprastha near modern Delhi. At the instance of Krishpa they
overthrew Jarasandha, the powerful king of Magadha, who was
seeking to establish his own supremacy. The Magadhan ruler ha,d
carried off hundreds of princes as prisoners to the fastness of Giri vraja
with a view to offering them as victims in a horrid rite. The Papdns
now effected conquests in all directions and laid claim to the rank
of paramount rulers, performing the Bdjasuya, which was now a
sacrifice of imperial inauguration. The prosperity of their rivals
roused the jealousy of the sons of Dhritarashtra. They invited
INDIA IN EARLY MAGADBAN EPOCH
95
Yudhishtliira, the eldest among the Pa^du princes, to a game of
dice, secured his defeat, and sought to enslave Draupadi. The Papdu
queen was dragged to the open court and there subjected to the
grossest insults. The Pandus were next sent into exile for a period of
thirteen years. At the end of the period the five brothers demanded
the return of their kingdom but met with a refusal. Thereupon the
rival cousins engaged in a deadly conflict on the field of Kurukshetra.
The Kuru host, led by Bhishma, Drona, Karpa and other mighty
warriors, was destroyed. The Pandus vuth their allies, the Panchalas
and Srinjayas, also suffered terrible losses, but they succeeded
in gaining back their kingdom.
Although there is no clear reference in the extant Vedic texts to
the battle of Kurukshetra, we have distinct hints in some of the
Brahmanas, Upanishads and Srmda Sutras of the hostility between
the Kurus and the Srinjayas, the disasters threatening the Kurus
and their final expulsion from Kurukshetra. The name Papdu
is not mentioned in Vedic literature, but we have references to
Arjuna, Parikshit and Janamejaya, and the first two have already
been deified in some of the later Vedic texts. That the Papdus
were a historic tribe or clan is proved by the testimony of Ptolemy
in whose time they occupied a portion of the Punjab.
Both the Kurus and the Papdus are frequently represented by
epic bards as violating the knightly code of honoim. The unchival-
rous deeds of the Papdus are often attributed by the Kuru
chronicler to the instigation of Krishpa, just as the misdeeds of
Ajata^atru are ascribed by Buddhist writers to Devadatta, the
schismatic cousin of the Buddha. The Buddha himself is accused
by Puranic chroniclers of having beguiled the demons. The
Bhagavatas, the followers of Krishna, were not regarded as quite
orthodox even in the time of ^ahkaracharya, and that may account
for the attitude that a section of the Kuru bards adopted towards
the Yadava chief, whom they regarded as a vrdtya (outside the pale).
It is difficult to believe that the great poets, philosophers and
devoted worshippers who produced the Bhagavad Gita and laid the
utmost stress on the virtues of dama (self-restraint), tyaga (renuncia-
tion) and apramada (vigilance) in an inscription of the second century
B.O., could have been aware of the dark deeds that are attributed
to their lord and his closest associates in battle-songs that find a
place in the extant epic. That some of the battle-books were revised
at a later period is proved by references to the Yavanas and the
Sakas.
The Mahdbhdrata is not merely a ‘‘song of victory”, it is a
Pardna-Samhitd, a collection of old legends, and an Itivritta or
96 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
traditional account of Ugh-aoulcd kings and pious sages, of dnWui
wi-res and beautiful maids. We have oharmmg and edifying stories
like those of gakuntalS and Savltri. of Nala and &hn Side by side
with these we have the thrilling lays of Amba and Vidula. In the
tot book the epic daims to be a Sdstra or authoritative manual
£yLg down rXs of conduct for the attainment of tnmrga or
the tLe great aims animating all human ®
and religious duties), Artha (material wealth) and .Kama (pleasures
of the flesh). Finally it claims to be a Moksha-iastra pointing e
ly of salvation to mankind. Manuals of a didactic character are
chiefly found in the later books. Among the 'f ^
form part of the epic, the most famous is the Bhogau^ or the
"Song of the Lord”, which constitutes the bed-rock of Hindu theism.
CHAPTER VII
THE MAHEYA EMPIEE
Chandragupta Maurya
In 326 B.o. India was faced with a crisis. The imperial crown of
Magadha and the neighbouring provinces was worn by a king
who was “detested and held cheap” by his own people. The
Land of the Five Rivers was overrun by the Macedonians and allied
peoples from the West who resolved to incorporate it permanently
into their growing empire. Alexander, the great leader of the
invading bands, withdrew, it is true, to the city of Babylon in
Mesopotamia, where he died in 323 b.o. Philippes, the satrap
whom he had appointed to govern the Western Punjab, met his
doom in 324 b.o. But the surviving commanders, who met to
partition the Macedonian empire in 323 B.o. and again in 321 b.o.,
had no desire to withdraw altogether from the conquered territories
in the Indian borderland. The civil government of the districts
to the east of the Indus had to be left virtually in the hands of
Indian princes. Macedonian governors were retained in the
trans-Indus satrapies, and an officer, named Eudemos, was appointed
to command the garrison in the Western Punjab after the murder
of Philippos. The successors of Alexander were, however, torn by
internal dissensions and had to recall some of their commandants
in India. The indigenous population had, in the meantime, found
a leader who knew how to take advantage of the disunion and
the thinned ranks of the foreign invaders and “shake the yoke
of servitude from the neck” of his fatherland.
Signs of disaffection against foreign rule appeared in the Indian
borderland as early as 326 b.o. when the Macedonian king was still
in the Punjab. A formidable rising followed in the lower Indus
vaUey which was fomented by the Brahmatias of the locality.
But aU these insurrections seem to have been crushed, and the
hand of the invader fell heavily on the instigators. Retribution
came quickly and, if tradition is to be believed, it was a Taxilian
Brahma^ia named ChaijLakya or Kautilya who raised to power
the great avenger to whose mighty arms “the earth, long harassed
by outlanders, now turned for protection and refuge”.
E 97
98
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The new Indian leader was a young man who bore the name
of Chandragupta. He is described by Justin as a man of humble
origin who was prompted to aspire to regal power by an omen
significant of an august destiny, immediately after an encounter
with Alexander himself. The visit to the Macedonian king is
referred to by Plutarch as well as Justin, but, strange to say,
some modern writers emend the text of Justin and propose to
read “Nandrum” (Nanda) in place of Alexandrum (Alexander).
Such conjectural emendations are hardly justified. They mislead
the unwary student of Mauryan antiquities.
The family to which the young leader belonged is named Maurya
by Indian writers, and is identified by some with the tribe of Morieis
mentioned by the Greeks. According to one tradition the designation
is derived from Mura, the mother or grandmother of Chandragupta,
who was the wife of a Nanda king. Mediaeval epigraphs, on the other
hand, represent the Mauryas as Kshatriyas of the solar race.
Buddhist writers of an early date also knew them as members of
the Kshatriya caste and referred to them as the ruling clan of
the little republic of Pipphalivana, probably lying between Rum-
mindei in the Nepalese Tarai and Kasai in the Gorakhpur district,
in the days of the Buddha. The cognomen Vrishala applied to
Chandragupta in the Sanskrit pl^ called the Mvdmrakshaaa does
not invariably mean a man of Svdra extraction. It is also used
of Kshatriyas and others who deviated from rules enjoined in
Brahmapical scriptures. That Chandragupta did deviate from
Brahmapioal orthodoxy is proved by his matrimonial alliance with
Seleukos and the predilection shown for Jainism in his later years.
The Maurya clan was reduced to great straits in the fourth
century b.c., and tradition avers that Chandragupta grew up
among peacock-tamers, herdsmen, and hmiters. While still a lad
he met Alexander in the Punjab, but, having offended the king
by his boldness of speech, and orders being given to kill him, he
saved himself by a speedy flight. In the place of his refuge he
is said to have been joined by a personage who had left his home
in TaxUa. This was the famous Chapakya or Kautilya, who went
at first to PataHputra but, being insulted by the reigning Nanda
king, repaired to the Vindhya forest where he met Chandragupta.
With the help of treasure found underground he gathered an army
for the young Maurya. Greek and Latin writers do not mention
Kautilya but allude to Chandragupta’s encounter wuth a lion
and an elephant, which accords well with his residence in the
Vindhyan wilds, and refer to the collection of a body of armed
men who are characterised as a band of robbers by some modern
THE MAURYA EMPIRE
99
historians. But the original expression used by Justin, to whom
we owe the account of the rise of Chandragupta, has the sense
of “mercenary soldier” as well as that of “robber”. The former
sense is in consonance with Jaina tradition.
Having collected an army, Chandragupta “solicited the Indians
to support his new sovereignty”, or, according to another inter-
pretation, “instigated the Indians to overthrow the existing
government”. Thereafter (deinde) he went to war with the prefects
of Alexander and fought vigorously with them. Chandragupta
acquired the throne when Seleukos, a general of Alexander, was
laying the foundations of his future greatness. Seleukos obtained
as his share of Alexander’s empire the satrapy of Babylon, first
after the agreement of Triparadeisos (321 b.o.) and afterwards
in 312 B.O., from which year his era is dated. In 306 b.c. he assumed
the title of king. As Chandragupta had acquired the throne when
Seleukos was on the threshold of his career, his accession took
place certainly before 306 b.c. and probably before 312 b.o. It
may have taken place even before 321 b.c. The Buddhist tradition
of Ceylon puts the date 162 years after the Parinirvdna of the
Buddha, i.e. in 382 b.c. if we take 644 b.c. to be the year of the
Great Decease and 324 b.o. if we prefer the Cantonese date 486 B.o.
for the death of the Buddha. The earlier date is opposed to Greek
evidence and is clearly untenable. The date 324 b.o. accords
with the testimony of Greek writers.
A Jaina tradition fixes the date of Chandragupta’s accession
at 313 b.o. It is, however, difficult to reconcile this tradition with
the statement of the Buddhist chroniclers of Ceylon and Burma
that the coronation of A§oka took place 24+ 27 (or 28) + 4=66 or
56 years after the accession of Chandragupta. The Pura^ias agree
with the Buddhist chronicles in assigning a period of 24 years
to Chandragupta. They give a smaller figure, 25, instead of the
28 of the Buddhist chroniclers of Ceylon and the 27 of the chroniclers
of Burma, for the reign of Bmdusara and ignore the interval between
the accession and coronation of A^oka. But, as pointed out by
Smith, they assign 137 years to the Maurya dynasty. The total
of the lengths of reigns, according to the Vdyu Furdrm, is, however,
only 133. The difference of four years may be accounted for by
the period of interregnum before the formal coronation of Aioka.
That emperor, m the thirteenth Rock Edict, mentions certain
Yavana (Hellenic) kings as being alive. This must have been
written after the twelfth year from his coronation, when he caused
rescripts of morality to be written apparently for the first time.
Among these Yavana kin g s there is no reference to Diodotos I
IGO AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
of Bactria, who rose to power in the middle of the third century b.c.
Magas of Gyrene, one of the kings named by A^oka, died,
according to the best authorities, not later than 258 b.o. His
successor, Demetrios the Fair, is said to have met his death in
that year. If 258 B.o. is the latest possible date for the thirteenth
Rock Edict, the coronation of A^oka must have taken place certainly
not later than 269 b.c. The accession of Ohandragupta must have
taken place, according to Buddhist evidence, not later than 269+
55=324 B.o. and, according to the Puranio statements, not later
than 269+25+24=318 b.c., or, including the period of interregnum
before A^oka, not later than 322 b.c.
In the account of the rise of Ohandragupta given by Justin,
we are expressly told that the young Indian leader was stimulated
to aspire to kingship by an incident that happened immediately
after his flight from the camp of Alexander in 326 b.o. The use
of the term deinde (“thereafter”, “some time after”) in connection
with the war against the prefects of Alexander suggests that the
acquiescence of Indians in a change of government and the estab-
lishment of a new sovereignty is quite distinct from the war with
the Macedonian prefects. There was an interval between the two
events, and the Macedonian war came some time after the change
of government among Indians.
In the Sanskrit play, the Mvdrdrdhshasa, too, the destruction of
the Mlechchha (barbarian) chieftains and troops follows the dynastic
revolution in the interior of India. In 321 b.o. the Macedonian
governor of Sind had already been forced to retfre beyond the
Indus, and no new satrap had been appointed in his place. The
successors of Alexander in 321 b.c. confessed their inability to
remove the Indian Rajas without royal troops under the com-
mand of some distinguished general. The abandonment of Sind,
the complaint about the inadequacy of troops, and the wholesome
respect for the power of the Indian Rajas, must have been due
to new developments in politics. Greek military power to the
east of the Indus was virtually extinguished as early as 321 b.c.
The result could not have been due to Ambhi, the Paurava, or
any petty Raja who had once acknowledged the Macedonian sway.
Had they been instrumental in freeing their country from the
foreign yoke, they and not Ohandragupta and his band of mer-
cenaries would have been mentioned by Justin as the great
liberators. Moreover, if the destruction or expulsion of Greek
commanders had already been effected by Ambhi or the Paurava,
then whence had come the prefects against whom Ohandragupta
went to war and fought so vigorously, as narrated by Justin?
THE MAUBYA EMPIRE
101
It is true that Chandragnpta is not mentioned in connection with
the partition treaties of Babylon and Triparadeisos. But we have
a similar reticence in regard to Eudemos, the Yavana commandant
in the Western Punjab who stuck to his post up to about 317 b,o.
The presence of this officer and that of his Indian colleagues does
not preclude the possibility of the assumption of sovereignty by
Chandragupta in the lower Indus valley or the plains and uplands
of the Indian interior some time before 321 b.c.
Tradition avers that in overthrowing the iniquitous rule of the
last Nanda, Chandragupta was greatly helped by the Brahmai 3 .a
Kautilya or Chapakya who became his chief minister. A direct
attack on the heart of the Nanda empire is said to have failed.
Next time the young Maurya is said to have commenced from
the frontiers and met with success. The Nanda troops, led by the
general Bhadrasala, were defeated with great slaughter, and Chan-
dragupta seized the sovereignty of PataUputra.
The first Maurya is known to have been in possession of Malwa
and Kathiawar. The Jaina date, 313 b.o., if based on a correct
tradition, may refer to his acquisition of Avanti (Malwa). West-
ward of Avanti, Chandragupta’s rule extended as far as Surashtra
in which was stationed a Vaiiya official (rashtriya) named Pushya-
gupta. Tamil tradition refers to the advance of “Maurya upstarts ”
as far south as the TinneveUy district. But the achievement is
attributed by certain scholars to the Mauryas of the Konkan
who belong to a much later date. Even if the earlier Mauryas
had really pushed on to TinneveUy they must have withdrawn
from this region within a short time, because the southern frontier
of the Maurya empire in the days of A^oka, grandson of Chand-
ragupta, did not extend beyond the Chitaldrug district of Mysore,
and the Papdya realm which included the TumeveUy district is
referred to in the edicts of that emperor as a frontier kingdom.
Towards the close of the reign of Chandragupta, the Maurya
empire received a further extension in the north-west. Seleukos,
the general of Alexander, who had made himself master of Babylon,
graduaUy extended his empire from the Mediterranean Sea to
the Indus and even tried to regain the provinces to the east of
that river. He failed and had to conclude a treaty with Chand-
ragupta by which he surrendered a large territory including, in
the opinion of certain writers, the satrapies of Paropanisadai
(Kabul), Aria (Herat), Arachosia (Qandahar), and Gedrosia (Balu-
chistan), in return for 600 elephants. The inclusion of a part at
least of the Kabul vaUey within the Maurya empire is attested
by the evidence of the A^okan inscriptions. The treaty was cemented
102 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
by a marriage contract. A Greek envoy was accredited to the Court
of Pataliputra.
If Jaina tradition is to be believed, Chandragupta was con-
verted to the religion of Mahavira. He is said to have abdicated
his throne and passed his last days at ^ravapa Belgola in Mysore.
Greek evidence, however, suggests that the first Maurya did not
give up the performance of sacrificial rites and was far from following
the Jaina creed of Ahirhsa or non-injury to animals. He took
delight in hunting, a practice that was continued by his son and
was also alluded to by his grandson A^oka in the eighth Rock Edict.
It is, however, possible that in his last days he showed some pre-
dilection for Jainism just as Harsha in the seventh century a.d.,
though officially a 6aiva, paid respect to the Buddha and the
Buddhist Master of the Law.
Bindusara
The successor of Chandragupta Maurya was his son Bindusara
apparently called Amitraghata, “slayer of foes”, by Greek writers.
As Chandragupta’s accession could not have taken place before
326 B.O., and as Brahmapical as well as Buddhist writers unani-
mously assign a period of twenty-four years to his reign, the new
king could not have come to the throne before 302 b.c. His reign
must have terminated before 269 b.o. if the king Magas, mentioned
in the thirteenth Rock Edict of his son A^oka, really died in 268 b.o.
The actual period of his rule is not known for certain. According
to PuraifiG Avriters, he reigned for twenty-five years. Burmese
tradition allots to him a period of twenty-seven years, while
Ceylonese chroniclers fix the length of his reign at twenty-eight
years. If the Cantonese date for the Buddha’s Nirvd'm (486 b.o.)
be accepted, then he must have reigned from c. 300 b.o. to c. 273 b.o,
Bindusara seems to have retained undiminished the empire of
his father. Tradition credits him with the suppression of a revolt
in Taxila. Whether he effected any new conquests is not known
for certain. His empire must have embraced not only the greater
part of northern India but also a considerable portion of the
Deccan, probably as far south as the Chitaldrug district of Mysore.
The kingdom of Kahnga, embracing the major part of Puri,
Ganjam and some adjoining tracts, is known, however, to have
been independent.
In foreign affairs Bindusara maintained the friendly relations
with the Hellenic West established by Ms father. He received as
ambassador a Greek named Deimachos and curious anecdotes have
THE MAURYA EMPIRE 103
been preserved of private friendly correspondence between him and
Antiochos I Soter, king of Syria, son of Seleukos Nikator.
Bindusara had many children, both sons and daughters. One of
the sons, A^oka, seems to have held successively the important
viceroyalties of Taxila and Ujjain. Tradition avers that when
the emperor fell sick A^oka left the government of Ujjain and
came to Pataliputra, the imperial capital. When his father died,
he seized the sovereignty of the city, and put his eldest brother to
death. He is said to have slain ninety-nine brothers born of different
mothers. In the fifth Rock Edict, however, which was issued
not earlier than the fourteenth regnal year, A^oka refers to the
harems of his brothers which were objects of his anxious care.
This has been taken to indicate that the story of the slaughter of
the brothers is a silly fiction, but we have to remember that the
formal consecration of Aioka was very probably delayed. This
suggests a disputed succession. The fifth Rock Edict undoubtedly
proves the existence of harems of brothers thirteen years after
Anoka’s anointment, but it does not prove that the brothers
themselves without any exce'ption were all alive at that date. The
traditional account may not be correct in all particulars, and the
number of brothers killed may have been exaggerated, but that
there was a fight for the crown, in the course of which the eldest
brother perished, does not appear to be altogether improbable.
A^oka himself refers in the fourth Rock Edict to the gro^h for a
long period past of unseemly behaviour to relatives. This unseemly
behaviour was only stopped when feelings of remorse were awakened
in his breast after the blood-bath of the Kalinga war.
ASoka
The reign of Bindusara probably terminated in, or within a
few years of, 273 B.c. Some time after — ^four years later according
to tradition — ^his successor was solenmly enthroned at Pataliputra
and died after a reign of thirty-six or thirty-seven years, in or
about 232 b.c. The name of the new king as known from literature,
the Maski edict, and certain later epigraphs, was A4oka. He is
generally mentioned in his inscriptions as Devanampiya Piyadasi.
Devanampiya, “ beloved of the gods ”, is a title which he shared with
some of his predecessors, successors and contemporaries. The
other appellation Piyadasi (Priyadar§in) or Piyadassana (Priya-
dar^ana), “of amiable appearance”, is said to have been borne
also by his grandfather Chandragupta, The form Piyadassana
(Priyadar^ana) occurs in literature and the famous Aramaic
104 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
inscription from TasRa which may have referred to his reign if
not to that of his grandfather.
We know very little about the early years of Anoka’s reign.
He must have continued the aggressive policy of his forebears.
Literary tradition credits him with the suppression of a fresh
revolt in Taxila, and a contemporary inscription records that
when he had been anointed eight years the Kalihgas were con-
quered by him. The conquest of this province rounded off the
Maurya empire, which now embraced almost the whole of non-
Tamil India and a considerable portion of Afghanistan. It stretched
from the land of the Yonas, Kambojas and Gandharas in
the Kabul valley and some adjoining mountain territory, to the
country of the Andhras in the Godavari-Krishna basin and the
district (Aliara) of Isila in the north of Mysore, and from Sopara
and Girnar in the west to Dhauli and Jaugada in the east. In
the north-west, the empire touched the realm of Antiochos II,
the Greek king of Syria and Western Asia, and in the south it
extended as far as the kingdom of the Chodas, Papidyas, Satiya-
putra and Keralaputra in the Tamil country. If tradition is to
be believed, the dominions of A§oka included the secluded vales
of Kashmir and Nepal as well as the riparian plains of Pu^(^a-
vardhana (North Bengal) and Samatata (East Bengal). The inclusion
of the Himalayan vaUeys is rendered probable by the discovery of
inscriptions at Mansehra in the Hazara district, at Kalsi in the
Dehra Dun district, at Nigali Sagar and Rummindei in the Nepalese
Tarai and at Rampurva in the Champaran district of North Bihar.
But no recension of the AiSokan edicts has yet been found in Bengal,
though an old Brahmi inscription of Mahasthan in North Bengal,
which refers to the prosperous city of Pupdra-nagara, apparently
belongs to the Pre-Christian Age.
The Kalinga war proved a turning-point in the career of A^oka
and produced results of far-reaching consequence in the liistory
of India and of the whole eastern world. The sight of misery and
bloodshed in the Kalinga campaign smote the emperor’s conscience
and awakened in his breast sincere feelings of repentance and
sorrow. It made ASoka intensely devoted to the practice of DJiarma
(morality and piety), the love of Dharma and the instruction of the
people in Dharma. It also led to a momentous change in foreign
policy. The emperor eschewed military conquest involving slaughter
and deportation of people and evolved a policy of dharma-vijaya,
“conquest by piety ”, in place of the old conquest by bows and arrows .
Aloka had doubtless inherited the traditional devotion of Hindu
kings to gods (devas) and the Brahmapas, and, if the Kashmir
THE MAURYA EMPIRE
105
chronicle of Kalha^a is to be believed, his favourite deity was
6iva, Shortly after the Kalihga war he seems to have been greatly
influenced by Buddhist teaching. He became a lay worshipper
{updsaJca) of the Buddha, but for some time did not show much
zeal for the new faith. He then went out to Sambodhi, taken
by some to refer to Bodh-Gaya, and also established intimate
relations with theB uddhist Sangka or order of monks. According
to one view, he actually entered the Sangha and became a monk.
Contact with the place of enlightenment of the Blessed One, and
the pious fraternity that he had founded, apparently galvanised
A^oka into greater exertions for the cause of rehgion and morality.
His new-born zeal showed itself in many ways. He made a deep
study of the Buddhist scriptures and undertook “ tours of morality”
{dharma-ydtrd) in the place of the pleasure tours (vihdra-ydtrd) of
his ancestors. In the course of these tours he visited the people
of the country, instructing them in Dharma (morality and piety)
and questioning them about Dharma. The royal preacher was
highly pleased with the result of his tour. The sovereign was no
longer to be seen only among litigants, priests, soldiers, and hunters
of big game. The “Beloved of the Gods” had been among the
country folk lecturing on Dharma. He had taught them that
attainment of heaven is not the monopoly of the great alone.
Even a lowly person could attain heaven if he was zealous in
following the ancient rule of morality. At the end of 256 nights
spent on tour, the emperor was satisfied that men in India and
some adjoining tracts (Jambudvipa), who had hitherto been un-
associated with the gods, were now mingled with them. The royal
tours were apparently decennial. One was undertaken when the
king had been anointed ten years, and another when he had been
consecrated twenty years. In course of the second tour, the
emperor visited the birthplace of Sakj’-a-muni and that of a
previous Buddha, and worshipped at these holy spots.
The dominions of Aioka were vast, and the royal preacher must
have soon reahsed that with all his zeal it would not be possible
for him alone to bring the message of Dharma to the doors of all
his subjects in the remotest corners of his far-flung empire. When
he had been anointed twelve years, that is to say within two
years of his first tour, he requisitioned the services of important
officials like the Rajuhas (probably district judges and survey
officers), to (apparently officers in provinces charged with
revenue collection and police) and YuMas (clerks or secretaries).
He ordered his officers to publish rescripts on morahty and set out
on tours every five years to give instruction in morality as well
106 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
as for ordinary business. The rescripts and proclamations were
to be engraved on rocks and on existing stone pillars. New “pillars
of morality ” (dharma-siambJia) were also to be set up. These
orders must have taxed the capacity of the officials to the utmost,
and within a year the emperor felt the need of special functionaries
whose sole business would be the promotion of religion. Accord-
ingly, new officials, styled Dharma-Mdhdmdtras or high officers in
charge of religion, were appointed. They were employed in the
imperial capital as well as in the outlying towns and tribal terri-
tories, especially on the western and north-western border of the
empire. They busied themselves with the affairs of all sects and
of the people in various walks of life, including princes and princesses
of the blood as well as prisoners in jail, ordinary householders and
their servants as well as homeless ascetics. Reporters were posted
everywhere to keep the king informed of the doings of his officials
and subjects. The moral uplift and the welfare of the country folk
were specially entrusted to functionaries styled EajuJeas who had
imperial agents to guide them. Envoys went out to foreign courts
so that people outside the empire might conform to morality.
The old policy of chastisement of turbulent forest tribes and
troublesome neighbours, and conquest by force of arms, was given
up, and a new policy of peace and forbearance, of “conquest by
morality”, was evolved. “The reverberation of the war-drum”
{bheri ghosha) was to become “the reverberation of the law”
{dhamma ghosha). Not content with what he did himself, the
emperor called upon his sons and other descendants not to think
of ffesh conquest, but to take pleasure in mercy and light punish-
ment, and regard the “conquest by morality” as the only true
conquest. Here we have a complete reversal of the old policy
pursued by the rulers of Magadha since the days of Bimbisara.
A^oka said that his policy of dharma-vigaya met with phenomena!
success, and he claimed to have made a spiritual conquest of the
realms of his Hellenistic, Tamil and Ceylonese neighbours. His
Hellenistic contemporaries were Antiochos (II, Theos of Syria,
261-246 B.O.), Ptolemy (II, PhOadelphos of Egypt, 285-247 b.o.),
Antigonos (Gonatas of Macedonia, 276-239 b.o.), Magas (of Gyrene,
c. 300-258 b.o.) and Alexander (of Epirus, 272-c. 255 b.o., or, as
some say, of Corinth, 262-c. 244 b.o.). The Maurya emperor, it
is true, established philanthropic institutions in the realms of some
of these princes, and Buddhism doubtless made some progress in
western Asia and influenced later sects like the Manichaeans. But
the Greeks apparently were not much impressed by lessons on
non-violence. When the strong arm of A^oka, “who possessed
THE MAURYA EMPIRE
107
the power to punish in spite of his repentance”, was withdrawn,
the Greeks poured once more into the Kabul valley, the Punjab
and even the Gangetic region and threw aU these provinces into
confusion.
The southern missions were more successful. If tradition is
to be believed, the Ceylonese mission was headed by Prince
Mahendra, a son or brother of ASoka. Devanampiya Tissa, the
ruler of the island kingdom, was converted and his example was
followed by his subjects. Ceylonese tradition avers that mission-
aries were sent even to Suvarij.a-bhumi, i.e. Lower Burma, Sumatra
and possibly some adjoining lands.
Anoka’s Dharma
In one of his inscriptions, A^oka made an open confession of
his faith in the Buddha, the Dharma (the Buddhist doctrine)
and the Sangha (the Buddhist order of monks). He called the
Buddha Bhagavat — an epithet applied by a Hindu to the object
of his loving devotion. He went on pilgrimage to the places of the
Blessed One’s nativity and enlightenment and worshipped at
the former place. He declared that whatever had been spoken by
the Buddha, aU that was quite well spoken. He took much interest
in the exposition of the Buddhist Dharma or doctrine so that it
might long endure. As to the Sahgha, he kept in close touch with
it after his memorable visit to the fraternity a year or so after
his conversion. He impressed on the clergy the need of a correct
exposition of the true doctrine and appointed special of&cers to
busy themselves with the affairs of the Brotherhood. He also
took steps to maintain the integrity of the church and prevent
schism within its fold. Attempts in this direction are also recorded
by tradition which avers further that a council was convened
during his reign to compile the scriptures. That A^oka interested
himself in Buddhist scriptures as well as monastic discipline is
amply attested by contemporary records.
But with aU his faith in Buddhism, Aioka was not intolerant
of other creeds. He sought, it is true, to put an end to practices
and institutions that he considered to be opposed to the funda-
mental principles of morality which, according to him, constituted
the “essence of all religions”. But he never became an enemy
of the Devas and the Brahmap.as, or of any other religious fraternity.
He continued to style himself the “Beloved of the Devas”. He
condemned unseemly behaviour towards Brahmapas and showered
gifts on them as well as on the Ajivikas, the followers of Gosala.
108 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
His Dharnia-MaMmatras were told to look after all sects includ-
ing even the Mrgranthas or the Jainas. The emperor laid special
emphasis on concourse (samavdya) and the guarding of speech
{vachoguti), and warned people against the evil consequences of
using harsh language in respect of other sects.
Though himself convinced of the truth of Buddha’s teaching,
of the efficacy of worship at the Buddhist holy places, of the
necessity of ruakiTig a confession of faith in the Buddhist trinity,
of keeping in close touch with the Buddhist Sangha and maintain-
ing its solidarity, A^oka never sought to impose his sectarian
belief on others. The prospect that he held before the people at
large is not that of sambodhi or nirvana but of svarga (heaven)
and of mingling with the Devas. Svarga could be attained by all
people, high or low, if only they showed zeal, not in adherence
to a sectarian dogma or the performance of popular ritual (mangala)
but in following the ancient rule (pord-m pdkiti), namely:
“Obedience must be rendered to mother and father, likewise
to elders; firmness (of compassion) must be shown towards
animals ; truth must be spoken : these same moral virtues must
be practised.
“In the same way the pupil must show reverence to the
master, and one must behave in a suitable manner towards
relatives.”
In the pillar edicts it is declared that “happiness in this world
and in the other world is difficult to secure without great love of
morality, careful examination, great obedience, and great fear of
sin and great energy”. Prominence is also given, in the pillar
edicts, to “spiritual insight”. Towards the end of his career,
A4oka seems to have been convinced that reflection and medita-
tion were of greater efficacy than moral regulations. But the
need of such regulations was keenly felt by him in the first part
of his reign.
It was a characteristic of ASoka that he practised what he
preached. He inculcated the virtues of compassion, liberality and
toleration. He showed his compassion by aboHshing or restricting
the slaughter and mutilation of animals, and making arrangements
for the healing both of men and beasts. He put a stop to the
massacre of living creatures to make curries in the imperial kitchen,
and discontinued the royal hunt. He abolished the sacrificial
slaughter of animals and regulated festive gatherings {samdja) so
as to prevent loss of life or the practice of immorality. He provided
THE MAURYA EMPIRE
109
medical herbs both for men and lower animals. Ilis officers con-
structed reservoirs of water and planted trees and groves for the
comfort of travellers. Special officials were sent from headquarters
to check oppression in the outlying provinces. Liberahty and
toleration were shown by undertaking pious tours for the distri-
bution of gifts of gold to Brahmapas as well as iramaims, by
making gifts of cave-dwellings even to non-Buddhist sects, and
by the creation of special officers for the distribution of alms to all
sects. Queens and princes were encouraged to participate in these
works of charity, and at least one of the queens, Karuvaki, readily
co-operated with her consort.
The reference to cave-dweUings affords us a glimpse into another
side of the emperor’s activity. As late as the fifth century a.d.,
sojourners in PataHputra were struck with wonder at the magnifi-
cence of Anoka’s architectural achievements. Tradition credits
him with the construction of a splendid palace besides numerous
reho mounds, monasteries and temples. He is actually known to
have enlarged the stupa of Konakamana, a “former Buddha”
and predecessor of ^akya-muni. He also set up pillars of morality
{dharma-stambha). Modem critics are eloquent in their praise of
the polished surface of his columns and the fine workmanship of
their crowning sculptures.
Anoka’s Character
A^oka is one of the most remarkable personalities in the history
of India. He was tireless in his exertions, and unflagging in his
zeal — all directed to the promotion of the spiritual and moral
welfare of his people whom he called his children. Of his energy,
ability and power of organisation, there is no doubt. He was
the statesman who conducted successfully a great military cam-
paign that led to the destruction of a powerful adversary whose
sway extended over a vast and populous realm. He organised, a
few years later, missions for the spiritual conquest of three conti-
nents, and turned a local sect in the Ganges valley into a world
religion. He preached and practised the virtues of concord, tolera-
tion and non-violence. He eschewed military conquest, not after
defeat but after victory, and pursued a policy of gentleness and
clemency while stiU possessed of the vast resources of a mighty
empire. The generosity and forbearance of this strong man were
only matched by his sincerity and veracity, and he describes in
words at once truthful and straightforward the terrible misery
that he had mfficted on the people of a hapless kingdom. The
110 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
example of the pious Maurya king exercised an ennobling influence
on succeeding generations. But the ruler who turned officers of
state into religious propagandists, abolished the royal hunt and
Jousts of arms, entrusted the fierce tribesmen of the north-western
and southern provinces to the tender care of preachers of morality,
and did not rest till the sound of the war-drum was completely
hushed and the only sound that was heard was that of religious
discourses, certainly pursued a policy at which the great empire-
builders who came before him would have looked askance. And
it is not surprising that within a few years of his death the power
that had hurled back the battalions of Seleukos proved unequal
to the task of protecting the country from the princelings of
Bactria,
The Later Imperial Mauryas
If Puraffio tradition is to be believed, the immediate successor
of A^oka was his son Kunala. The Chronicles of Kashmir, how-
ever, do not name this prince and mention Jalauka as the son
and successor of A^oka in that valley. It is not improbable that
the Maurya empire broke up after the death of ASoka, and was
divided among his sons, one of whom inherited the home provinces
and another made him self independent in the north-west. Tivara,
the only son named in the inscriptions, does not appear to have
got a share of the patrimony. Kunala was succeeded by his sons,
one of whom, Bandhupalita, is known only in the Purffi^ias, and
another, Sampadi or Samprati, is mentioned by all our traditional
authorities — Brahmaffical, Buddhist as well as Jaina, and is repre-
sented by the latter as a ruler of Pataliputra and Ujjain and a
great patron of their faith. The Purapas, liownver, with the
exception perhaps of the Bhagamta, do not actually represent
Samprati as a son of Kunala, and interpose between him and
Kunala a number of princes amongst whom Da^aratha was
certainly a historical figure. He ruled in Magadha shortly after
A§oka and has left three epigraphs in the Nagarjuni Hills, Bihar
recording the gifts of caves to the “venerable Ajivikas”.
After Da^aratha and Samprati came ^ah^uka, a prince mentioned
in the astronomical work, the Gargl Samhita, as a wicked quarrel-
some king. “Unrighteous, although theorising on righteousness,
he cruelly oppressed his country.” The successors of l5ali^uka,
according to the Puranas, were Devavarman, Satamdhanus and
Bfihadratha. The last prince was overthrown by his commander-
in-chief, Pushyamitraj who laid the foundations of a new dynasty
styled ^unga in the Pura^as.
THE MAURYA EMPIRE
111
There can be no doubt that during the rule of the later Mauryaa
the empire suffered a gradual decay. The secession of Kashmir
and possibly of Berar is hinted at by Kalhana, the historian of
Kashmir, and Kalidasa, the author of the Sanskrit play, the
MdlaviMgnimiti’am, respectively. Towards the close of the third
century b.o. the Kabul valley was under a king named Subha-
gasena whose title, “hing of the Indians”, suggests that his
territory included the Indus valley as well. As his name does not
occur in any list of the later Mauryas, he may have belonged to
a different family which rose to power in the north-west on the
ruins of the Maurya empire. Even if he was connected with the
Maurya line, he could not have belonged to the main branch of
the family ruling at Pataliputra. The title given to him by the
Greek historians indicates that he was an independent potentate
and not a mere viceroy of Taxila. The disintegration of the empire
invited invasions from without, and we are told by Polybius that
Antiochos III, the Great (223-187 b.o.), grandson of Antiochos II
Theoa, the contemporary of A^oka, and great-great-grandson of
Seleukos I Nikator, the contemporary of Chandragupta Maurya,
descended into India and received a number of elephants from
Subhagasena. If the Qdrgl Samhitd is to be believed, a Greek
army penetrated even to Pataliputra.
The decline of Maurya authority is attributed by some scholars
to a reaction promoted by the Brahmapas whose privileged position
is said to have been affected by the policy of A^oka. But there is
nothing m the records of A^oka himself to suggest that he was
an enemy of the Brahmapas. On the contrary, he showed extreme
solicitude for their welfare and extended his patronage to members
of this community as well as to Buddhists, Jainas and Ajivikas.
One Brahmana historian, Kalhapa, praises him for his piety and
benefactions and testifies to the friendly relations subsisting
between one of his sons and the Brahmapical Hindus. Another
Brahmapa writer, Bapa, appHes the epithet andrya, ignoble, to
the general who overthrew Brihadratha, the last of the Imperial
Mauryas. Certain Purapic writers, it is true, refer to the Mauryas
as asuras or demons, and the Qdrg% Samhitd draws pointed atten-
tion to the oppressive rule of ^alMuka, but there is nothing to
suggest that the Brahmapas were the special victims of Maurya
oppression, and a Brahmapa appears as the commander-in-chief
under the last Maurya. The epithet asura^ demon, or suradvish,
enemy of the gods, was applied not only to the Mauryas but to all
persons “beguiled by the Buddha”. But the evidence of the
Purapas in this respect is contradicted by that of contemporary
112 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
inscriptions which refer to A^oka and the only one among his
successors who has left any epigraphie record as “ devdmrhpiya” ,
that is, “beloved (and not enemy) of the gods”.
The true cause of the Maurj^'a debacle lies deeper. A^oka
eschewed militar y conquest after the Kalihga war when he had
been anointed eight years, and called upon his descendants not
to entertain any thought of aggressive warfare. Shortly after-
wards, even the royal hunt was abolished. The army seems to have
been mostly inactive during the remaining part of the reign — a
period of twenty-nine years — as the emperor himself exultingly
declares that “in consequence of the practice of morality on his
part, the sound of bheriy or the war-drum, had become the sound
of morality The ease with which the general Pushyamitra, accord-
ing to the testimony of Bapa, overthrew his king in the very sight
of the troops shows that, unlike the earlier kings of the dynasty
who often took the field in person, the last of the Mauryas lost
touch with his armed forces and ceased to command their affection.
Great difficulty was also experienced in controlling the officials in
the outlying provinces even in the days of Bindusara and A^oka.
If tradition is to be believed, ministerial oppression had twice
goaded the people of Taxila to open rebellion. The quinquennial
and triennial anusamydna or tour of mahdmdtras (high officers)
was specially instituted by A6oka to check this evil. But when
his strong arm was withdrawn, central control apparently became
slack. Some of the outlying provinces seceded from the empire,
and the process of disintegration was accelerated by members of
the imperial family, some of whom set up independent sovereignties
while others cruelly oppressed the country. The distracted condition
of the country emboldened the Greeks to renew their incursions.
The final coup de grace was given by the general Pushyamitra.
CHAPTER VIII
THE DISRUPTION OF THE MAGADHAN EMPIRE AND INCURSIONS
FROM CENTRAL ASIA AND IRAN
Successors of the Imperial Mauryas
With the fall of the Mauryas, Indian history for the time being
loses its unity. The command of one single political authority
is no longer obeyed from the snowy heights of the northern
mountains to the verdant plains of Bengal and the North Carnatic.
Hordes of foreign barbarians pour through the north-western
gates of the country and establish powerful kingdoms in Gan-
dhara (North-West Frontier), ^akala (North-Central Punjab) and
other places. The southern provinces throw off the yoke of Magadha
and rival in power and splendour the remnant of the great empire
of the Gangetic plain. A new dynasty supplants the Mauryas in
the Madhya-deia, or the Upper Ganges valley, and finds it no easy
task to maintain its position against the rush of invasion from
the south and the north-west.
In Magadha and the neighbouring proArinces the immediate
successors of the Mauryas, according to the Purapas, were the
so-called ^ungas whose sovereignty is commemorated by a Bharhut
inscription. The Sungas are usually regarded as a Brahmaiia
famil y belonging to the Bhdrcdvdja clan. The founder, Push-
yamitra, is known from literature and also from a much discussed
epigraph, discovered at Ayodhya. In one famous work, the family
to which he belonged is styled Baimbika and not Sunga. He was
the general of the last of the Imperial Mauryas, whom he overthrew
in the very sight of the army. The people seem to have acquiesced
hi the change of d3masty as the later Mauryas had proved tyrannical
and mcapable of stemming the tide of Greek invasion and maintain-
ing the prestige of the arras of Magadha.
The dominions of the new king at first extended as far south
as the Narmada (Narbada or Nerbudda). The north-western
boundary seems to have been ill-defined, but tradition credits the
house of Pushyamitra with having exercised control as far as
Jalandhar and Sialkot in the Punjab. Pataliputra continued to
113
114 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
be graced with the presence of the sovereign, but it had a rival
in the city of Vidi^a, modem Besnagar in Eastern Malwa, where
the crown prince Agnimitra held his court.
The prince was soon involved in a war vith the neighbouring
kingdom of Vidarbha or Berar. He succeeded in defeating his
adversary and reducing him to obedience. A more serious danger
threatened from the north-west. The Greeks had renewed their
incursions towards the close of the third century b.o. and a Greek
king, Antiochos the Great of Syria, had penetrated into the Kabul
valley and induced the Indian king Subhagasena to surrender a
number of elephants. His example was soon followed by his son-
in-law Demetrios, prince of Bactria, who effected extensive con-
quests in the Punjab and the lower Indus vaUey. Equally brilliant
achievements are attributed to a later king, Menander. The war-
like activities of the Greeks are alluded to by Patanjali, Kalidasa
and the author of the Gargl SamhUd. We are told that the “ viciously
valiant barbarians ” besieged Sakcta in Oudh and Madhyamilia
near Chitor and threatened Pataliputra itself. The tide of invasion
was arrested and prince Vasumitra, son of Agnimitra, inflicted a
defeat on the Yavanas on the banks of the Sindhu, either the
Indus or some stream in Central India. The grandfither of the
victorious prince signalised the triumph of his arms by the success-
ful performance of two horse-sacrifices. These rites had a double
significance. On the one hand they proclaimed the rise of a new
empire on the ashes of Mauryan hegemony, which was successful
in defending Arydvarta against the barbarian outcastes of the
frontiers. On the other hand they heralded the dawn of a new
Brahmapical movement which reached its climax in the spacious
days of. the Guptas.
Pushyamitra died after a reign of thirty-six years, according to
the Purapas (c. 187-151 b.c. according to the system of chronology
adopted m these pages). He was succeeded by his son Agmmitra,
This prince is the hero of a famous drama by India’s greatest
playwright, Kalidasa. After him the history of the dynasty became
obscure. Vidi^a, modern Besnagar in. Eastern Malwa, continued
to be a great political centre, and its princes had diplomatic
relations . with the Greek potentates of the borderland. But the
power of the family gradually weakened, and in the end the ruler
of the line became a puppet in the hands of his Brahmana minister,
like the Childeries and Chilperics of Western Europe in the hands
of their Carolingian Mayors of the Palace. Eventually the
ministerial family, known as Kapva, assumed the purple under
Vasudeva (c, 75 b.o.), but permitted the faineant kings of the
DISRUPTION OF MAGADHAN EMPIRE 115
^unga dynasty to continue to rule in obscurity in a corner
of their former dominions. In or about 40-30 b.o. both the j§uhgas
and the Karivas were swept away by a southern power, and the
province of Eastern Malwa where stood the metropoHs of Vidii^a was
eventually absorbed within the dominions of the conqueror. Princes
with names ending in Mitra, and possibly connected with the
Suhgas and Kanvas, seemed to have exercised sway in Magadha
and the Ganges- Jumna valley tiU the Scythian conquest.
The Satavahanas
The southern potentate who put an end to the rule of the
^uhgas and the Kanvas is described in the Puranas as an Andhra,
a name applied to the people of the Telugu-speaMng tract at the
mouth of the Godavari and the Krishna. In contemporary
epigraphic records, however, kings of this Ime are mvariably
referred to as Satavahana and a “district of the Satavahanas”
has been proved to lie in the neighbourhood of BeUary m the
Kanarese area of the Madras Presidency. The memory of the
dynasty lingers in the story of the kmg ^alivahana famous in
Indian folk-lore. This legendary hero seems to have appropriated
to himself the glorious deeds of several distinguished members of
a long line of emperors of the Deccan.
The founder of the family was Simnka, but the man who raised
it to eminence was his son or nephew Satakarni I. The latter allied
himself with the powerful Maharathi chieftains of the western Deccan,
and signalised his accession to power by the performance of the
horse-sacrifice. Some time after his death, the Satavahana power
seems to have been submerged beneath a wave of Scythian invasion*
But the fortunes of the dynasty were restored by Gautamiputra
Satakarni, who took pride in calling himself the destroyer of the
Sakas (Scythians), Yavanas (Greeks) and Pahlavas (Parthians).
Gautamiputra built up an empire that extended from Malwa in
the north to the Kanarese country in the south. His son, Vasishthi-
putra Pulumayi, ruled at Pratishthana or Paithan on the banks
of the Godavari, now situated in the Aurangabad district of the
Nizam’s dominions. Two other cities, Vaijayanti (m North Kanara)
and Amaravati (in the Guntur district), attained eminence in the
Satavahana period. A king named Vasishthiputra Satakarpi, who
may have been a brother of Pulumayi, married the daughter of
the contemporary iSaka satrap (viceroy) Rudradaman I, but this
did not prevent the latter from inflicting crushing defeats on his
southern relation. The power of the Satavahanas revived under
116 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
^ri Yajna ^atakar^ii, but be was the last great prince of the line,
and after him the empire began to fall to pieces like the Bahman!
kingdom of a later age.
The most important among the succeeding powers in the Deccan
were the Abhiras and the Vakatakas of Nasik and Berar in Upper
Maharashtra, the Ikshvakus and the ^alahkayanas of the Krishna
and West Godavari districts, the Pallavas of Kanchi (near Madras)
and the Kadambas of Vaijayanti or Banavasi in North Kanara.
Kharavela of Kalinga
The earlier Satavahana empire had a formidable rival in the
kingdom of Kalinga, which had thrown off the yoke of Magadha
some time after the death of A^oka and risen to greatness under
Kliaravela, a prince of remarkable vigour and ambition. ETiaravela
defied or rescued ^atakarpi, probably the first of that name, and
humbled the pride of Magadha, then under a prince who has been
identified with Brihaspatimitra. Brihaspati is, in the opinion of
some scholars, the same as Pushyamitra, but the theory lacks
plausibility. The Kalinga king is also credited with having pushed
his southern conquests beyond the Godavari. His career was
meteoric, and after his death his empire vanished as quickly as
it had risen.
The Tamil Country
The far south of India beyond the Venkata HUls, known as the
Tamil or Dravida country, was parcelled out among many States
of which three were important, namely, Choja, Papdya and Kerala,
The Cholas occupied the present Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts
with some adjoining areas, and showed great military activity in
the second century B.o. A Chola prince, Elara, conquered Ceylon,
and many anecdotes have been preserved which testify to his
strong sense of justice. The Papdyas excelled m trade and learning.
They occupied the districts of Madura and TmneveUy with portions
of South Travancore. A Pandya king sent an embassy to the
Roman emperor, Augustus, in the fibrst century b.o. To the north
and west of the Pandyas lay the Kerala country embracing
Malabar, Cochin and North Travancore.
Renewed Incursions of the Greeks
The political disintegration of India after the Great Mauryas
invited invasions from without, and we have already referred to
DISRUPTION OF MAGADHAN EMPIRE
117
renewed warlike activities on the part of the Greeks of Syria and
Bactria. The Syrian empire, once so powerful under Seleukos, was
now seriously weakened by the secession of Parthia and Bactria
which were torn from the Seleulddan dominions by satraps who
revolted and asserted their independence. And it was from these
rebellious provinces that fresh invaders swooped down upon the
smiling plains of the Punjab.
At first Bactria showed the greatest activity. Demetrios, son
of Euthydemos, king of Bactria, reduced to submission a con-
siderable portion of Afghanistan, the Punjab and Sind, and founded
or embellished cities in the conquered territories which bore his
own name and possibly that of his father. But a rival appeared
in Eukratides, who made himself master of the Indian borderland,
leaving to his antagonist the precarious tenure of some provinces
in the interior. A later king, Menander, who apparently belonged
COIN OB’^UEMETRIOS
to the house of Demetrios, reigned gloriously at ^akala (Euthymedia
or Euthydemia), identified with modem ^ialkot in the Punjab,
His dominions may have included the Bajaur territory in the
North-West where an inscription dated in the fifth year of his
reign has been discovered recently. He is credited with having
pushed his arms beyond the river Beas. Another king, AntiaMdas,
ruled at Taxila (near Rawalpindi) in Gandhara and sent an embassy
to the court of Vidi^a. Some of these later Greek princes and
members of their court succumbed to the influence of their environ-
ment and became adherents of Buddhism or of Vaishpavism. Greek
political power in parts of Afghanistan and the Indus valley was
soon threatened by the Parthians led by Mithradates I, a con-
temporary of Eukratides who ruled in the second century b.o. In
the first century A.n. aU vestige of Greek rule seems to have dis-
appeared from the Punjab as well as the borderland. The last
known Greek king was Hermaios, who soon made way for the
118 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
founders of the Parthian and Kushan monarchies to the south
of the Hindukush.
The Sakas and Parthians
The foreign conquerors who supplanted the Greeks in north-west
India belong to three main groups, namely, Saka, Pahlava or
Parthian, and Yue-chi or Kushan. The Sakas were displaced
from their home in Central Asia by the Yue-chi and were forced
to migrate south. We are told by Chinese annalists that the Saka
king went south and ruled in Ki-pm, which about this time probably
corresponded to the territory drained by some of the northern
tributaries of the Kabul river. They are found settled in southern
Afghanistan in the time of Isidore of Charax, probably about the
beginning of the Christian era, and the territory they occupied came
to be known as Sakasthana, modern Sistan. Gradually they
extended their sway to the Indus vaUey and Western India, which
came to be styled Scythia by Greek mariners and geographers
in the first and second centuries a.d. In the first century after
Christ part of this territory had already fallen into the hands
of the Parthians. Inscriptions and coins disclose the names of
many Scjiiho-Parthian kings and provincial governors. One of
the earliest among these rulers was Maues, Moa or Moga, who
was acknowledged as their suzerain by the governors of Chuksha
near Taxila. Maues seems to have been followed by Azes 1,
Azilises and Azes II, after whom the sovereignty of the Indian
borderland passed into the hands of Gondophernes, a Parthian.
Some scholars attribute to Azes I the foundation of that reckoning
commencing 68 b.o. which afterwards came to be known as the
Vikrama Samvat, but the matter cannot be regarded as certain.
Indian tradition ascribes to it an indigenous origin. It was handed
down by the Malava tribe, and in the post-Gupta period came
to be associated with the great Vikramaditya, the destroyer of
the Sakas.
With one of the kings named Azes was associated a ruler named
Spalirises who seems to have reigned in Southern Afghanistan
and to have been a successor of King Vonones. The identity of this
Vonones with any king of the imperial line of Arsakes must remain
a bafifiing problem. The ^aka-Pahlava kings ruled over an empire
that embraced several provinces. The governors of these adminis-
trative units were known as satraps (Eshairapa) or great satraps
(MaJidhshatrapa). One of these satrapal families ruled in Kapiia
near the junction of the Ghorband and Panjsliir rivers in Afghanistan,
DISRUPTION OF MAGADHAN EMPIRE 119
another near Taxila in the Western Punjab, a third at Mathura in the
Jumna valley, a fourth in the upper Deccan and a fifth at Ujjain
in Malwa. The satraps of the upper Deccan and part of Western
India belonged to the Kshaharata race, probably a branch of the
Sakas. They carved out a principality on the ruins of the early
Satavahana empire and attained great power under Nahapana. But
they were finally overthrown by Gautamiputra ^atakarpi who re-
stored the fallen fortunes of the Satavahana family. The satraps of
Ujjam traced their descent from the lord {svdmin) Chashtana, the
Tiastanes of Ptolemy the geographer. Rudradaman, grandson of
Chashtana, ruled from about a.d. 130 to 150, arid was one of the
greatest Saka rulers of ancient India. He entered intu a inatrimdniai
alliance with the Satavahana dynasty, but this did not prevent him
from inflicting defeats oh his southern neighbour. If his court poet
is to be believed his sway extended from the Konkan in the south
to Sind and Marwar m the north. The successors of Rudradaman
were not so strong as he was. Internal feuds were common. Power
gradually feU into the hands of the Abhira chieftains. The death-
kneU of satrapal rule in Malwa and Kathiawar was sounded when
a new indigenous empire rose in the Ganges valley in the fourth
century a.d. and the arms of Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta
II swept through the tableland of Malwa and involved ^aka and
Abhira in common ruin.
Fall of the Parthians and the Kushan Conquest
Long before the final catastrophe that ultimately overtook the
satrapal line of Chashtana, the Saka-Pahlava emperors of the
north-west had passed through vicissitudes of another kind.
Gondophernes, who had probably succeeded Azes II on the imperial
throne of the north-west, had a chequered career. Numismatic
evidence points to the wide extent of his sway and his leaning
towards Indian culture. Tradition associates his name with that
of the Christian apostle St. Thomas. He does not seem to have
left to his successors a stable government. We are told by a con-
temporary Greek mariner that Parthian princes in the latter half
of the first century a.d. were constantly driving each other out.
The Yue-chi nomads of Central Asia, who had been driven from
their ancestral abode on the Chinese frontier about 165 b.c. and
had settled in the Oxus vaUey, were not slow to take advantage of
Parthian disunion. The five principalities into which the Yue-chi were
divided in their new home were consolidated into a powerful monarchy
by Kieu-tsieu-k’io, identified with Kujula Kasa, Kadphises or
120
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
KadpMses I, head of the Kushan {Kusana) section of the horde.
Kadphises attacked the Parthians, took possession of Ki-pin and
Kabul and became complete master of the Indian borderland.
Copper coins of Kujula bearing a remarkable resemblance to Roman
denarii, particularly to the Constantia type of the emperor Claudius
{a.d. 41-54), prove that he ruled not earlier than the middle of the
&st century a.d. A terminus ad quern is probably fixed by the
Chinese reference to the Yue-cM occupation of Kabul or some
territory in its neighbourhood before a.d. 92.
The successor of Kieu-tsieu-k’io or Kujula Kadphises was
Yen-kao-chen or Vima Kadphises (II) of the coins. The new king is
credited by Chinese annalists with the conquest of the Indian interior,
where he set up a governor to rule in his name. He became a convert
to Saivism and proclaimed himself as Mahisvara, on his coins. The
KANISHKA
From a coin in the
British Museum
wealth and prosperity of his dominions are filustrated by the fine
gold coins that were issued under his orders. Ambassadors from
India presented their credentials to the Roman emperor Trajan
(a.d. 98-117). They may have arrived from the Kushan court,
but it is uncertain whether they were sent by Kadphises II or a
later king, Kanishka.
Kanishka I
Kanishka is usually regarded as a successor of Vima Kadphises
(Kadphises II). To him is attributed by many scholars the founda-
tion of the Saka era of a.d. 78. This era is the only Indian reckoning
traditionally ascribed to a ^aka potentate, and Kanishka is the
only Scythian king known to have established an era, that is to
say, his regnal reckoning was continued by his successors for
several generations, and was thus transformed into an era. Kanishka
was no doubt a Kushan and not strictly speaking a Saka, but
DISRUPTION OP MAGADHAN EMPIRE
121
the latter designation was used in India in a wide sense to include
all kindred tribes. Chinese historians refer to a famous conflict
between a Kushan king and the great general Pan-chao in the
last quarter of the flrst century a.d. The view held by certain
scholars is that the Kushan antagonist of Pan-chao was Kadphises
II. No such event is, however, associated with Yen-kao-chen or
Kadphises II by Chinese annalists. On the other hand Kanishka,
whose name was not known to the official historians of China,
certainly came into conflict with that country, and Hiuen Tsang
speaks of one or more Chinese hostages detained at his court. If
Kanishka was the contemporary of Pan-chao the ascription to him
of the Saka era cannot be regarded as untenable. The rival theory
which makes Kadphises II the founder of the era and places
Kanishka in the second quarter of the second century a.d. fails
to explain why in the time of Kadphises II his own reckoning is
not used in the metropolitan territory, and why no era commencing
from the second century a.d. is alluded to by later writers including
al-Biruni. The fame of Kanishka and his hue was still green in the
days of the Khi va, n scholar, who gives a list of Indian eras ; and it
is difficult to believe that a reckoning commencing from the second
century a.d., if really founded by Kanishka and perpetuated by
his descendants, escaped his notice.
According to Hiuen Tsang the great empire over which Kanishka
exercised his sway had its capital at Purushapura or Peshawar.
Epigraphio evidence points to the inclusion within his dominions
of the wide expanse of territory from Gandhara and Sue Vihar
to Oudh and Benares. The inclusion of Kaslimir is testifi.ed to
by KaUiaiia, and clashes with the rulers of Saketa and Pataliputra
are vouched for by other writers. As already stated, the pilgrim
Hiuen Tsang refers to a war with China in the course of which
the Kushan king obtained some initial successes in eastern Turkestan.
But he was unable to make much impression on his mighty northern
neighbour. The north alone, according to tradition, remained
unsubdued.
But it is not as a conqueror that Kanishka is chiefly remembered
by posterity. His chief title to fame rests on his monuments and
on the patronage he extended to the reli^on of Sakya-muni. The
celebrated chaitya thant he constructed at Peshawar excited the
wonder and admiration of travellers down to a late period, and
the famous sculptures executed under his orders include a life-
size statue of the king himself. In Buddhist ecclesiastical history
his name is honoured as that of the prince who summoned a great
council to examine the Buddhist scriptures and prepare commentaries
122
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
on them. Inscriptions and coins bear eloquent testimony to the
king’s zeal for the religion of the Buddha. That his association with
it dated from the beginning of his reign is possibly proved by the
Peshawar Casket Inscriptions. Among the celebrities who graced his
court the most eminent was perhaps Asvaghosha, philosopher, poet,
and dramatist, who wrote the Buddha Charita and other books.
Successors of Kanishka I
Kanishka’s rule lasted for twenty-three years. His immediate
successor was Yasishka, who had a short reign and was succeeded
by Huvishka. The empire of Huvishka was not less extensive than
that of the traditional patron of Asvaghosha. It may have spread
farther to the west, as a record of his reign has been unearthed
at Wardak to the west of Kabul. Mathura was now a great centre
of Kushan power and it was adorned with monuments by Huvishka
as the city of Peshawar had been embellished by the greatest of
his predecessors. For some time Huvishka had apparently a
colleague or rival in Kanishka of the Ara inscription, who is
described as a son of Vajheshka, possibly the same as Vasishka,
and receives in addition to the titles of great king, the king of kings,
son of heaven (devaputra) assumed by his predecessors, the novel
title of Kaisara, “Caesar”. In Kalhapa’s Chronicle we have a
reference to the rule of “Hushka, Jushka and Kanishka”, appar-
ently identical with Huvishka, Vajheshka and his son. They
were the reputed founders of three cities in Kashmir named after
them. Kanishka of this passage may have reference to the pre-
decessor of Vasishka, but it is more probable that the king referred
to by Kalhana is identical with his namesake mentioned in the
Ara inscription.
The last great Kushan king was Vasudeva I, who ruled from
about the year 67 to 98 of the Kanishka era. Most of his inscriptions
have been found at or near Mathura, and his coins usually bear the
god ^iva and rarely any Iranian deity. It is not improbable that
he gradually lost touch with the north-western provinces. The
decline of the Kushan power in the north-west was hastened by
the rise of the Sassanian dynasty of Persia. In the third century
A.B. we find references to four separate kingdoms all dependent on
the Yue-chi. This possibly suggests territorial disintegration
though the nominal suzerainty of the “Son of Heaven” may have
continued to be acknowledged by all these states. The rule of the
Kushana in part of the Jumna vaUey seems to have been supplanted
by that of the Nagas. The latter are represented as ruling over
DISRUPTION OF MAGADHAN EMPIRE
123
Matliura, Padmavati (Padam Pawaya) and a few other places
in Mid-India contemporaneously with, the Gupta.s of Prayaga
(Allahabad), Saketa (Oudh) and Magadha (South Bihar). About
the middle of the fourth century a.d. the Nagas were reduced to
subjection by the Gupta emperors. The “Son of Heaven” continued
to rule in diminished glory over an obscure corner of the Indian
borderland where he soon felt the irresistible might of Gupta
arms.
CHAPTER IX
CIVILISATIOIT m THE ERA OF MAURyAN IMPEBLALISM AHD OF
GRAEOO-SCYTHIAFr INVASIONS (c. 324 B.C. — A.D. 320)
Forms of Government
In the period under review we have for the jSrst time in the history
of this country great empires extending from the Hindukush to the
valleys of the Godavari and the Krishpa. It wiU, however, be a
mistake to think that the imperial or even the ordinary monarchical
system was the only form of government known to the people
of the age. Greek observers referring to the activities of the
overseers who “ enquire into and superintend all that goes on in
India” add that “they make report to the king or, where the
state is without a king, to the magistrates”. Thus non-monarchical
states governed by their own magistrates flourished side by side
with territories ruled by kings. Arrian makes distinct mention
of self-governed cities. Towards the end of our period the existence
of autonomous tribal governments is proved by numismatic
evidence. Such states are usually referred to as ganas, although
the designation sangha is also known.
But monarchy was in this, as in aU ages, in this country, the
prevailing form of government. A remarkable feature of the
period is the association in many parts of India of a prince of
the blood or an allied chieftain with the titular or real head of the
government as co-ordinate ruler or subordinate colleague. Such
a prince was often called yuvardja or yuva-mahdrdga (crown prince
or junior king). Sometimes he was honoured with full regal titles.
In the literature on polity this type of rule was known as dvairdjya
or diarchy.
Ideas of Kingship
Ideas of kingship underwent a change during the period. At
the commencement of the age a king was considered to be a mere
mortal, though a favoured mortal, the beloved of the deities.
Thus Aloka referred to himself and his forebears as devdnaihpiya^
the beloved of the gods. The Greeks, however, introduced titles like
the “divine king”, the “god-like queen”, etc. In the early centuries
124
CIVILISATION IN MAURYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 125
of the Christian era a Parthian king took the title of Devavrata,
an epithet applied to an epic hero, the son of a river goddess,
and also to Karttikeya, the god of war. The Kushan emperors
adopted the still more significant title of devapvira, “ Son of Heaven
The deification of rulers was clearly on the way to accomplishment,
and ideas of divine kingship found favour especially in tracts which
came under foreign influence. Greek and Chinese influence is
clearly discernible in the title of devaputra.
Bangs, even those who preceded the Scythian “Sons of Heaven”,
were no puppets. They had usually at their disposal powerful
standing armies and the material resources of vast kingdoms and
empires over which they presided. Prom the observations of
Greek writers and the actual records of the reigns of Chandragupta,
A^oka, Kharavela, Gautamiputra and many other rulers, it is
clear that kings often led the troops in person to the battlefield.
They also administered justice, issued rescripts, made important
appointments, granted remission of taxes and took a large share
in the ordinary work of civil government. They generally held
in their hands the mam strings of policy. Rulers with such powers
and resources cannot be regarded as limited monarchs of the
type with which the modem world is familiar. Nevertheless it
is a mistake to consider Hindu kings of the age as absolute despots.
There was a body of ancient rules which even the most masterful
of the rulers of the period viewed with respect. The people were
an important element {prakfiti) of the state. They were looked
upon as children (prajd) for whose welfare the head of the state was
responsible, and to whom he owed a debt which could only be
discharged by good government. There was a certain amount of
decentralisation notably in the spheres of local government, legisla-
tion and administration of justice in the rural areas . The existence of
autonomous communities, urban and rural, poHtical and economic,
social and religious, put a limit, in normal times, on the exercise
of authority by the supreme executive. Lastly, there was usually
at imperial head-quarters, and also at the chief centres of provincial
government, a body of ministers {mantri parishad, mati sachiva)
who had a right to be consulted especially at times of emergency.
Literature on Polity
For a detailed record of the administrative arrangements of the
period we have to look mainly to three classes of evidence, namely,
inscriptions, accounts of Greek and Roman observers, notably
Megasthenes, and literature on poUty styled Mdjaidstra or Arthaidstra .
126 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Treatises on polity are often found embedded in legal or Purapie
collections. But a few exist as independent works. The most
famous among these is the Arthaidstra attributed to Kautilya,
the traditional minister of Chandragupta Maurya. The Arthaidstra
certainly existed before Bapa (seventh century a.d.) and the
Nandi Sutra of the Jainas (not later than the fifth century a.d.).
But it is doubtful if in its present shape it is as old as the time
of the first Maurya. Reference to Chinapatia, China silk, a com-
modity often mentioned in classical Sanskrit literature, points
to a later date, as China was clearly outside the horizon of the
early Mauryas, and is unknown to Indian epigraphy before the
Nagarjunikopda inscriptions. Equally noteworthy is the use of
Sanskrit as the official language, a feature not characteristic of
the Maurya period. A date as late as the Gupta period is, however,
precluded by the absence of any reference to the denarius in the
sections dealing with weights and coins. Quite in keeping with
this view is the reference to the Arthaidstra contained in the
Jaina canonical works that were reduced to writing in the Gupta
age.
Maurya Administration
The administrative history of the epoch is best studied under
two heads, namely, Maurya administration and the system pre-
vailing in the days of their Indian and Graeco-Scythian successors.
As already stated, the Maurya king did not lay claim to divine
rank. A4oka looked upon his people as his children and assigned
their care to his officers just as a mother does to skilful nurses.
The idea of government paternalism persists in these expressions.
In one record he declared that whatever effort he was making was
intended to discharge the debt which he owed to living beings.
The KauUUya Arthaidstra^ which in its present shape may bo
post-Mauryan but which uses older material, declares that “what-
ever pleases himself the king shall not consider as good, but whatever
pleases his subjects ho shall consider as good.” The king is also
advised to show fatherly kindness to his people.
The powers of the king were extensive. We have it on the
authority of Megasthenes that the king took part in war and the
administration of justice. While listening to causes he did not
suffer himself to be interrupted even though the time arrived for the
massage of his limbs. Appointments to the most important offices
were made by the ruler himself and the same authority often laid
down the broad lines of policy and issued rescripts and codes of
regulations (idsana, dlmrmaniyama) for the guidance of his officers
CIVILISATION IN MAURYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 127
and the people. Control was maintained over the most distant
officials by an army of secret reporters and itinerant judges, and
communication with them was kept up by a network of roads
marked with pillars at every ten stadia.
It was impossible for a single individual to support the Atlantean
load of administration. The king had the assistance of a council
of advisers styled the Parishad or the mantri parishad, who were
specially consulted in times of emergency. There were also bodies
{niJcdya) of trained officials whp looked after the ordinary affairs
of the realm. Greek writers refer to three important classes of
officers, styled district officials (Agrouomoi), city commissioners
(Astynomoi) and a third body who had the care of military affairs.
In the inscriptions of A^oka we have references to Rajulcas and
Prddeiilcas, charged with the welfare of Jdnapadas or country
parts and Pradeias or districts, Malidmdtras or high officers charged
with the administrations of cities {Nagala Viyohdlalca) and sundry
other matters, and a host of minor officials including clerks (Yuta),
scribes (LipiJcara) and reporters {Pativedaka). The Artkaidstra
mentions the official designations Mahdmdtra, Yukta, etc. It refers
to the highest officers as the eighteen itrthas, the chief amongst
whom were the Mantrin (chief minister), PuroMta (high priest),
Yuvardja (heir-apparent) and Sendpati (commander-in-chief).
Another important class of officials mentioned in the literature on
polity are the AdhyahsTias or supermtendents in charge of the various
departments of the state. Officials were appointed iiTespective
of caste, creed or nationality. TaUyas and even Yavanas were
admitted to the highest offices of the state.
At the head of the judiciary stood the long himself. But there
were special tribunals of justice, both in cities and the country
parts, presided over by Mahdmdtras and Rajukas. Greek writers
refer to judges who listened to the cases of foreigners. Petty
cases in villages were doubtless decided by the headman and the
village elders. ASoka seems to have introduced many reforms in
judicial administration and procedure. While preserving a certain
amount of uniformity he is said to have allowed considerable
discretion to the Rajukas so that they could discharge their duties
unperturbed. Judges in the outlying provinces do not appear to
have done their work to the satisfaction of the emperor. Greek
writers testify to the severity of the penal code, and the emperor
admits in some of his inscriptions that in Kahhga individuals
suffered from arbitrary imprisonment and torture. To check
maladministration in this and other outlying areas the emperor
or his viceroys sent forth in rotation every five or three years such
128 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
officers as were of mild and temperate disposition and regardful
of the sanctity of life.
The army was often led by the king himself. Chandragupta
personally undertook the campaign against the generals of Alex-
ander, and A^oka was an eye-witness of the terrible carnage in
Kalihga. It is only in the days of the last Maurya that we find
a sendpati overshadowing the king and transferring to himself
the allegiance of the troops. The army of Chandragupta, according
to P lin y, included 600,000 foot, soldiers, 30,000 cavahy, and
9,000 elephants, besides chariots. The protection of the king’s
person was entrusted to an amazonian bodyguard of armed women .
The fighting forces were under the supervision of a governing
body of thirty divided into six boards of five members each.
Each of these boards was responsible for one of the following de-
partments, namely, the navy, transport and commissariat, the in-
fantry, the cavahy, the chariots and the elephants. In military
as well as Judicial affairs ASoka must have introduced great in-
novations. He deprecated wars and abolished even hunting. In
one of his inscriptions he declares exultingly that throughout his
dominions the sound of the war-drum had become the sound of
dharma (religious discourse). It would have been a miracle if the
army could have preserved its morale and efficiency under such
circumstances.
The cost of civil and military administration even at the centre
must have been enormous. The chief sources of revenue from
villages mentioned in an inscription of A4oka are the bhdga and
the ball. The bhdga was the king’s share of the produce of the
soil, which was normally fixed at one-sixth, though in special
cases it was raised to one-fourth or reduced to one-eighth. Bali
is explained by commentators as an extra impost levied on special
tracts for the subsistence of certain officials. According to Greek
writers, husbandmen paid, in addition to a fourth part of the
produce of the soil, a land tribute because “aff India is the property
of the Crown and no private person is permitted to own land”.
Originally bali may have had reference to this land t^bute. Taxes
on land were collected by the Agronomoi who measured the laud
and superintended the hrigation works. Other state-dues included
cattle from herdsmen and tribute and prescribed services from
those engaged in the trades. In urban areas the main sources of
revenue were birth and death taxes, fines and tithes on sales. The
distinction between taxes levied in rural and fortified areas {rdshtra
and durga) is indicated in the Arthaddstra, which refers to certain
high revenue functionaries styled the samdhartri and the sannidhatri.
CIVILISATION IN MAURYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 129
No such officials are, however, mentioned in the known Maurya
inscriptions. Greek writers on the other hand, in describing the
seventh caste of Indian society which consisted of the king’s
councillors and assessors refer distinctly to treasurers of the state or
superintendents of the treasury.
A considerable part of the revenue was spent on the army.
The artisans, too, according to Diodoros, received maintenance
from the imperial exchequer. They made armour for the troops,
and constructed implements for husbandmen and others. The
services of some of them must have been requisitioned for
the construction of the wooden ramparts and towers encircling the
city of Pataliputra, and the splenffid palaces which excelled in
magnificence the stately regal edifices of Susa and Eobatana. To
them we owe also the splendid monoliths and other monuments
of the tune of A^oka.
Herdsmen and hunters received an allowance of grain from the
state in return for clearing the land of wild beasts and fowls.
Another class which benefited from the royal bounty were the philo-
sophers, among whom were included Brdhmanas as weU as Sramanaa
(ascetics). Vast sums were also spent for irrigation and other
works of pubho utility. The most famous of the irrigation works
of the early Maurya period is the Sudar^ana lake of Kathiawar,
constructed by Pushyagupta the Vai^ya, an officer of the founder
of the dynasty, and provided with supplemental channels by the
Yavanardja Tushaspha in the days of the emperor A^oka. Roads
furnished with milestones had already been constructed by the
officials of the first Maurya. These were provided with shady groves
and wells by his famous grandson. The latter also built hospitals
both for men and other living creatures.
For the efficient administration of their huge empire the Mauryas
divided their dominions into provinces subdivided into districts
called dhdra, vishaya and perhaps also 'pradeia. Each of the
provinces was placed under a viceroy or governor who was either
a prince of the blood or an official of the crown. In one case, and
perhaps in several others, the local ruler or administrator bore the
title of raja, which is normally indicative of feudatory rank. The
system of hereditary officials does not seem to have come into
use in the early period, at least in the province of Surashtra or
Kathiawar. The assumption of the title of raja by local rulers,
and the grant of autonomy to the BajnJcas in the days of Asoka,
ultimately let loose centrifagal forces which must have helped
in the dismemberment of the empire. In the early Maurya period,
however, efficient control over the provincial governors was
F
130
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
maintained iti various ways. With the princely viceroys were
associated a number of high officers {mahdmdtras) who received
orders from the sovereign. The work of erring mahdmdtras in certain
areas was supervised by special officers sent periodically from the
metropolis. There was, besides, a host of secret emissaries of the
central government (ephors, episkopoi, pativedaJcas) who enquired
into and superintended aU that went on in India and made reports
to the emperor. ASoka gave special directions to the reporters that
they were to report to him the affairs of the people at any time
anywhere “while he was eating, in the harem, in the inner apartment,
at the cow- pen, in the palanquin or in the park”.
It may he thought that the all-embracing activities of the Mamya
imperial government left little room for popular initiative or
self-government. Nevertheless it is a fact that autonomous
communities did exist in Maurya India, and classical writers make
distinct mention of self-governed cities. Important affairs of the
metropoUs itself were conducted by a commission of thirty members
divided, like the governing body of the defence forces, into six
boards of five members each. There was a small committee to
look after each of the following departments, namely, the mechanical
arts, foreign residents, registration of births and deaths, sales,
exchanges, weights and measures, supervision of manufactured
articles, and collection of tithes on sales. Officers in charge of
the city {nagarddhyaksha, nigarmpradhdna) find mention in
Indian literature. The KautiUya Arthaidstra says in the chapter
deahng with the examination of government servants that each
department shall be officered by several heads {hdhumuhhya)^
and that the adhyahsha, or chief executive officer of a department,
shall carry on his work in company with four other officials. The
Nagaraka or the Town Prefect, whose duties are described in a
subsequent chapter, was a distinct official whose existence in the
Maurya period is proved by the testimony of the Kalinga edicts
of iioka.
Administration in the Post-Maurya Period
In the post-Maurya period ideas of kingship changed, but a
ruler still considered it to be his duty to please his people. The
official machinery of the A^okan age continued to function at
least in those parts of India which did not come under Greek and
Scythian domination. The science of government (arthuvidyd)
was now regularly studied and its influence is seen m epigraphic
references to the education of princes, insistence on prescribed
CIVILISATION IN MAURYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 131
quaKfications for appointment to high oflSces, classification of
ministers, measures taken to secure the welfare of citizens both
in urban and rural areas, and abstention from oppressive imposition
of vexatious taxes like Kara (extra cess), VisTiti (forced labour)
and Praimya (benevolence) in addition to the customary Bali
(tribute), Sulka (duty), and BTidga (king’s share of the produce).
Innovations in administration were, however, introduced in
north-west India, the territory that was ruled by successive
dynasties of foreign conquerors. One of the most important changes
related to the system of provincial government. The system of
government by hereditary officials with the Persian title of Satrap
was introduced in Taxila, Mathura, TJjjain and a few other places,
and we have references even to functionaries with the Greek titles
of meridarch and strategos. A body of counsellors {mati sachiva)
seems to have been associated with some of the provincial rulers,
but the rule of others was often of a purely military character.
The influence of the system of military governors {strategos) is
clearly seen in the appointment by Satavahana kings of district
officers styled maMsendpati.
In spite of the prevalence of military rule in certain areas the
old self-governing institutions did not wholly perish. Town councils
{nigama sabhd) and officials styled nagardJcshadarda (city judges)
are mentioned in several records and these correspond to the
municipal commission and the nagala viyohdlaka of the Maurya
period. The aflairs of the village continued to be controlled by the
village functionaries led by the head-man. The village assembly
afforded a field for co-operation between kings and villagers.
Social Conditions
Varrm (caste) and dirama (periods or stages of religious discipline),
the two characteristic institutions of the Hindu social polity,
reached a definite stage in the Maurya period. Greek writers
inform us that no one was allowed to marry out of his own caste
or to exercise any calling or art except his own. For instance, a
soldier could not become a husbandman or an artisan a philosopher.
It is, however, added by some that the sophists could be from any
caste. Philosophers lived in simple style and spent their lives
listening to serious discourses. Some of them became wood-dwellers
(hyiobioi) who subsisted on leaves and fruits and wore garments
made from the bark of trees. These undoubtedly correspond to
the vanaprastha order of Hindu anchorites. In the inscriptions
of ASoka we have mention of householders and wandering ascetics.
132
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The system of the four diravms was thus well estabhshed in the
early Maurya age.
The rise of heterodox creeds, the influx of foreigners and many
other causes must have affected to a certain extent the rigidity
of caste rules. Instances of matrimonial alliances between Indian
monarchs and foreign potentates are known, and a Satavahana
record makes pointed reference to the mingling of the four castes
which a king took considerable pains to prevent. The same king
is eulogised as a promoter of the households of Brahmapas and
the lowly orders, doubtless the Vaiiyas and the l^udras. The Kautillya
ArtTiaidstra mentions agriculture, cattle breeding and trade as
the common occupation of Vaiiyas and Sudras, and, if Greek writers
are to he believed, the old distinction between the Vaiiya and Sudra
was gradually obliterated and replaced by a new distinction between
husbandmen, herdsmen, and traders, who constituted distinct
castes. The physicians too emerge as a distinct group of philo-
sophers next in point of honour to the wood-dwellers. Another
remarkable feature of the period is the growth of two official
castes, namely, the overseers and the councillors. The latter
doubtless correspond to the amdtya (or amacca) hula of the Pali
texts. The philosophers, the husbandmen, the herdsmen and
hunters, the traders and artisans, the soldiers, the overseers and
the councillors constituted the seven castes into which the popula-
tion of India was divided in the days of Megasthenes. There is
no reason to doubt that the Greek writer described the actual
conditions as witnessed by him as opposed to the theory of the law-
books. The restoration of the fourfold division of caste {ckdturvarna)
was sought by the great Gautamiputra Satakarpi, who referred
to dvijas (Brahmapas) and avaras (the lower orders) as objects of
his special care and to the Kshatriyas as a conceited class whom
he did much to repress. The cause of Gautamiputra’s hostility
to the warrior caste is not clear. It is possible that the ranks of
the latter were being swelled by Tavanas, Sahas, and Pahlavas
who are classed by the author of the Mdnava-dharmaidstra (Institutes
of Mann) as degraded Kshatriyas. It is weU known that the wrath of
the great Satavahana was specially directed against the latter. Caste
rules could not, however, be rigidly enforced. The Satavahanas
themselves intermarried with ^akas, and Brahmapas figure as
generals and kings like Dropa of old.
Regarding the position of women, Greek writers and contem-
porary epigraphs give us a few details. We are told that some of them
pursued philosophy and lived a life of continence. But married
women were denied the privilege of sharing with their husbands
CIVILISATION IN MAURYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 133
a knowledge of the sacred lore. Polygamy was practised, especially
by rulers and noblemen. The care of the king’s person was entrusted
to women, and we have the curious story that a woman who
killed a king when drunk was rewarded by becoming the wife of
his successor. A^oka refers to women as particularly given to
the performance of many trivial and worthless ceremonies. The
practice of seclusion of women is hinted at by expressions like
Olodhana occurring in inscriptions. Superintendents to look after
women are mentioned. That the wife took a prominent share
in religious activities by the side of her husband is clear from
the record of the benefactions of Karuvaki, the second queen of
A^oka himself. A glimpse of the way in which the life of a pious
widow was spent is afforded by a Nasik record which refers to
the queen-dowager Gautami Bala^ri as one who delighted in truth,
charity, patience, and respect for life; who was bent on penance,
self-control, restraint and abstinence, fully working out the type
of a royal sage’s wife (rajarishibadhu). Her son is eulogised for
unquestioning obedience towards his mother. “Women though
deserving of honour should not have independence” says the law-
giver. But history records instances of royal ladies who guided
the affairs of a realm on behalf of their children.
Slavery was an established institution. It is recognised not
only by the law-books and the literature on polity, but is expressly
referred to in inscriptions. A^oka draws a distinction between the
slave and the hired labourer and inculcates kind treatment for
all. Arrian, however, probably relying on Megasthenes, states
that “all the Indians are free and not one of them is a slave”.
Strabo also quotes Megasthenes as saying that none of the Indians
employed slaves. But the same writer in describing the customs
of the court of Pataliputra observes that the care of the king’s
person is entrusted to women who are bought from their parents.
Buying and selling of women are thus admitted. We have it on
the authority of Hegesander and Athenaios that Amitrochates,
that is Bindusara, wrote to Antiochos asking him to purchase
and send him not only sweet wine and dried figs but a sophist,
only to be reminded that it was not lawful in Greece to sell a
sophist. The implication is that a different law prevailed in the
realm of Bindusara, It has been pointed out by some scholars
that Megasthenes may have been misled by the statement of
Onesikritos about the non-existence of slavery in the lower Indus
valley, or he may have heard of the principle laid down in Indian
works on polity that no Aryan should be kept in the condition
of permanent slavery.
i
134
AN ADVASTCED HISTORY OF INDIA
About the manners and customs of the Indians we are told
by Greek and Latin writers that they lived frugally and observed
good order. Cultivators were mild and gentle. Theft was a thing
of very rare occurrence and no Indian was accused of lying. The
people never drank wine except at sacrifices and their food was
principally a rice pottage. Their laws were simple. They had no
suits about pledges or deposits nor did they require seals or witnesses,
but they made their deposits and confided in each other. Their
houses and property were generally left unguarded. We are further
told that the Indians were a simple folk ignorant of writing and
conducted aU matters by memory. That the picture is a little
overdrawn seems clear from what the same writers say about
the different sections of the people in other passages. Thus Strabo
tells us that fightmg men when not engaged in active service
passed their time in idleness and drinking. Speaking about a
great synod that used to be held by philosophers, the same writer
informs us that some of them commit their suggestions to writing.
In another passage he quotes Nearchos as saymg that Indians
wrote letters on pieces of closely woven linen, while Curtins informs
us that the bark of trees was used for writing on.
Games and Recreations
Inscriptions of the period refer frequently to utsava and samdja,
festivities and merry gatherings. Kings considered it a duty to
give practical demonstration of their sympathy with the people
by liberality on such occasions. Dancing, singing and instrumental
music must have formed an important part of all festivities. Samdjas
were often held in honour of a deity, e.g., Brahma, PaSupati-^iva,
or Sarasvati. A prominent feature of some of these assemblies
was a joust of arms in which wrestlers from distant regions took
part. Fights between men and between elephants and other
animals are mentioned by Aelian, who also describes chariot races
with teams of oxen and horses as practised in the imperial city of
Pataliputra. The combats of men and animals often led to shedding
of blood, and this was perhaps the reason why ASoka issued an
edict forbidding certain t3rpes of samdja “in which he saw much
offence”, while admitting that there were other festal meetings
which were excellent in his sight. Patanjali makes mention of
dramatic representations by the iSaubhilcas or SobhayiiJcas who
gave before the eyes of the spectators an actual demonstration
of the incidents mentioned in the plays. He also refers to Grayithihas
who related the fortunes of their subjects from birth to death.
CIVILISATION IN BIAUEYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 135
Dice play afforded pleasure to many though its baneful effects
are frequently aUuded to. Buddhist writers refer to games on
boards with eight or ten rows of squares from which chess play
ultimately evolved. The Jaina Sutralcritdnga makes explicit mention
of chess (ashtapada), a game that must have become very popular by
the time of Bapa’s Harsha-charita and Ratnakara’s Haravijaya (ninth
century A.D.).
Condition of the Peasantry
The common people, as distinguished from the intellectual and
ofScial aristocracy, seem to have been divided into three main
classes, namely, husbandmen, herdsmen and hunters, and traders
and artisans. Husbandmen formed the most numerous class of
the population. Their lot in the early Maurya period does not
appear to have been hard. We are told by Greek observers that
they were exempted from fighting and other public services, and
devoted the whole of their time to tillage. Men of this class were
regarded as public benefactors and were not molested in times of
war and conflict. The land remaining unravaged produced heavy
crops and supplied the inhabitants with all that was requisite
to make life very enjoyable. Husbandmen lived in the country
away from towns. They paid into the treasury a share of the
produce of the soil besides a land tribute which may be identical
with the bali of the epigraphs. In times of emergency they had
to pay benevolences. But such imposts were levied on rare occasions
and a Saka ruler specially notes the fact that he carried out certain
works without resorting to forced labour, extra cess or benevolences.
In parts of India the lot of the rural population was probably
a little harder. Some idea of the burden borne by the ordinary
villagers in these tracts may be gathered from the immunities
(parihdra) that were granted, according to certain records of the
Satavahanas and their successors, to VdtaJcas and Kshetras, that
is, gardens and fields, conferred on privileged individuals or com-
munities by royal personages. Such plots were “not to be entered
by royal ofl&cers, not to be touched by any of them, not to be dug
for salt, not to be interfered with by the district police”. A fuller
li.st of various kinds of immunity is given in a Pallava record
wdiich says that a garden which belongs to the Brahmapas is to
be “free from (extra cess), free from the taking of sweet
and sour milk, free from troubles about salt and sugar, free from
forced labour, free from the taking of the oxen in succession, free
from the taking of grass and wood, free from the taking of vegetables
and flowers”.
136 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
The rural areas were exposed to danger from flood, fire and
locusts. Philosophers are represented by classical writers as
gathering together at the beginning of the year to forewarn the
assembled multitude about droughts and wet weather and also
about propitious winds and about diseases. Storehouses were set
up to provide for emergencies due to pests. The state was enjoined
by the Arthaidstra writers to show favour in times of distress
by distributing seeds and food. We have it on the testimony of
Greek writers that the sovereign always made adequate provision
against a coming deficiency, and never failed to prepare before-
hand what would help in time of need. The duty of clearing the
country of all sorts of wild beasts and birds which devoured the
seeds sown by husbandmen devolved on herdsmen and hunters
who lived in tents or on the hflls. By hunting and trapping they
freed the country from pests. Implements for agriculturists were
made by the artisans, who were not only exempted from taxation
but received maintenance from the royal exchequer. In return
for these concessions they had to render to the state certain pres-
cribed services.
Trade and Navigation
Kings as well as independent cities depended to a large extent
on the tribute paid by the peasantry, but a considerable portion
of the state revenues came from traders. In records of the period
iulha is mentioned as an important source of royal income along
with ball and bMga. Maurya India had direct relations with S 3 n’ia,
Egypt and other countries of the Hellenistic West. There was a
considerable body of foreign residents in the metropolis whose
affairs were looked after by a special board of municipal com-
missioners. These foreigners could not aU have been diplomatists.
Some of them were in all probability traders. As early as the first
century b.c. contact was established between India and the Roman
empire. In the early centuries of the Christian era we have
epigraphic as weU as literary references to intercourse with China,
the Hellenic world, Ceylon and Farther India. These are recorded
in the Nagarjunikonda inscriptions and the Milindapanho.
Classical writers bear testimony to the activity and daring of
the Indian navigators. One writer narrates how, in the reign of
Euergetes II (145-116 b.o.), an Indian was brought to the king
by the coast guard of the Arabian Gulf. They reported that they
had found him in a ship alone and half dead. He spoke a language
which they could not understand. He was taught the Greek
tongue and then he related how he had started from the coast
CIVILISATION IN MAURYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 137
of India but lost his course and reached Egypt alone. All his
companions had perished from hunger. If he were restored to his
country he would point out to those sent with him the route by
sea to India. Eudoxus of Cyzicus was one of the number thus
sent. He brought back with him aromatics and precious stones.
Another writer relates that a present was given by the king of the
Suevi to a pro- consul in Gaul, consisting of some Indians who,
sailing from India for the purpose of commerce, had been driven
by storms into Germany.
Sweet wine and dried figs of the West were eagerly sought by
a Maurya king in the third century b.c. In the first century a.d.
presents for the king of Broach, which was one of the greatest
marts in the east, included costly vessels of silver, singing boys,
beautiful maidens for the harem, fine wines, thin clothing and
the choicest ointments. The Westerners on their part imported
articles of luxury including the fine muslin of the lower Gangetic
region. Pliny bears testimony to the vast sums of money sent
to India in payment for these commodities. As early as the fourth
century B.c. the municipal authorities of Pataliputra had to con-
stitute a special board to superintend trade and commerce. Its
members had charge of weights and measures and saw that
products in their seasons were sold with an official stamp. In the
first century a.d. trade between India and the West was greatly
facilitated when the pilot Hippalus discovered how to lay his
course straight across the ocean. The splendid river system of
northern India rendered transport comparatively easy in this
area. The Maurya government built ships and let them out on
hire for the transport of merchandise. Communication was more
difficult in the Deccan, where vast tracts were without roads and
goods had to be carried with difficulty by wagons from Paithan
and Tagara to the port of Broach.
Medium of Exchange
Foreign commerce brought a large quantity of specie to India,
and we have already referred to Pliny’s complaint about the
drainage of Roman coins to this country. In the opinion of scholars
the institution of a gold coinage by the Kushan imperial govern-
ment from the time of Kadphises II is due to the influx of gold
from the Roman empire. The Indians had an indigenous silver
and copper coinage even in the pre-Maurya period. The gold
nishha, though often used as a medium of exchange, probably
did not in the early period possess aU the characteristics of a
138
A
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
regular coinage. The silver coin of thirty- two ratis (58.56 grs.)
was known to the writer of the Mdimm-dharmaidstra (Institutes
of Mann) as Purdna or Dhamna. The copper coin of eighty ratis
(146.4 grs.) was known as Kdrshdjyarba. Smaller copper coins styled
KdJcani were also in circulation. The name Karshapana was also
applied to silver and gold coins particularly in the south. Buddhist
commentators distinguished between the old (porana) nila kahd-
pana (Karshaparia), apparently a silver coin, and the new type
of coinage introduced by the satrap Budradaman which was three-
fourths of the old KdrsMpana in weight. An old Karshapana
was equivalent to twenty mdshas in certain areas and sixteen
mdshas in others. The actual weight of the extant silver coins
of the western satraps is from thirty-four to thirty-six grains.
The rate of exchange between the Karshapana of thirty-six grains
and the gold coins of the period, the Suvarpa of one hundred and
twenty-four grains, was as 1 to 35. The ratio of silver to gold
at this time was approximately 1 to 10.
Industry
The importance of the manufacturing industry m the Maurya
period is emphasised by the fact that one committee of the municipal
board of Pataliputra was specially entrusted with the supervision
of manufactured articles in the metropolis. Greek writers make
pointed reference to the manufacture of arms and agricultural
implements and the building of ships mamly for purposes of river
navigation. Strabo speaks of dresses worked in gold and adorned
with precious stones and also flowered robes made of fine muslin
worn by the wealthy classes, and umbrellas used by their atten-
dants, Indian muslin was exported in large quantities to the Roman
empire in the first century a.d. Mushns of the finest sort were
then cafled Gangetic and were produced in the valley of the
lower Ganges. The fame of Eastern Bengal and the Gangetic
delta for its white and soft duJcUla is also vouched for by the
KautiUya Arthaidstra. The fabric produced in Northern Bengal
was black and as smooth as the surface of a gem. Muslins in great
quantity were also exported from several market tovms of southern
India. The North-West was famous for its cotton cloth and silk
yarn. The weaving industry gave employment to hundreds of
helpless women and special arrangements were made for those
who did not stir out of their houses. Weavers and other handi-
craftsmen were often organised into economic corporations called
^repMs. Srenls or guilds were very much in evidence during this
CIVILISATION IN MAURYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 139
period. Records of the Satavahana age refer to guilds of weavers,
braziers, oil-millers, bamboo-workers, corn-dealers, and of artisans
fabricating hydraulic engines. These guilds often served the
purpose of modern banks.
Religion
For a description of the state of religion in the days of the
Imperial Mauryas and their successors we have to rely on Greek
and Latin authors, inscriptions and coins, the Mdhdbhdshya of
Patanjah and the testimony of later writers. The worship of the
Vedic gods was stiU far from obsolescent. Zeus Ombrios, the rain-
god, worshipped by the Indians, probably represents the Vedic
Indra or Parjanya. Indra and Varuria are invoked as late as the
Satavahana period. But side by side with them appear other
deities whose popularity dates from the epic period. The river
Ganges, for example, is mentioned as an object of worship by
classical writers. Quintus Curtius states that an image of Herakles
was carried in front of the army of Poros as he advanced against
the Macedonian conqueror. The connection of the Indian Herakles
with the ^urasenas and the city of Mathura suggests his identifi-
cation with Vasudeva or Sankarsha^ia. PatafijaH refers to the
exhibition and sale by the Mauryas of images of §iva, Skanda
and Vi^akha. Skanda and Vi^akha retained their popularity till
the Kushana period when they appeared on the coins of Huvishka.
Even A^oka, in many respects a great innovator, took pride in
calling himself devdnampiya, Beloved of the Gods.
Sacrifices are very much in evidence during this age. Of the
occasions on which the Maurya king, according to Strabo, went
out in times of peace, one was for the performance of sacrifice.
Sacrifices were also offered by private persons and the services
of “philosophers” were requisitioned for the purpose. The people
of India, generally sober, freely indulged in drink when these
ceremonies were performed, ASoka tried to put a stop to the
killing of living creatures on such occasions. Vaishpava reformers
made an attempt to spiritualise sacrifices by giving them a new
etlilcal meaning. But a great BrShmapic revival followed the rise
of the houses of Pushyamitra, Simuka-Satavahana and Siva-skanda-
varman Pallava. Rites like the ASvamedha and Vdjapeya came
to be celebrated by princes on a ^and scale.
Prom the beginning of the period Brahmamsm had to reckon
with the heterodox creeds of the Ajivikas, Jainas and Buddhists
which obtained a firm hold on certain sections of the people,
140 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
especially in Oudh, Bihar and Orissa. Tradition says that Chand-
ragupta and Samprati of the Maurya dynasty were Jainas. The
epithet VrishaU, applied to the first Maurya by a Brahmanical
playwright, makes it likely that in his later days he swerved
from strict orthodoxy. An undoubted Jaina king of this period
was Kharavela, who, strange to say, engaged in sanguinary conflicts
with his neighbours in spite of the quietist teachings of the Arhats
and Siddhas, saints and perfect beings, whom he invokes at the
beginning of his inscription. Jainism enjoyed special pre-eminence
at Mathura during the early centuries of the Christian era along
with the cult of the Nagas or Serpent deities Hke Dadhikarria.
The rival sect of the Ajivikas enjoyed, like many other denomina-
tions, the bounty of the emperors A^oka and Dasaratha who granted
cave dwellings for these sectaries. If tradition is to be believed
the Ajivikas were also favoured by Bindusara.
Buddhism, as is well known, secured the imperial patronage
of A^oka and became, mainly through his efforts, a world religion.
It received marked favour from Menander and made a convert
of the great Kanishka. But the Buddhism of Kanishka differed
much from the simple ethical creed of the great Maurya. The
human teacher of the four noble truths and the noble eight-fold
path now became not merely a deva (deity) but devdtideva (the god
of gods). Like the Blessed Lord of the Bhagavatas or Vaishnavas
he is repeatedly born in the world of the living to remove the
affliction of creatures and reveal to them the true law. Images
of the teacher now appear in Buddhist sculpture and receive the
devout worship of the faithful, hke the icons of Brahmapic deities.
Side by side mth the Buddha appear the dhydni Buddhas and
Bodhisatvas. The hewer Buddhism was known as the Mahdydna
or the Great Vehicle to distinguish it from the older creed which
came to be styled Hlnaydna. The formulation of its basic ideas
is associated with the name of Nagarjuna, a philosopher of the
Satavahana period. In the early centuries of the Christian era
Buddhism spread to China and several other parts of central,
eastern and southern Asia. The Nagarjunikopda inscriptions make
mention of the fraternities of monks who converted Kashmir,
Gandhara, China, Chilata, TosaU, Aparanta, Vahga, Vanavasi,
Yavana, Damila, Palura and the island of Ceylon. The intro-
duction of Buddhism into China is traditionally attributed to a
sage named KaSyapa Matahga. There is, however, evidence to
show that Buddhist scriptures were communicated to the Chinese
by a Yue-chi Chief as early as 2 b.c.
Another Indian faith which showed great missionary activity
CIVILISATION IN MAURYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 141
was Bhagavatism or Vaishiiavisin, which already in the second
century b.c. spread amongst the Greeks of the Indian borderland.
Heliodoros, the ambassador of Antialkidas, king of Taxda, set
up a Garuda column at Besnagar in honour of Vasudeva, the
God of gods. Several contemporary epigraphs bear testimony to
the prevalence, especially in Central India and the Deccan, of the
cult of Vasudeva and Sahkarshapa, that is Elrishna and his brother.
The rival cult of Siva enjoyed the patronage of Kadphises II and
Vasudeva Kushan. A foreign religion, Christianity, claims to have
established some connection with the Indian borderland in the
days of Gondophernes. The worship of Babylonian, Iranian and
other non-Indian deities like Nanaia, Mithra or Mihira (Sun),
Mao (Moon), and Pharro (Fire) in the Kushan empire is proved
by numismatic evidence. The cult of Mihira attained much popu-
larity, thanks to the endeavours of the Magian priesthood.
Literary Activity
It is difficult to assign any extant Indian work definitely to the
Maurya age. Three works, the Kautiliya Arthaddstra, the Kalpasuira
of Bhadrabahu and the Buddhist Kathd vatthu are traditionally
attributed to personages who are said to have flourished in the Maurya
period, but the ascription in all these cases has not met with general
acceptance. A considerable body of literature is presupposed by
Patanjali, usually regarded as a contemporary of Pushyamitra.
Though many of the compositions mentioned by him existed long
before the Mauryas, some of them may have been products of
the Maurya epoch. The Grammarian knows the Pandu epic and
refers to dramatic recitals and the performance of Kamsabadha
(slaying of Kamsa by Kkishpa) and Balibandha (binding of Bali
by Vishnu in his Dwarf Incarnation). He also alludes to dkhydnas
or tales of Yavakrita, Yayati, Vasavadatta and others, and makes
mention of a VdrarucJia Kdvya. That parts of the Mahdbhdmta
were composed during the Maurya or early post-Maurya period
appears probable from references to the unconquerable A^oka
and also to a Yavana overlord of the lower Indus vaUey and his
compatriot Dattamitra, possibly Demetrios. The reference in the
sister epic to mingled hordes of Yavanas and 6akas suggests that
the Edmdyana, too, received accretions in the Graeco-Scythian
age. The Mdnavadharma ddstra which mentions the Yavanas,
Sakas, Paradas, and Pahlavas among Kshatriya elans which were
degraded for non-observance of sacred rites and neglect of Brah-
mapas may also be assigned to this period.
142
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
The epoch under review probably saw the composition of the
MaMbhdshya of PatanjaU, an exposition of the grammatical
aphorisms of Panini. Another grammatical work, the Kdtantra or
Kaldpaha of Sarvavarman, is traditionally assigned to the Sata-
vahana period. To the same age probably belongs the BriJiat hatha
of Gima^ya. The Qdthd SaptaSati attributed to Hala, a Satavahana
king, bears signs of a much later date. The epoch of the Kushans
produced the great work of A^vaghosha, poet, dramatist and philo-
sopher. Among other celebrities of the period mention may be
made of Charaka, Su^ruta, Nagarjuna, Kumaralata and possibly
Aryadeva.
The Pali Buddhist canon is said to have been reduced to writing
in the first centimy B.o. The celebrated work known as the Milinda-
panho, or the Questions of Menander, is also usually regarded as
a product of the period under review. Some scholars believe that
the astronomical work of Garga, the Paumachariya of Vimalasuri,
portions of the Divydvaddna as well as the Lalitavistara and the
8addliarm,a pwnd^^lTca are also to be assigned to this age.
Greek and Roman Influence
Eor centuries during the period under review India was in intimate
contact with the Graeco-Roman world. Embassies were exchanged
with the Hellenic powers by the sovereigns of Magadha and Malwa.
Indian philosophers, traders and adventurers were to be found
in the intellectual circles of Athens and in the markets of Alex-
andria. The first of the Mauryas had entered into a marriage
contract with a Greek potentate. His son was eager to secure the
services of a Greek sophist. The third and the greatest of the
Mauryas entrusted the government of a wealthy province and the
execution of important irrigation works to a Yavana chief. The
services of Greek engineers seem to have been requisitioned by the
greatest of the Kushans in the early centuries of the Christian
era. Greek influence on Indian coinage and iconography is
unmistakable.
A Greek orator, Dion Chrysostom, informs us that the poetry
of Homer was sung by the Indians, who had translated it into their
own language and modes of expression so that even Indians were
not unacquainted with the woes of Priam, the weeping and wading
of Andromache and Hecuba and the heroic feats of Achilles and
Hector. The reference may be to the Mahdbharata, but the
possibility of an actual translation of the Greek epic is not entirely
excluded. Indian writers bear testimony to the proficiency of the
CIVILISATION IN MAURYA-SCYTHIAN ERA 143
Greeks in the sciences, and one author admits that they were
honoured as though they w^ere Rishis (Sages), Western singers were
welcomed at the court of Broach. On the other hand Greek authors
speak with admiration of the sages of India. Hellenic rulers and
statesmen listened with respectful attention to Indian philosophers.
One of the greatest of the Indo-Greek kings, Menander, showed
gi’eat predilection for Buddhist teaching and issued coins of Buddhist
type. A Greek ambassador erected a Garuda column in honour
of Vasudeva. Greek meridarchs are mentioned in Kharoshthi
inscriptions as establishing Buddhist relies and sanctuaries, Indian
cultural influence on the Greeks of Egypt has been traced in the
Oxyrhynchus papyri.
CHAPTER X
THE GUPTA EMPmE
The Rise of the Gupta Power
The Scythian conquerors of India had received their jBrst great check
in the Deccan. Gautamiputra ^atakarpi of the Satavahana dynasty
had extirpated the Kshaharata race and dealt crushing blows to
the ^akas, Yavanas, and Pahlavas. The power of the invaders
was, however, stiU unshaken in the north where the “Son of
Heaven” ruled in undimuiished glory in the first part of the second
century a.d. Even in Western India there was a ^aka revival
under the great satrap Rudradaman I. Chinese evidence shows
that the Yue-chi power was stiU far from being broken in a.d.
230. The rise of the Nagas in the Jumna valley pushed the Northern
Scythians further towards the north-west borderland of India,
hut the descendants of Rudradaman continued to rule over the
fair provinces of Malwa and Kathiawar. The later Scythian
rulers proved to be tyrants. A Brahmapa historian of the seventh
century a.d. refers to one of them as ParaJcalatraJcdmuJca,“ coveting
the wife of another”. An epic poet makes the prophecy that Sakas
and other Mlechcfiha (barbarian) kings will rule unrighteously in
the evil age to come. The members of the four orders vdLl not
adhere to their duties and the country will become a desert.
Harassed by barbarians the earth in an earlier epoch had taken
refuge in the strong arms of Chandragupta Maurya. She now
found shelter in another line of Chandraguptas.
Chandra Gupta I
The first Chandra Gupta of the new line, though the third
member of his dynasty to be mentioned m inscriptions, was the
earliest to assume the imperial title of Mahd7'djddhirdja, “supreme
King of great Kings”. Like the great Bimbisara he strengthened
his position by a matrimonial alliance with the powerful family
of Lichohhavis then controUing portions of Bihar and perhaps
even Nepal. The Liehchhavi princess Kumaradevi must have
144 ■ ■ ■■ 4
SAMtTDBA GUPTA
came to the throne sometime after a.d. 320 and died before
A.D. 380, the earliest known date of his successor. He is not
altogether unknown to tradition. He appears to be mentioned
in the Arya-manju-in-mula kal^a, and also in the Tantrikamandalca,
a Javanese text. A Chinese writer, Wang-hiuen-tse, refers to an
embassy sent to him by Meghavarma (-Vappa), king of Ceylon,
to seek permission to build at Bodh-Gaya a monastery for Ceylonese
pilgrims. But the most detailed and authentic record of his reign
is preserved in two contemporary documents, viz. the Allahabad
Pillar Inscription, a eulogy of the emperor composed by Harishepa,
brought to her husband’s family an enormous accession of power
and prestige. Before the death of her husband the Gupta sway
very probably extended to Allahabad, Oudh and South Bihar,
territories assigned to the family by the Purapic chronicles at a
time when the Naga power was stdl unbroken in the Ganges-
Jumna valley. It is believed that the Gupta era commencing from
A.D. 320 originated with Chandra Gupta I. An important act of
this king was the holding of an assembly of counciQors and members
of the royal family at which Prince Samudra Gupta was formally
nominated successor to the imperial throne of the Guptas.
Samudra Gupta
Samudra Gupta, the next king, is probably the greatest of his
house. The exact limits of his reign are not known. He probably
THE GUPTA EMPIRE
146 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
and an epigraph found at Eran in the Central Provinces. Certain
copper plates purporting to belong to his reign are regarded
by scholars as spurious, Samudra Gupta also left an extensive
coinage. Some important events of his reign are known from
this source and the records of his successors.
The eulogy of Harishepa is damaged in several parts so that
it is difficult to foUow the sequence of events. The Gupta monarch
seems at first to have made an onslaught on the neighbour-
ing realms of Ahichchhatra (Rohilkhand) and Padmavati (in
Central India) then ruled by Achyuta and Nagasena. He
captured a prince of the Kota family and then rested on his laurels
for a period in the city named Pushpa, i.e. Patahputra. Whether
the Kota dynasty actually ruled in Pushpapura or Pataliputra
about this time, and were dispossessed of it by the Gupta con-
queror, is not made clear in the damaged epigraph that has come
down to us. Other indications point to ^ravasti or a territory still
ftirther to the north as the realm where the Kata-kula ruled. A
subsequent passage of the inscription names along with Achyuta
and Nagasena several other princes of Aryavarta or the upper
Ganges valley and some adjoining tracts, who were violently
exterminated. These include Rudradeva, MatUa, Nagadatta,
Chandravarman, Ganapati Naga, Nandin and Balavarman. The
identity of most of the princes named in this list is still uncertain.
Matila has been connected by some scholars with the Bulandshahr
district in the centre of the Ganges-Jumna Doab, while Ganapati
Naga seems to be associated by numismatic evidence with Narwar
and Besnagar in Central India. Chandravarman is a more elusive
but interesting figure. Suggestions have been made that he is
identical with a ruler of the same name, the son of Simhavarman,
mentioned as the lord of Pushkarana in an inscription discovered
at Su^unia in the Bankura district of Western Bengal. His name
has also been traced in the famous Chandra varmaiikot in the
Kotwalipada pargana of the Paridpur district of Eastern Bengal,
Bolder theorists have identified his father Simhavarman with a
prince of Mandasor, the father of Naravarman, and located Push-
karana at Pokarna in Marwar. Some have gone so far as to suggest
that the Chandravarman of Samudra Gupta’s record is not only
a ruler of Rajputana and a brother of Naravarman of Mandasor,
but he is no other than the great emperor Chandi’a of the Mehcrauli
Iron Pillar near Delhi. The last-mentioned scholars wure appar-
ently not aware of the existence of a place called Pokharan in the
district of Bankura itself near the site of the record of Chandra-
varman. They also forget that no prince bearing the name
THE GUPTA EMPIRE
147
Cliandravarman, still less a Chandravarman of Pokarna in Marwar,
is mentioned in any record of tke Mandasor family, and that King
Chandra of the Meherauli epigraph, who is called simply Chandra
and not Chandravarman, is an emperor, the reputed conqueror
of the whole of India, who can hardly be identified with the ruler
of Samudra Gupta’s record who is classed with a host of com-
paratively insignificant princes.
The great Gupta conqueror is next represented as reducing to
the status of servants the forest kings apparently of the Vindhyan
region. In an earlier passage we have reference to a grand expedi-
tion to the south in the course of which the emperor captured
and again set at liberty aU the kings of the Deccan. The rulers
specially named in this connection are Mahendra of Kosala in the
Upper Mahanadi valley, Vyaghra-raja or the Tiger king of the
great wilderness named Mahakantara, Mantaraja of Kurala,
Mahendragiri of Pishtapura or Pithapuram in the Godavari district,
Svamidatta of Kottura somewhere in the northern part of the
Madras Presidency, Damana of ErapdapaUa possibly in the same
region, Vishpugopa, the Pailava king of Kanchi in the Chingleput
district, Nilaraja of Avamukta, Hastivarman, the ^alahkayana
king of Vehgi lying between the Godavari and the Krishpa,
Ugrasena of Palakka, probably in the Nellore district, Kubera of
Devarashtra in the Vizagapatam district and Dhananjaya of
Kusthalapur, possibly in North Arcot.
The reference to the liberation of the southern potentates shows
that no attempt was made to incorporate the kingdoms of the
Deccan south of the Nerbudda and the Mahanadi into the Gupta
empire. From the territorial point of view the result of the brilliant
campaigns of Samudra Gupta was the addition to the Gupta
dominions described in the Purapas, of Rohilkhapd, the Ganges-
Jumna Doab, part of Eastern Malwa, perhaps some adjoining
tracts and several districts of Bengal. The annexation of part
of Eastern Malwa is confirmed by the Eran mscription. The
suzerainty of the great Gupta, as distinguished from his direct
rule, extended over a much wider area, and his imperious command
was obeyed by princes and peoples far beyond the frontiers of the
provinces directly administered by his own officers. Among his
vassals we find mention of the kings of Samatata (in Eastern
Bengal), Davaka (probably near Nowgong in Assam), Kamarupa (in
Western Assam), Nepal, Kartripura (Garhwal and Jalandhar) and
several tribal states of the eastern and central Punjab, Malwa and
Western India, notably the Malavas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas, Abhiras
and Sanakanikas. TJie descendants of the Kushan “ Son of Heaven ”,
148 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
many chieftains of the Sakas, the Ceylonese and several other
insular peoples hastened to propitiate the great Gupta by the
offer of homage and tribute or presents. It was presumably after his
military triumphs that the emperor completed the famous rite of
the horse-sacrifice.
Great as were the military laurels won by Samudra Gupta, his
personal accomplishments were no less remarkable. His court
poet extols his magnanimity towards the fallen, his polished
intellect, his knowledge of the scriptures, his poetic skill and his
proficiency in music. The last trait of the emperor’s character is
well illustrated by the lyrist type of his coins. He gathered round
himself a galaxy of poets and scholars, not the least eminent among
whom was the warrior-poet Harishepa who resembled his master
in his versatility. Both Samudra Gupta and A^oka set before
their minds the ideal of world-conquest by means of pardkrama.
Pardhrama, in the case of the Maurya, was not warlike activity
but vigorous and effective action to propagate the old Indian
morality as well as the special teaching of the Buddha. In the
case of the Gupta it was an intense military and intellectual activity
intended to bring about the political unification of Arydmrta,
the discomfiture of the foreign tormentors of the holy land and
an efflorescence of the old Indian culture in all its varied aspects —
religious, poetic, artistic.
Chandra Gupta II Vikramaditya
Samudra Gupta was succeeded, according to contemporary
epigraphs, by his son Chandra Gupta II surnamed Vikramaditya
who ruled from c, a.d. 380 to 413. Some recent writers have traced
hints in literature of uncertain date and in inscriptions of the
ninth and tenth centuries a.d., that the immediate successor of
Samudra Gupta was his son Rama Gupta, a weak ruler, who con-
sented to surrender his wife Dhruvadevi to a Saka tyrant. The
honour of the queen was saved by Chandra Gupta, younger brother
of Rama Gupta, who kfiled the ^aka, replaced his brother on
the imperial throne and married Dhruvadevi. We do not know
how far the story embodies genuine historical tradition. No prince
named Rama Gupta is known to contemporary epigraphy, and
the story shows signs of growth. The earliest version to which a
definite date may be assigned is that of Bapa who simply refers
to the destruction of a libidmous ^aka king by Chandra Gupta
disguised as a female. There is no reference here either to Rama
Gupta or to Dhruvadevi. The matter should, therefore, be
THE GUPTA EMPIRE
149
regarded as sub judice and can only be decided when contemporary
evidence confirming the story is forthcoming.
Chandra Gupta II carried on the policy of “world- conquest”
pursued by his predecessor. He effected his purpose partly by
pacific overtures and partly by military activity. Political
marriages occupy a prominent place in the foreign policy of the
Guptas as of the Hapsburgs and Bourbons of Europe. The
Lichchhavi aUiance of the real founder of the dynasty, and the
acceptance of presents of maidens from the courts of contemporary
potentates by Samudra Gupta, served to consolidate the nascent
Gupta power as the Rajput marriages strengthened that of the
Timurid sovereigns of a later date. A further step in the same
direction was taken by Chandra Gupta II when he conciliated the
Naga chieftains of the upper and central provinces by accepting
the hand of the princess Kuberanaga and allied himself with the
powerful family of the Vakatakas of the Deccan by giving his
daughter Prabhavati in marriage to Rudrasena II. Thus strength-
ened, the king marched to Eastern Malwa accompanied by his
minister Virasena-Saba and possibly his general Amrakarddava.
He received the homage of the Sanakanika chieftain of the
locality and took measures to wipe out Saka rule in Western
Malwa and Kathiawar. His efforts were crowned with success
as we know from the evidence of coins and of Bapa’s Harsha-
charita.
On many of his coins Chandra Gupta II receives the epithet
Vikramaditya. In certain records of the twelfth century a.d. he
is represented as the lord of the city of Ujjain as well as Patahputra.
The cool courage he showed in going to fight with the Sakas and
killing their chieftain in the enemy’s own city entitles him to the
epithets “ Sdhasdnka” and “^akdrV\ These facts have led scholars
to identify him with the Vikramaditya Sakari of legend, whose court
is said to have been adorned by “nine gems” including Kalidasa
and Varahamihira. The tradition about the nine gems is, however,
late. It is uncertain if all of them actually flourished about the
same time. Varahamihira at any rate is to be placed after
Aryabhata, who was born in the latter half of the fifth century a.d.
But if MaUinatha is to be believed, Kalidasa may have been a
contemporary of Chandra Gupta II, for the great commentator
mentions as one of his opponents the famous Dignagacharya who
is assigned to this period.
Another notable contemporary of Chandra Gupta II was Ea
Hien. The celebrated Chinese pilgrim was struck with admiration
by the famous royal palace and the houses for dispensing charity
150 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
and medicinie at Pataliputra. He speaks highly of the system of
government in the Madhya-de^a and the benevolence of the
people, especially the moneyed classes,
Kumara Gupta I and Skanda Gupta
The successor of Chandra Gupta II was his son Kumara Gupta I
Mahendraditya, whose known dates range from a.d. 415 to 455.
He maintained his hold over the vast empire of his forebears, which
now extended from North Bengal to Kathiawar and from the
Himalayas to the Nerbudda. Numismatic evidence seems to
suggest that his influence at one time extended southwards, possibly
as far as the Satara district of the Deccan. His achievements were
sufficiently remarkable to entitle him to perform the famous rite
of the horse-sacrifice. But his last days were not happy. A people
known as the Pushyamitras, probably located in or near Mekala
in the Nerbudda valley, developed great power and wealth and
reduced the imperial government to such straits that a prince
imperial had to spend a whole night on bare earth. The sovereign
himself seems to have perished before the issues were finally decided
in favour of the imperial family, mainly through the exertions of
Prince Skanda Gupta. i-
The victorious prince had soon to deal with a more formidable
enemy, the Huns. But he succeeded in repelling their early
invasions and recovering most of the imperial provinces, wdiich
were placed under special Wardens of the Marches. In one inscrip-
tion the goddess of royal fortune is said to have chosen him as
her lord, having discarded the other princes. The full import of
this passage is somewhat obscure. It is, however, certain that the
superior ability and prowess of Skanda Gupta in a time of crisis
led to his choice as ruler in preference to other possible claimants.
The choice of Harsha in the seventh century apparently furnishes
a parallel.
Proud of his success against the barbarians Skanda Gupta
assumed the title of Vikramaditya. The memory of his achieve-
ments is popularly preserved m the story of Vikramaditya, son
of Mahendraditya, narrated in the Kathdsaritsdgara. The reign
of Skanda Gupta probably terminated about a.d. 467.
The Last Days of the Gupta Empire
The history of the ensuing period is obscure. Inscriptions prove
that the Gupta sovereignty was acknowledged in the Jabbalpur
THE GUPTA EMPIRE
151
region in the Kerbudda vaUey as late as a.d. 528, and in North
Bengal till a.d. 643-544. A Kumara Gupta is known to have been
ruling in a.d. 473-474, a Budha Gupta from a.d. 476-477 to c. a.d.
495, a Vainya Gupta in or about a.d. 508 and a Bhanu Gupta in
A.D. 510-511. Bhitari and Nalanda seal inscriptions disclose the
names of four kings, Puru Gupta, son of Kumara Gupta I ; Nara-
simha Gupta (Baladitya), son of Puru Gupta ; Kumara Gupta, son
of Narasimha, and Vishpu Gupta, son of Kumara Gupta, who must
be assigned to this obscure period. Narasimha Baladitya has been
identified with the conqueror of Mihiragula, a Hun tyrant, whose
power was finally broken before a.d, 533-534. But the existence
of several Baladityas renders this identification doubtful. Another
theory splits up the Gupta dynasty into two rival branches, one
of which consisted of the kings mentioned in the Bhitari and
Nalanda seals. The other included Kumara Gupta of a.d. 473-474,
Budha Gupta and Bhanu Gupta. But Budha Gupta is now known
to have been a son of Puru Gupta, and the incontrovertible facts
of his reign render the theory of a partition of the empire in the
closing years of the fifth century a.d. unworthy of credence. A
more plausible conjecture identifies Kumara, son of Narasimha, with
the Kumara Gupta who ruled in a.d. 473-474. The only difficulty
in accepting this view is the abnormal shortness of the period
assignable to Puru Gupta and his son Narasimha (a.d, 467-473).
But the difficulty is not insuperable, and we know of other instances
of short reigns in the later days of an imperial dynasty.
Inscriptions make it clear that the Gupta empire maintained
some sort of unity till the days of Budha Gupta (476-495) though
it might have lost some of its westernmost provinces. After
Budha Gupta the Huns, under Toramana and Mihirakula or
Miliiragula, undoubtedly pushed their conquests deep into the
Indian interior as far as Eran in Eastern Malwa. But the Huns
received a check in the time of a king named Baladitya who may
have been identical with Bhanu Gupta, the hero of a “very famous
battle” fought in the region of Eran. The Hun imperial power
was finally shattered by Yagodharman, an energetic and ambitious
chief of Mandasor in Western Malwa before a.d. 533-534. Ya^o-
dharman seems to have made use of his victory to establish his
own supremacy. But the Gupta power undoubtedly survived in
North Bengal till a.d. 543-544. Even in later times we find a king
whose name ended in Gupta fighting on the banks of the Brahma-
putra. Other “Gupta” princes who are associated with Malwa
and Magadha came into contact with the rising power of the
Pushyabhuti family of Thanesar and Kanauj in the latter half
152 AN ADVAITCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of the sixth and first half of the seventh century a.d. These “Later
Guptas” restored the glory of the line to a certain extent under
Adityasena in the latter half of the seventh century, and used
titles indicative of imperial rank. They disappeared in the eighth
century 'when Magadha became the battle-ground of the rival
empires of Yasovarman of Kanauj and an unnamed king of Gauda
lineage.
CHAPTER XI
THE STEUGGLE AGAINST THE HirNS, AND THE ASOENDANOY OF
EANAUJ, KASHMIR AND QAUDA
The Huns
In spite of the heroic efforts of Skanda Gupta, the Gupta empire
in its entirety did not long survive the shock it received from
the uprising of the Pushyamitras and the incursions of the Huns.
The hereditary character of the officialdom, particularly in some
of the outlying provinces, must have let loose centrifugal forces
which gathered strength as the central authority weakened owing
to the onslaughts of the barbarians. There were signs of degenera-
tion and of dissension in the imperial line itself, and the devotion
of the more loyal feudatories could not save the empire from its
impending doom. So far as our present knowledge goes Budha
Gupta was the last emperor of the main line of the Guptas who
preserved some semblance of unity in the major part of the empire.
When he passed away the Huns were safely entrenched in the
Sialkot region and Eastern Malwa, provinces that had owned
the Gupta suzerainty since the days of Samudra Gupta.
The Huns were a race of fierce barbarians who issued from the
steppes of Central Asia and had in the fifth century a.d. spread
in devastating hordes over some of the fairest provinces of the
Roman empire in the West and the Gupta empire in India. Their
early incursions into India were repulsed by Skanda Gupta, but
they renewed their attacks when the great emperor was no more.
Towards the close of the fifth and early in the sixth century a.d.
the Hun suzerainty rapidly spread in aU directions, thanks to the
vigour and energy of Toramana and his son Mihiragula. The last-
mentioned ruler is known not only from inscriptions and coins,
but from tradition recorded by Hiuen Tsang and Kalhapa, both
of whom bear witness to his tyrannical rule. He has further been
identified with the White Hun King GoUas mentioned by the
monk Cosmas Indikopleustes, and also with the Yetha ruler of
Gandhara to whom Song Yun, the Chinese pilgrim, paid a visit
in A.D. 520. An account of his feats is also supposed to be preserved
in the Jaina stories about Kalkiraja. The expansion of the Hun
163
154
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF IISTDIA
rule in. Central India seems to have been checked by the loyal
feudatories of the Guptas, and their imperial power was finally
shattered by YaSodharman of Mandasor. Petty Hun chieftains
continued to rule over a circumscribed area in North-West India
and Malwa, waging a perpetual warfare with the indigenous princes
till they were absorbed into the Rajput population. It is significant
that the new aspirants for imperial dominion in Aryavarta, Yaso-
dharman, the Maukharis, the princes of the house of Pushyabhuti,
and the Palas set much store on success against these outlandish
barbarians who harassed their country as the Yavanas and Saka-
Pahlavas did of old.
Ya^odharman
Ya^odharman, the earliest of these aspirants, was a Saiva ruler
who has left records of his achievements at Mandasor. In these
he claims to have granted protection to the earth v'hen it was
afflicted by the cruel and vicious kings of the age who transgressed
the rules of good conduct. He is further described as a Samrctt
or emperor who extended his sway over territories which even
the all-conquering Gupta lords and Hun chieftains had failed to
subdue. Homage was done to him by chiefs from the neighbourhood
of the Brahmaputra up to the Easton Ghats and from the snowy
heights of the Himalayas down to the Weston Ocean. The Hun
king Mihiragula, whose head had never previously been bowed
in the humility of obeisance to any mortal, was compelled to do
reverence to Ya^odharman’s feet.
There has been a tendency on the part of some scholars to
minimise the achievements of this great king. On the other hand
there are not wanting writers who identify him wth the great
Vikramaditya ^akari of Ujjain, the patron of Kalidasa. It is
forgotten by the latter that no contemporary record gives him
the title Vikramaditya, that the foreign enemies he vanquished
were Huns and not Sakas, and that the only city with which he
is closely associated is DafSapura or Mandasor, and not Ujjain.
Little is known about his ancestry or successors. A family styled
Naigama held the important post of viceroy of the territory between
the Vindhyaa and the Sindhu (either the sea or some stream in
Central India) in his day. Portions of Malwa were governed by
the Maitrakas, Kalachuris and Guptas shortly after Ya^odharman.
The imitation of Gupta coins and assumption of titles characteristic
of kings of the Gupta family by the Kalachuris show that no wide
interval separates their rule from that of the last of the Imperial
Guptas of Malwa.
THE HUNS. KANAUJ, KASHMIR AND GAUPA 155
The dominant powers in India in the latter half of the sixth
century a.d. were the Maukharis in the Ganges valley and the
Chalukyas of the Deocan. The history of the Chalukyas will be
treated in a later chapter.
The Maukharis
The Maukharis claimed descent from Aivapati of epic fame.
They figured as feudatory chieftains or generals in Magadha and
Rajputana from very early times and possibly came into contact with
the Kadambas of South-West India. The family rose to prominence
under Kanavarman, who is the first to assume the imperial title
of Mahdrdjddhirdja or supreme king of great kings. From a record
of his reign dated a.d. 554 we learn that he won victories over the
Andhras, the SuHkas and the Gaudas. The Andhras and the
^ulikas may have reference to the rulers of the Vishpukupdin
and Chalukya families of the Eastern and Western Deccan, while the
Gaudas, whose “proper realm” lay not far from the sea, are appar-
ently the precursors of Sa^anka of Karnasuvarpa (in Western
Bengal), the enemy of Rajyavardhana of Thanesar, and of the
Gauda rival of YaSovarman of Kanauj in the eighth century a.d,
l^anavarman also came into conflict with the later Gupta kiag,
Kumara Gupta, probably the third or fourth monarch of that name.
The son of the latter is represented as “breaking up the proudly
stepping array of mighty elephants, belonging to the Maukhari,
which had thrown aloft in battle the troops of the Huns”. It is clear
that the Maukharis, like Skanda Gupta and Ya^odharman, carried
on the struggle against the foreign invaders, the destruction'^of
whose power was necessary to realise their dream of restoring
the fallen fabric of imperialism in Northern India.
I^anavarman was followed by at least three other princes,
Sarvavarman, Avantivarman, and Grahavarman. The last-men-
tioned ruler was a son of Avantivarman. He married RajyaSri,
daughter of Prabhakaravardhana of the Pushyabhuti family of
Thanesar and sister to Rajyavardhana and his more celebrated
brother Harsha. But the aUianee could not save the Maukhaii
ruler from destruction at the hands of the “wicked lord of Malava”,
who has been plausibly identified with Deva Gupta of the inscriptions
of Harsha. Bajya^ri, the widowed Maukhari queen, was cast into
prison at Kanauj. The death of Grahavarman was avenged by his
brother-in-law Rajyavardhana, the eldest son and successor of
Prabhakaravardhana. But Rajyavardhana himself was “allured
into confidence by false civilities on the part of (Sa^Shka) the king
156
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of Gauda, and then weaponless, confiding and alone, despatched in
his own quarters”. The decree of fate thus deprived the kingdom
of Thanesar, as well as that of the Maukharis, of their rulers.
Harsha
At this juncture the statesmen of Kanauj, on the advice of
their leading noble Bani (Bhan(h), seem to have offered the crown
to Harsha, the brother of Rajyavardhana and of RajyaM, who
was destined to revive the imperial memories of the Gupta epoch
and obtain recognition as the lord paramount of the whole of
Northern India, even from his bitterest enemies. The event hap-
pened in A.D. 606, the starting-point of the Harsha era. Both
Bapa and Hiuen Tsang refer to Harsha’s reluctance to mount
the throne. This is taken by some to be due to the fact that he
was not the rightful heir to the throne of Kanauj, which may have
formed part of the dominions of his sister’s Maukhari husband
whose line was not yet extinct. But this view does not explain
Harsha’s hesitation to succeed his elder brother. Moreover the
exact identity of the ruling authority at Kanauj immediately before
the time of Harsha is not clear from the narrative of Bapa and the
Chinese writers. Hiuen Tsang’s account leaves the impression
that it was included within the territory of the “murdered king”,
the elder brother of Harsha, The chief statesman of Kanauj
was Bhapdi, a prominent figure at the court of Thanesar and
not at the Durbar of the Maukharis. Bapa, however, refers to the
imprisonment of the widowed Maukhari queen at Kanauj, her
liberation through the connivance of a Gupta noble, and her
flight to the Vindhya forest. In the Fartg-chih Harsha, king of
Kanauj, is represented as administering the government in con-
junction with his widowed sister as if she had some claim to the
throne of Kanauj, which is only possible if that city formed a
part of the realm of her husband. The true history of the period
will only be made clear when further evidence is forthcoming.
It is, however, certain that Harsha found himself at the head of
the kingdom of his brother as well as that of his brother-in-law.
But he contented himself at first with the modest title of jRdjapwtm
(Prince) ^iladitya.
The dynasty to which Harsha belonged claimed descent from
the illustrious Pushyabhuti, a devoted worshipper of 6iva. It
ruled at Thanesar and was raised to greatness by Prabhakara-
vardhana, father of Harsha, who was the son of a |)rincess, possibly
of “ later Gupta ” lineage. He took the title of MaliardjadMraga m\(i
THE HUNS. KANAUJ, KlSHMlR AND GAtJDA 157
played the part of “a lion to the Hun deer”. As already related he
olfered the hand of his daughter Rajyasri to Grahavarman Maukhari
and thus formed an alliance between the two most powerful families
of the Madhya -desa (upper Ganges valley) which resembled the solar
and lunar races of antiquity. The vicissitudes through which the
kingdom of Thanesar passed in the time of Rajyavardhana, his
immediate successor, have been mentioned above. Harsha on
coming to the throne had to face a sea of troubles. He had
to rescue his sister, the Maukhari queen RajyaM, the widow of
Grahavarman, who had fled from the place of her confinement
at Kanauj . He had to avenge the death of his elder brother and
predecessor, and he had to consolidate his authority in the two
kingdoms over which he was called upon to rule. One of his earliest
acts was a treaty of alliance with Bhaskaravarman, the ambitious
king of Kamarupa in modern Assam, who was in a position to
attack his arch-enemy, the king of Gauda, in the rear. Another
prince befriended by Harsha was Madhava Gupta, belonging to
the line of the “later Guptas” of Malwa and Magadha. The
recovery of Rajyasri was effected within a short time by Harsha
himself, who was accompanied by Madhava Gupta, while Bhapdi
was ordered to proceed against the king of Gauda. Harsha is said
to have waged incessant warfare until in six years he had fought
the ‘Five Indies’. Sa^anka of Gauda proved a formidable opponent
and his power seems to have continued undiminished till a.d. 619.
Harsha, however, succeeded in strengthening his position in the
home territories, and in 612 assumed full regal titles. He increased
his army, bringing the elephant corps up to 60,000 and the cavalry
to 100,000.
During the period 618-627 Chinese chroniclers record serious
disturbances in India, and Siladitya (Harsha) is represented as
punishing the kings of the four parts of the country. What specific
contests are meant is not made clear either by the Chinese writers
or the grants of Harsha himself issued between a.d. 628 and 631.
But we learn from Chalukya records that sometime before 634
Harsha marched southwards as far as the Nerbudda, where his
further progress was stopped by Bulakesm II of the Chalukya
d3masty of Vatapi m the Deccan. A record of the Gurjara chiefs
of Broach refers to the defeat by Harsha of a prince of Valabhi
who was granted protection by Dadda II. At the time of Hiuen
Tsang’s visit to Valabhi, c. 641, the reigning prince of Valabhi,
Dhruvabhata, was attached to Harsha’s interest by a matrimonial
alliance. Sa^anka, king of Gauda, must have died sometime before
637 when Hiuen Tsang was at Nalanda in South Bihar. For a time
158 AJSr ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
Magadha passed under the rule of Pur^iavarman. In 641 Siladitya
(Harsha) himself assumed the title of king of Magadha and exchanged
embassies with China. According to tradition he had led an
expedition to Northern Bengal. The final overthrow of the Gauda
kingdom of Karpasuvarna seems to have been the work of his
ally Bhaskaravarman whose Nidhanapur grant is issued from
that city. The exact date of this event is not known. In 642
death probably removed Pulakesin II, the formidable southern
rival of Harsha, and in the next year the northern emperor under-
took an expedition to Ganjam. We have also references in literature
to Harsha’s expedition to the Tushara iaila or snowy mountains,
whence he exacted tribute, to Kashmir from which he carried off
a tooth relic, and to Sind whose ruler was deprived of his royal
fortune. We do not know to which period of Harsha’s reign these
events are to be assigned.
Much controversy has raged round the question of the extent
of Harsha’s empire. It certainly embraced the old kingdoms of
Thanesar (in the eastern Punjab) and Kanauj (in the Gangetic
Doab) and the provinces of Ahichchhatra (Rohilkhapd), Sravasti
(Oudh) and Prayaga (Allahabad). Chinese evidence points to the
inclusion of Magadha since 641 and also of Orissa. Udita of Jalan-
dhar and Madhava Gupta, apparently of Eastern Malwa, seem to
have been his vassals. The emperor’s army had overrun almost
the whole of Northern India, from the snowy mountains of the
north to the Nerbudda in the south, and from Ganjam in the east
to Valabhi in the west. The king of Kamarupa beyond the Brah-
maputra was his ally, and the real character of the alliance was
well illustrated by an episode recorded by a Chinese writer which
shows that the eastern potentate acknowledged the superiority of
Harsha’s might and did not dare disobey his orders. Even the
most powerful of Harsha’s enemies, viz. the Chalukyas of the
Deccan, bear witness to his suzerainty over the whole of Uttarat
patha or Northern India. The pre-eminence of Harsha over other
contemporary rulers of the North is also indicated by the “music-
pace-drums” which he alone was entitled to use, other kings not
being permitted to adopt the paraphernalia in question. It is
not suggested that the whole of Northern India was actually
controlled by imperial officials. Large tracts of tliis wide region
were doubtless under powerful local rulers who owed only a nominal
allegiance to the imperial throne. But even the rulers of distant
Kashmir, Sind, Valabhi, and Kamarupa had a wholesome dread
of the power of Harsha. The king of Kamarupa dared not detain
a Chinese pilgrim at his capital against the w^ill of his mighty
THE HUNS. KANAUJ, KASHMIR AND GAUDA 169
“ally”, and, according to one interpretation of a certain passage
in the Harsha-charita, the Kanauj emperor actuahy installed
Kumara-raja (Bhaskaravarman) on the throne. This obtains some
confirmation from another passage where it is stated that the
lokapdlas or rulers in the different regions owed their appointment
to him. The king of Kashmir was compelled to surrender a tooth
relic to Harsha. The ruler of Sind, already humbled by Prabha-
karavardhana, was, according to Bana, shorn of his royal fortune
by Harsha, The ruler of Valabhi had once fled before the advancing
arms of the Kanauj monarch, and later on accepted the hand of
his daughter and attended the imperial court.
Kanauj, the imperial capital, had the Ganges on its west side.
It is described by Hiuen Tsang as a very strongly defended city
with lofty structures everywhere. There were beautiful gardens
and tanks of clear water. Rarities from strange lands were
collected here. The inhabitants were well off and there were families
with great wealth. The people had a refined appearance and dressed
in glossy silk attire. They were given to learning and the arts.
Harsha did not long survive the Ganjam campaign of a.d. 643.
In his later days he received embassies from China and maintained
close diplomatic relations with the Chinese court. At this period
he came into contact with Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese Master of the
Law, who was visiting the sacred spots of Buddhism. It appears
from the records of the Chinese pilgrim that the emperor of Kanauj
showed a strong predilection for Buddhism, though he does not
seem to have discarded altogether the ^aivism of his earlier years.
He caused the use of animal food to cease throughout his dominions
and prohibited the taking of life. He erected rest-houses and
monasteries and practised charity on an extensive scale. One of
the most interesting features of his reign was the quinquennial
assembly known as the Mahdmokshaparishad.
In 643 the Chinese pilgrim witnessed two grand assemblies, one
in the city of Kanauj, the other in the “arena of charitable offer-
ings” at Prayaga (Allahabad). The Kanauj assembly was summoned
“in order to exhibit the refinements of the Great Vehicle and make
manifest the exceeding merit of the Chinese Master of the Law”.
It was attended by twenty kings, besides thousands of Buddhist,
Brahmapical and Jaina theologians and priests. Impressive
spectacles were presented by a golden statue of the Buddha kept
in a lofty tower and a gorgeous procession of elephants that escorted
an image of the ^akya sage to the halt of assembly. The gathering
at Prayaga included about 600,000 people who had been sum-
moned from the distant comers of the “Five Indies” to receive
160 m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
gifts from the emperor. Harsha went to the spot accompanied by
the Chinese Master of the Law and the kings of twenty countries.
Images of the Buddha, Adityadeva (the Sun), and Bvaradeva
(Siva) were installed on successive days and precious articles were
distributed in charity on each occasion. When the accumulation
of five years was exhausted, the emperor wore a second-hand
garment and paid worship to the Buddhas of the ten regions.
Harsha died in a.d. 646 or 647. He was undoubtedly one of the
greatest kings of ancient India. Called upon to rule over two
distracted kingdoms in a. period of turmoil he succeeded to a
large extent in restoring respect for authority in vast tracts of
Northern India and won praise as a just and benevolent ruler,
punctilious in the discharge of his duties. It is not surprising that
years of strenuous warfare did not allow him much time to establish
on a firm foundation that ordered government which three genera-
tions of Gupta emperors had given to the “middle country”, the
benefits of which were warmly appreciated by Fa Hien. It was,
however, not due to any lack of vigour on his part. This indefatig-
able prince was anxious to bring justice to the doors of all. He
made visits of inspection throughout his dominions and was prompt
to reward the virtuous and punish the evil-doer. But he nursed
a higher ambition. The grandson of a “Gupta” princess, Harsha
attempted to revive the imperial memories of Samudra Gupta and
sought to unite the north and south of India under one sceptre
— ^in vain as the sequel proved. But the imperial splendour of
Kanauj that he did so much to augment was hardly dimmed in
succeeding ages, and rulers of the remotest corners of India counted
it their proudest boast to have “captured Mahodaya-Sri”, i.e.
conquered Kanauj. Harsha also showed a taste for literature and
the arts of peace that reminds one of the versatile hero of Hari-
shepa’s panegyric. In his later days he sought to emulate, perhaps
unconsciously, the great Aioka, and the Chinese pilgrim bears
eloquent testimony to his pious foundations, his toleration, liberality
and benevolence, all irrespective of caste and creed. One European
writer calls him the Akbar of the Hindu period. A great general and
a just administrator, he was even greater as a patron of religion
and learning. He gathered round himself some of the finest intellects
and holiest sages— men like Bapa, Mayura, Divakara and Hiuen
Tsang. In one respect he is more fortunate than Samudra Gupta,
for we still possess some gems of literature that proceeded, according
to tradition, from his pen.
THE HUNS. lilANAUJ, KASHMIR AND GAUDA 161
The Kanauj Empire after Harsha
Harsha died either at the end of a.d. 64-6 or the beginning of
647. The removal of his strong personality let loose forces of
disintegration and disorder in the Madhya-desa (upper Ganges
valley) that were not successfully overcome till about a.d. 836
when Bhoja I of the Pratihara family ruled once more over a vast
empire, with its capital at Mahodaya or Kanauj. After a reign
extending over more than forty years Harsha transmitted his crown
to successors who must have struggled to maintain their heritage
for some time. Attempts were made by princes like Ya4o-
varman, and possibly Indra-raja to restore the fallen fabric of
imperialism and win for Kanauj that proud position whioh it once
occupied under Harsha. But their efforts were frustrated by the war-
like potentates beyond the limits of the Madhya-deSa to whorn the
acquisition of the imperial seat of Harsha was the goal of political
ambition. Kanauj was the cynosure of aU eyes. “What Babylon
was to the martial races of Western Asia, what Rome was to the
Teutonic barbarians and Byzantium to the mediaeval world of
Eastern and Southern Europe, that was Mahodaya- Sri to the
upspringing dynasties of the eighth and ninth centuries a.d.
The history of the upper Ganges vaUey from the end of 646 to
836 is one of internal strife and of external invasion which ended
when the royal throne of Harsha passed into the hands of the
Pratiharas. When the Pratihara authority weakened in the tenth
century history repeated itself. Another period of commotion
ensued followed by the rise of a new imperial family— the Gahada-
valas. MeanwMle a deluge was preparing in the wilds of Afghanis-
tan which soon spread over the whole of Northern India.
The power of the Gahadavalas was shattered on the plams of
Chandwar in 1194 and the agony of Imperial Kanauj was soon
hushed in the stillness of death.
Aspirants for Imperial Dominion after Harsha
It is doubtful if Harsha left a son. He had a daughter who
was given in marriage to Dhruvabhata of Valabhi. It is significa;iit
that in the Gupta years 326-330, which almost synchronise with
Harsha’s death, Dharasena IV, son of Dhruvabhata, assumed
the imperial titles of ParamahlvaMraha MahardjwiUraja Paramei-
vara ChakravaHl. ’Re doubtless looked upon himself as the imperial
successor in Western India of the Kanauj monarch, who may have
been his maternal grandfather. Among other pretenders were a
162
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
brother of Grahavarman, and one of Harsha’s ministers named
Arjuna or Aruna^va. The latter seized some provinces in the Ganges
valley and came into conflict with a Chinese mission headed by
Wang-hiuen-tse. The Chinese envoy received assistance from Tibet
and Nepal and inflicted crushing defeats on the enemy. He also
obtained large supplies of cattle and accoutrements from Kumara
(Bhaskaravarman), king of Kamarupa, and carried off the usurping
minister to China.
In A.D. 672 the most powerful sovereign in the Madhya-de^a
was Adityasena, son of Madhava Gupta, the ally of Harsha — the
“Sun army” of Far Eastern pilgrims. Adityasena signalised his
accession to power by the performance of the horse-sacrifice. He
strengthened his position by matrimonial alliances with the most
illustrious families of his age. Himself a scion of the “later Gupta”
dynasty of Malwa and Magadha, he gave his daughter in marriage
to Bhogavarman Maukhari. His grand-daughter, bom of Bhoga-
varman’s wife, became the queen of Sivadeva of Nepal, and mother
of Jayadeva. This Jayadeva married R^ajyamati, daughter of
Harshadeva of the Bhagadatta family of Kamarupa.
Adityasena was followed by three “Gupta” successors, Deva
Gupta, Vishpu Gupta, and Jivita Gupta II. Early in the eighth
century the throne of Magadha is found in the occupation of a Gau(jla
king. The identification of this ruler with Jivita Gupta II or any
other “later Gupta” king is clearly untenable, for we learn from
contemporary epigraphy that in the time of Isanavarman Maukhari
(middle of the sixth century a.d.) the line of the “later Guptas”
is associated with Prayaga or AJlahabad. On the other hand
the Gaudas are described as taking refuge in the sea. In the
next century the “later Guptas” are mentioned as the rulers of
Magadha, while the Gaudas have their metropolis at Karpasuvarpa.
A panegyrist of the later Guptas styles himself a Gauda, but the
designation is not applied to the line of kings eulogised. The
latter are simply characterised as of “good lineage”. The truth
seems to be that it was the westward expansion of the Gauda
power which finally led to the extinction of the house of Adityasena.
But the Gaudas were not left m undisturbed possession of
Magadha for any length of time. The kingdom of Kanauj revived
about this time under the vigorous rule of Ya^ovarman, a prince
claiming descent from the Lunar race, whose exploits are de.s-
cribed in the Prakrit work entitled the Qaudavaho by Vrdcpatiraja.
The career of YaSovarman reminds one of the great Harsha. He
led an expedition against the Gauda king and killed him in battle.
Having next subjugated the Vangaa of Eastern and Central Bengal
THE HUNS. KANAUJ, KASHMIR AND GAUDA 163
he turned to the south and reached the Nerbudda, After a brief
stay on the banks of that river he returned to his capital through
the desert of Rajputana and the plain of Thanesar. Like Harsha
he maintained diplomatic intercourse with the Chinese empire
(a.d. 731). He extended his patronage to the illustrious poets
Bhavabhuti and Vakpathaja. In the end this enterprising prince
roused the hostihty of Lahtaditya, king of Kashmir, and perished
in a conflict with his mighty northern adversary.
Kashmir
Kashmir now appears on the scene as a keen competitor of the
Gangetio powers. The vaUey had formed part of the empires of
Asoka, Kanishka and Mihiragula. In the seventh century a.d. it
grew into a first-rate power under a local dynasty, styled Karkota,
founded by Durlabhavardhana. The dynasty seems to have
acknowledged in a vague way the political pre-eminence of China.
Two grandsons of Durlabhavardhana, Chandrapida and Muktapida
Lalitaditya, received investiture as king from the Chinese emperor.
Lalitaditya was an ambitious prmce. We have already referred
to his victory over YaSovarman of Kanauj. Kalhapa, the historian
of Kashmir, credits him with having led his troops to distant
countries. The account of these exploits mostly reads like the
conventional panegyric of an epic hero. More importance attaches
to those parts of Kalhapa’s narrative which refer to his triumphs
over Tibetans, Dards and the Turks on the Indus and the slaughter
of a kuig of Gauda. Lalitaditya is justly eulogised for his pious
foundations, among which the famous temple of Martapda stands
pre-eminent.
Jayapida Vinayaditya emulated the exploits of his grandfather,
Lalitaditya, by defeating the kings of Gauda and Kanauj . He was a
great patron of learning and his court was adorned by Kshirasvamin,
Udbhata, Damodara Gupta, Vamapa and other scholars. His fiscal
exactions, however, made his name odious. His dynasty came to
an end in a.d. 855 and was supplanted by the house of Utpala.
Avantivarman, the founder of the new line, is famous for his
irrigation works carried out under the direction of his minister
Suyya. The next king, ^ahkaravarman, son of Avantivarman,
extended the boundaries of Kashmir in several directions. He
seems to have come into conflict with the emperor Bhoja I of
Kanauj and LaUiya Shahi of Udabhapdapura or Und on the Indus,
and wrested a portion of the Punjab from the Gurjaras. Like
Jayapida of the previous dynasty he harassed the people by fiscal
164 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
extortions and met his end in a conflict with the people of Ura^a,
the modern Hazara district. A period of turmoil followed. The
widowed queen Sugandha attempted to rule in the name of puppet
kings. But she had to encounter formidable opposition from the
powerful military factions of the Tantrins who made themselves
virtual dictators of the state. The Tantrins were eventually put
down by certain feudal chiefs. In the end an assembly of Brah-
man.as raised to the throne a member of their own order named
Ya^askara. The line of Yasaskara was followed by that of Parva
Gupta. In the time of Kshema Gupta, son and successor of Parva
Gupta, the virtual ruler was his queen Didda, daughter of a chief
of Lohara and descended through her mother from the Shahis
of Udabhandapura. Didda, at first, ruled in the name of puppet
kings and then seized the crown herself. She kept it till a.d. 1003
when she transmitted her sceptre to her nephew Sarngramaraja,
the founder of the Lohara dynasty. A terrible invader now appeared
on the scene. The Shahi l^gdom of Udabhapdapura fell after a
heroic struggle, in spite of the assistance it received from the ruler
of Kashmir. The kingdom of Sarngramaraja fortunately escaped
destruction at the hands of Mahmud of Ghazni, but it was too
much weakened by internal conflicts to interfere successfully in
the general affairs of Northern India. It gradually sank to the
position of a minor power and finally succumbed to the Muslims
in A.D, 1339.
Bengal and the Pala Empire
Both under Lalitaditya and Vinayaditya Kashmir had come
into conflict with the arms of Gauda, which was the name applied
to a people of Western and North-Western Bengal as well as to
their country. In the seventh and eighth centuries a.d. this eastern
kingdom definitely entered on the scene as a rival of Kanauj and
Kashmir. References to Gauda occur in early literature, notably
in the sutras of Papini, the Kautillya Arthaiastra and some of the
Puranas. The sister realm of Vanga or Eastern and Central Bengal
does not seem to be less ancient as it is referred to in the Dhar-
masutras and the epic. In the days of Maurya and Guj)ta ascendancy
Bengal seems to have formed part of the empire of Magadha,
the eastern districts enjoying a certain amount of autonomy.
After the fall of the Imperial Guptas we find several local rulers,
notably Dharmaditya, Gopachandra and Samacharadeva, asserting
their independence. Gopachandra was a powerful ruler whose
dommions embraced large tracts in both Eastern and Western
Bengal. In his days, or those of his immediate successors, the
THE HUNS. KANAUJ, KASHMIR AND GAUIDA 166
Gauda people emerge as a great military power. Sometime before
A.D. 554 they came into conflict with Isanavarman Maukhari and
found a safe refuge in a maritime region. In the next century we
find them in possession of the aggressive kingdom of Karnasuvarpa
(usually placed in the Murshidabad district). Under the leadership
of their king Sasanka they waged war on the aspiring house of
Pushyabhuti. The murder of Rajyavardhana and the war of revenge
undertaken by his brother and successor Harsha have been men-
tioned above. Till 619 the power of the Gauda king seems to have
remained unshaken, and his suzerainty was acknowledged as far
south as Ganjam. But sometime between 619 and 637 Sasanka
seems to have died and some years later we find the capital city
in the possession of Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa, the eastern
ally of Harsha. In the latter half of the seventh century eastern
India seems, according to some scholars, to have been shared
between the “later Guptas” of Magadha and the Khadga dynasty
COIN ATTRIBUTED TO SAMAOHJLbADBVA
of Eastern Bengal. The Khadga chronology is, however, stiU un-
certain. Early in the eighth century both Western and Eastern
Bengal were overrun by Ya^ovarman of Kanauj. Other con-
querors foUow’ed in his wake. There was anarchy {Mdtsya nyaya)
in the realm tiU at last the different sections of the people ['prah-
ritis) raised to the throne a chief named Gopala, who brought the
blessings of peace to the distracted lands.
With Gopala began the famous Pala dynasty which, in the last
days of its rule, claimed descent from the solar race and also
from the sea. Under Pala rule Bengal was to enjoy a period of
prosperity undreamt of in her early annals. In contemporary
records the earliest kings of the line are called Vangapati and
Oaudesvara, showing that they ruled over the twin kingdoms of
Eastern and Western Bengal.
Dharmapala, son of Gopala, was one of the greatest kings that
ever ruled in Bengal. His accession to the throne probably took
place between a.d. 752 and 794. In the course of a long reign of at
least thirty-two years he raised Bengal to the position of the
166
AU ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
premier state in Northern India, and did mucii to restore the
greatness of the old imperial city of Pataliputra. He doubtless
attempted to shift the political centre of gravity once more to the
east, the home territory of the Imperial Mauryas and the great
Guptas. He defeated Indraraja and other enemies, conquered
Kanauj and, with the assent of the neighbouring powers, placed
on the throne his protdgd Chakrayudha, Some records describe
him as the conqueror of the whole country from the Himalayas
in the north to Gokarna in the south. But his successes in the
Gangetio Hoab were short-lived. The Rashtrakutas of the Deccan
claim to have expelled the Gauda king from the territory between
the Ganges and the Jumna during the period a.d. 772 to 794,
while the Pratiharas of Western India under Nagabhata II drove
away Chakrayudha, the vassal king of Kanauj, and made them-
selves masters of the imperial seat of Harsha certainly before a.d.
836 and probably before even 833.
The death of Dharmapala probably took place sometime after
A.D. 794 but before a.d. 839. His son and successor Devapala was
equally ambitious. He renewed the struggle vdth the Gurjaras
or the Pratiliaras of the west and the Dravidians of the south,
and his troops claimed victories not only over the neighbouring
realms of Orissa and Assam but also over the Huns, a people whom
it was the policy of every aspirant for imperial dominion in Northern
India to try to overcome. His court poet credits him with having
enjoyed the whole earth from the Himalayas to Adam’s Bridge.
A more modest claim is put forward in other epigraphio passages
which say that his arms reached the Kamboja territory in the
north and the Vindhya hills in the south. That he maintained
some sort of relations with the north-west borderland of India
appears probable from his connection with Viradeva, a Brahmana
from Nagarahara or Jalalabad, who got the important post of
abbot of Nalanda in South Bihar. He also received an embassy
from Balaputradeva, ruler of Suvarpadvipa or Sumatra (p. 219). He
seems to have preferred Monghyr to Pataliputra as the seat of his
“camp of victory”. He died between a.d. 833 and 878 after a reign of
at least thirty-nine years, having raised the kingdom of Bengal
to a pinnacle of glory that was never again attained in the time
of his successors.
After Devapala the Pala power seems to have declined. The
next king Vigrahapala I, nephew of Devapala, was a weak ruler
given to religious activities who jSnally ab^cated in favour of his
son Nar^yapapala. The “camp of victory” at Monghyr was still
in existence in the seventeenth year of NarSyapapala, which must
THE HUNS. KANAUJ, KASHMIB AND GAUDA 167
be assigned to a period subsequent to a.d. 852 but before a.d. 898
at the latest (the fifth year of Mahendrapala Pratihara). After this
the famous fort does not find any mention in any Pala record. A
Pratihara record of 837 tells us that a chieftain named Kakka
gained renown by fightmg with the Gaudas at Monghyr, It is not
improbable that Pataliputra had already fallen before the advanc-
ing arms of the Pratiharas and the turn of Monghyr came next.
Within a short time, sometime before the fifth year of Mahen-
drapala, that is not later than a.d. 898, even Northern Bengal
was annexed to the Pratihara empire. Part of the lost ground
seems to have been recovered in the latter part of Narayaiiapala’s
reign, which extended over more than half a century (at least
fifty-four years). Two or three generations later, in the time of
Gopala II or of Vigrahapala II, the Pala power was once more
shaken, possibly by the Kambojas, but the fortunes of the family
were restored by Mahipala I. Mahipala is known to have been
ruling in the first quarter of the eleventh century a.d.
Mahipala I is referred to as the overlord of Gauda in a record
of A.D. 1026. Parts of Bengal had fallen into the hands of local
dynasties which may m some cases have acknowledged in a vague
way the suzerainty of the Pala emperor (adhipa). Two of the
local families, namely, the 6uras of South-West Bengal and the
Ohandras of Eastern Bengal, deserve special mention. Several
Sura princes fijid mention in literature and inscriptions. The
most notable among them is Adi^ura, a name famous in Bengali
legend. In the absence of contemporary records it is difficult
to say if he can be regarded as an historical figure.
In or about a.d. 1023 the princes of Bengal had to bear the
brunt of an attack from Rajendra Chola I, the ambitious ruler
of the Tamil country in the far south of India. The army of
Rajendra claims to have measured swords with Rana^ura of South-
West Bengal and Govindachandra of the eastern part of the
province. He is also credited with having won a victory over
Mahipala. Another invader of Mahipala’s dominions was in the
opinion of some scholars the famous Gangoyadeva Kalachuri,
but this view rests on an identification which may be doubted.
After Mahipala came his son Nayapala and grandson Vigrahapala
III. Both these personages came into conflict with Karna Kalachuri,
the great king of the Chedi countiy in Central India. Vigraha III
married Yauvanasri, daughter of the Chedi long. Another queen
of this monarch was of Rashtrakuta lineage. He left three sons,
Mahipala II, Surapaia, and Ramapala. Mahipala II proved to be
a weak king. The Pala empire now depended in large measure
168 AN ADVANCED HISTOBY OE INDIA
on the support of a military aristocracy recruited in part from
other provinces. A confederacy of indigenous chieftains revolted
against the king. Diwoka, a Kaivarta, held sway in North Bengal
which was temporarily lost to the Palas. Sometime after Diwoka
his nephew Bhima became king. The latter was overthrown by
Bamapala, the youngest brother of Mahipala II, mainly with the
help of his Bashtrakuta relations. The new king once more restored
the fortunes of his family.. Ramapala was followed by his son
Kumarapala, a grandson, Gopala III, and a second son Madanapala.
In the end Pala supremacy in Bengal was destroyed by Vijayasena,
who belonged to a family that came from the Kanarese country
ATlSA
(Reproduced from L, A. Waddell’s “Buddhism of Tibet Beffer)
in the Deccan. The Sena power was firmly established in almost the
whole of Bengal by the middle of the twelfth century a.d.
The Pala dynasty produced the last great Hindu emperor whose
commands were issued from the historic city of Pataliputra, Lilve
the Mauryas and the Guptas, the Pala sovereigns raised a kingdom
in Eastern India to a position of pre-eminence in Aryavarta.
Like their illustrious predecessors they maintained relations with
the distant potentates of the world as known to them, and not
only did much to foster religion and culture in India but encour-
aged their spread to foreign lands. The P§,la period saw the founda-
tion of the Universities of Uddapdapura and Vikramasila. The
epoch was rendered memorable by the activities of artists like
Dhimana and Vitapala, of missionaries like Pandit Dharmapala and
Atisa Dipahkara and scholars like Chakrapani and Sandhyakara.
THE HUNS. KANAUJ, KASHMIR AND GAUDA 189
Themselves devoted worshippers of Buddha, the Pala monarchs
were catholic enough to grant toleration to the votaries of Narayana
and Mahadeva. Throughout the Pala period the king sought the
assistance of Brahmapa ministers. The rise of Kaivarta chiefs to
positions of power and wealth in the latter days of the dynasty
shows that careers were open to men of talent irrespective of caste
and creed.
The Pratihara Empire
The Palas were one of the most long-Hved djmasties of Indian
history, but their supremacy in the Gangetic Doab was of short
duration. The sceptre of Kanauj was not long wielded by the
vassals of Dharmapala, and by a.d. 836 the Pratihara dynasty
was jSrmly established in the city of Mahodaya (Kanauj). Before
the end of the ninth century the power of this new imperial line
had extended in all directions and the command of the great
Pratihara king was obeyed all over the wide expanse of territory
stretching from Pehoa in the Punjab to Deogarh in Central India,
and from Una in Kathiawar to Paharpur in North Bengal.
In their epigraphic records the Pratiharas claim descent from
the Kshatriya Lakshmapa (brother of Rama) of the solar race
famed in the Rdmdyana, and also from a Brahmapa named Hari-
chandra. The prevailing view among modem scholars is that they
are a branch of the Gurjara race that began to play an important
part in Indian history from the sixth century a.d. The Gurjaras
established principalities m the Punjab, Marwar and Broach. In
the seventh century a.d. they find mention in the Harsha-charita
of Bana, the records of Hiuen Tsang and the Aihole inscription
of Pulake^in II. About the middle of the eighth century a.d.
certain Gurjara chiefs are represented as serving a Rashtrakuta
monarch as Pratihara (door-keeper) at a sacrifice performed at
Ujjain. The designation Pratihara probably originated in this
way, though a later tradition connects it with Lakshmapa, brother
of Rama, who guarded the doors of the latter during the years
of his exile. The connection of the Pratihara family of Kanauj
with Avanti, the district round Ujjain, at some stage in the progress
of theh power does not seem to be improbable in view of the alleged
statement of the Jaina Harwayhia that Vatsaraja, a distinguished
member of the line, was a ruler of Avanti. A different interpretation
of the passage in question is, however, suggested by some scholars.
The founder of Vatsaraja’s family was Nagabhata I who is usually
assigned to the middle of the eighth century a.d. He did much to
rehabilitate the power of the Guijaras which was threatened by
170 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
th.e Arabs from Sind and the Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas
from the Deccan. Vatsaraja, grand-nephew of Nagabhata I, claims
to have won the position of Samrdj, or emperor, and extended his
conquests as far as Bengal, but he was driven to the trackless
wilderness by the Rashtrakuta king Dhruva of the Deccan. His
son Nagabhata 11 won some successes at first. He is credited with
having extended his influence from Sind in the north to the Andhra
country in the south, from Anartta in Kathiawar in the west to
the borders of Bengal in the east. His most notable achievement
was the defeat of Dharmapala, king of Bengal, and the expulsion
of his proUgd Chakrayudha from Kanauj. But he himself sus-
tained defeats at the hands of the Rashtrakutas, the sworn enemies
of his Mne, who had grown very powerful under the vigorous rule
of Govinda III.
The Pratihara power recovered under Bhoja I, grandson of
Nagabhata II, who was firmly enthroned at Kanauj in a.d, 836.
He extended his power northwards as far as Pehoa and southwards
as far as the Vindhyas, but his further progress was stopped by
i^ankaravarman of Kashmir and Dhruva Dharavarsha, a Rashtra-
kuta chieftain of Broach. He was more successful in the east.
The Gaudas (of Bengal) were defeated and the Pratihara empire
in the time of his successor stretched as far as Paharpur in North
Bengal. The empire of Bhoja was visited by the merchant Sulaiman
who spoke highly of the strength of his cavahy and of the peace
that reigned in his kingdom.
Mahendrapala I, son of Bhoja, maintained his father’s empire
and seems to have extended it towards the east. He imitated
Harsha and Yasovarman in encouraging learning. His court was
adorned by the poet RajaiSekhara.
Mahendra was followed by his sons Mahxpala, Bhoja II and
Vinayakapala. Some scholars prefer to identify Mahipala Prati-
hara with Vinayakapala, but their dates do not overlap. Mahipala
maintained his hold on Surashtra or Kathiawar as late as 914 a.d.
In the next year A1 Masudi visited his realm and spoke about his
horses and camels. In 917 the Pratihara king was still in possession
of the Gangetic Doab. RajaSekhara speaks about his conquests
in the most distant regions of India from Kuluta in the north to
Kerala in the south. His power was threatened by Indra HI, the
Rashtrakuta king of the Deccan, who mflioted a severe defeat on him
and took Kanauj. Mahipala seems to have been restored by a Ghan-
della king. The dramatist Kshemi^vara asserts in his Ghandakauiiha,
which he wrote for the Pratihara kiiig, his patron’s triumph over the
Karpatas, i.e. the Rashtrakutas. But the- Pratihara empire does
THE HUNS. KANAUJ, KlSHMlR AND GAUDA 171
not seem to have fully recovered from the blow it received at
the hands of the latter.
The succeeding rulers maintained a precarious hold over the
upper Ganges valley, parts of Rajputana and Malwa, but their
former feudatories, notably the Chandellas, aggrandised them-
selves at their cost. The Chaulukyas made themselves independent
in Gujarat, the Paramaras in Malwa, the Chandellas and Ohedis in
the country between the Jumna and the Nerbudda. A stiU more
formidable enemy appeared on the scene early in the eleventh
century a.d. In 1018 Kanauj, then ruled by Rajyapala Pratihara,
was taken by Mahmud of Ghazni. The Pratihara dynasty probably
continued to rule over a smaU. territory till the second quarter of
the eleventh century a.d. But their empire was gone and they sank
to the position of local chieftains.
The Pratiharas in the days of their greatness had defended
Hindustan against the Arab invaders, who had often the assistance
of the Rashtrakutas of the south. Towards the end of the tenth
century the task of defending the North-West Frontier of India
devolved on their feudatories, the Hindu Shahis of Uda^bhhridapura.
Mention has aheady been made of this illustrious line of kings in
connection with the history of Kashmir. The founder of the line was
a prince named Lalliya Shahi who flourished towards the close of the
ninth century a.d . The fourth prince, Bhima Shahi, was the maternal
grandfather of the celebrated queen Didda of Kashmir. His famous
successor Jayapala came into conflict with the Sultans of Ghazni.
The struggle produced momentous consequences and its history
will be narrated in a subsequent chapter.
CHAPTER XII
THE DECCAN EBOM THE FALL OF THE SATAVAHANAS TO THE
END OF BASHpiAKDTA SUPREMACY — ^RISE OF THE EMPIRES OF
KANCHI AND KARNATA
Successors of the Satavahanas
Gautamiputra Sri Yajna ^atakarni, who probably ruled towards
the close of the second century a.d., was the last great king of his
house. After his death, the Satavahana empire began to fall to
pieces. The Nasik region in Maharashtra seems to have been lost
to the Abhira king Isvarasena. The Vakatakas rose to power in
Berar and some adioining tracts. The Western Kanarese districts
fell into the hands of a line of Satakarnis who received the epithet of
Chutukulananda and are sometimes referred to as Chutu-^ata-
karpis to distinguish them from the Satavahana Satakarnis of the
Imperial line. They had their capital at the famous city of
Vaijayantipura or Banavasi in north Kanara. The old imperial
line continued to rule for some time longer in the Andhra country
at the mouth of the Krishpa till they were supplanted by the
Ikshvakus, the rulers belonging to the Ananda gotra, the Brihat-
phalayanas, and the Salahkayanas. The latter were succeeded
by the Vishpukun^s. The Salahkayanas already ruled as petty
chieftains as early as the second century a.d. They must have
asserted their independence shortly after the fall of the Imperial
Satavahanas. They came into conflict with the northern emperor
Samudra Gupta in the fourth century a.d. Meanwhile another
power had arisen in the far south of India with its capital at
Kanchi, modern Conjeeveram near Madras, but exercising control
over some of the Kanarese districts and the southern part of the
Andhra country at the mouth of the river Krishpa. This was the
Pallava power. At the time of the famous raid of Samudra Gupta,
the most important dynasties in trans-Vindhyan India were the
Vakatakas of the Upper Deccan and the Pallavas of Kanchi.
The Gupta conqueror does not appear to have come into direct
contact with the Vakatakas. He vanquished, however, a chief
named Vyaghraraja, who may have been identical with a Vakataka
feudatory named VyEghradeva. Chandra Gupta II, the son and
172
THE DECCAN. KANCHl AND KARNATA 173
successor of Samudra Gupta, on the other hand, established direct
relations with his Vakataka neighbours and gave his daughter
Prabhavati in marriage to their king Rudrasena II. The Vakataka s
in their turn were linked by matrimonial alliances with several
dynasties beyond the Godavari. The descendants of Rudrasena II
and Prabhavati continued to rule in the Deccan for several gener-
ations till the rise of the Vishnukundins and their rivals and con-
temporaries, the Chalukyas of Vatapi and the Katachchuris or
Kalachuris of Nasik and Malwa.
The Great Pallavas
To the south of the Vakatakas lay the realm of the Pallavas of
Kanchi, one of whose early kings, Vishnugopa, was captured and
then liberated by Samudra Gupta about the middle of the fourth
century a.d. The name Vishnugopa was borne by several members
of the Pallava dynasty, and it is not known in what relationship
the contemporary of Samudra Gupta stood to the famous Siva-
skandavarman who is mentioned in the early Prakrit records of
the family as a “righteous king of great kings” and the performer
of the horse-sacrifice. Inscriptions mention the names of several
later PaUava monarchs whose dominions embraced not only
Kanchi but considerable parts of the Telugu and Kanarese districts.
The suzerainty of some of them was acknowledged by the early
Gangas of eastern and southern Mysore and the early Kadambas who
supplanted the Chutu-^atakarpis of Vaijayanti. We learn from the
Lokavibhdga that one of the Pallava kings who bore the name of
Sirnhavarman ascended the throne in a.d. 436.
The history of the family becomes more definite from the time
of Simhavishpu, who must have come to the throne in the latter
half of the sixth century a.d. This king is credited with having
seized the country of the Cholas and vanquished aU his southern
neighbours, including the ruler of Ceylon. The conquest of Ceylon
is also mentioned as an achievement of his grandson Narasim-
havarman. Sithhavishnu was a Vaishpava, and magnificent reliefs
representing the king and two of his consorts have been discovered
in the Varaha cave at Mamallapuram.
The successor of giihhavishpu was his son, Mahendravarman I,
whose reign saw the beginning of the great struggle between the
Pallavas and their northern enemies the Chalukyas of Vatapi for
the mastery of Southern India, The struggle was continued for
several generations. The Chalukya king, Pulake^in II, is said to
have caused the splendour of the PaUava lords to be obscured
%
pl^p
174 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
by tbe dust of Ms army and to vanish behind the walls of Kahchi-
pura. On the other hand, Narasnhhavarman I, son and successor
of Mahendravarman, is said to have vanquished Pulakesin in many
battles and stormed his capital, Vatapi. The struggle was renewed
by Vikramaditya I, son of Pulakesin II, who claims to have caused
the destruction of the family of Narasimha and captured the city
of Kanchi. The Pallava records, however, inform us that the
Chalukya attack was finally repulsed. Undaunted by their failures,
the Chalukyas once more overran the Pallava dominions under the
leadership of Vikramaditya II, great-grandson of Vikramaditya I,
(Copyr'ight KUin and Peyarl)
in the first half of the eighth century a.d. They routed King
Nandivarman PallavamaUa and took the city of Kanchi. The
PaUavas were now threatened by enemies from the south as well
as the north. The Papdyas advanced up to the banks of the Kaveri
and engaged in deadly conflicts with the decadent empire of Kanchi.
The cowp de grace was given by Aditya Chola who defeated Aparii-
jita Pallava and took possession of his kingdom towards the end
of the ninth century a.b.
The epoch of the PaUavas of Kanchi is memorable in the political
175
THE DECCAN. KlNCHl AND KARNATA
and cultural history of India. They built up the first great empire
south of the Penner and the Tuhgabhadra, and carried their arms
as far as Ceylon. Many of the Vaishpaya Alvars and the ^aiva
Nayanars (saints) flourished during their rule. Under them KancM
became a great centre of Brahmapical as well as Buddhist learning.
Mahendravarman I, who bore the significant epithet of Vichitra-
chitta, “curious-minded”, introduced the cave style of architecture
and wrote the famous burlesque known as the Mattavildsa-prahasana.
The Pallava painting discovered in a cave shrine in the Pudukottai
State has also been assigned to his reign. His son Narasimhavar-
man Mahamalla gave his name to the port of Mamallapuram, and
some of the famous temples cut out of rock boulders known as
Bathas situated in that spot are ascribed to his reign. A later
king, Narasiihhavarman II, surnamed Rajasiihha, constructed the
Kailasanatha temple at Kaflchi.
The Early Chalukyas
The Chalukyas, sworn enemies of the PaUavas of Kanchi, rose
to power in Karpata or the Kanarese-speaking country in the
sixth century a.d., and had their first capital at Vatapi, modern
Badami in the Bijapur district of the Bombay Presidency. Like
the Chutu-^atakarpis and the Kadambas of Vaijayanti, they are
represented as belonging to the Manavya gotra and being Hariti-
putras. In later times they claimed descent from the lunar race.
Certain inscriptions of a branch of the family refer their orighi to
Ayodhya, and one tradition connects the dynastic name with
Brahmadeva’s Chuluka or hand hollowed out for the reception
of water. Some modern writers believe that the Chalukyas were
in reality connected with the Chapas and the foreign Gurjara
tribes of the north, but there is very little to be said in support
of this conjecture. Inscriptions distinguish between Chalukyas and
Gurjaras, and the characteristic nomenclature of the line is distinctly
southern.
The real founder of the dynasty of Vatapi was Pulake^in I,
who signalised his accession to power by the performance of the
horse-sacrifice. His sons, Kirtivarman I and Mangale^a, extended
the empire in aU directions and vanquished the neighbourmg rulers,
including the Mauryas of the Konkan, the Kadambas of Vaijayanti
and the Kalachuris of northern Maharashtra and Malwa. The
Kadamba capital was finally reduced by Pulake^in II, son of
Kirtivarman, the most famous king of the line. In the course of
a long reign extending from about A.©. 609 to 642, Pulake^in II
178 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
not only consolidated his authority in Maharashtra but overran
nearly the whole of the Deccan from the banks of the Nerbudda
to the region beyond the Kaveri, thus reviving the memory of the
glorious days of Gautamiputra Satakariii. lie repulsed an attack
by Harsha of Kanauj and claims to have humbled the pride of
Mahendravarman of Kanchi. He annexed Pishtapura in the
Godavari district, the government of which was entrusted to his
younger brother, liubja Vishnu vardhana, Hiueu Tsang, who
visited his kingdom about a.d, 641, bears testimony to the fear
inspired by the king and the stern vindictive character of his people.
According to some authorities, he interchanged letters and presents
with the king of Persia, but the matter is not free from doubt.
The last days of the king were not happy. The Pallava king,
Narasimhavarman I, son and successor of Mahendravarman I,
retrieved the disasters of his father’s reign, inflicting crushing
defeats on Pulake^in and destroying his capital, VatEpi.
The Chalukya power was revived by Vilcramaditya I, son of
Pulakesin II, who renewed the struggle against his southern
enemies. His exploits were emulated and even surpassed by his
great-grandson, Vikramaditya II, who actually entered the Pallava
capital. A feudatory Chalukya chieftain, belonging to a junior
branch of the royal line stationed in South Gujarat, distinguished
himself in a struggle with the formidable Tajikas, who are identified
vith the Arabs of Sind. In or about 753, the son and successor
of Vikramaditya II was overthrown by a chief named Dantidurga
who laid the foundation of the next great empire of Karpata and
Maharashtra, that of the Rashtrakutas.
The Great Rashtrakhtas
The Rashtrakutas in their later records claim descent from
Satyaki, a Yadava chief of the north, a close associate of Krisliiia,
famed in epic tradition. Sopae scholars connect them with the
Telugu Red<Rs. Others regard them as the main branch of a race
of Kshairiyas who gave their name to the country of Maharashtea
and already figured as rulers in the days of A^oka. Another theory
traces their origin to hereditary officials in charge of lidsMms or
provinces. In several Chalukya records of the eastern Deccaji,
Raslitrakiltas are often referred to as Kutwmhins or agriculturists
in the Andhra country. They are also connected with the Kanaresc
region, and their own records speak of them as hereditary chiefs
of Lattalur, identified with Latux in the Nizam’s dominions. It
is not improbable that the Rashtrakutas were originally Dra vidian
179
THE DECCAN. KANGHI AND KARNATA
agriculturists who obtained hereditary governorships of provinces
under the Chalukyas, and then established an empire, as the Maratha
Deshmukhs, who served under the Muslim Sultans of Ahmadnagar
and Bijapur, did in a later age.
The Rashtrakutas established an empire which in the days of
its greatness extended from South Gujarat, Malwa and Baghelkhand
in the north to Tanjore in the south. Their predecessors, the
Chalukyas, had simply repulsed an attack of an emperor of Kanauj ,
The Rashtrakutas, on the other hand, penetrated into the Gangetic
Doab and claim to have stormed the imperial seat of Mahlpala
Pratihara, — ^the grandson of Bhoja I of Kanauj. In the Eastern
Deccan, however, their dominions did not include the whole of
the district at the mouths of the Godavari and the Eirishna. The
latter continued to be ruled by a junior branch of the Chalukya
family. The pre-eminence of the Rashtrakutas among the rulers
of the age is testified to by Arab writers who refer to the Balhara
{Vallabhardja) or beloved prince of Mahkir, i.e. the Rashtrakuta
monarch of Manyakheta or Malkhed, as one of the four great
sovereigns of the world, entitled to rank wnth the sovereign of
China, the Caliph of Bagdad and the emperor of Constantinople.
The Rashtrakutas were patrons of learning, and one king,
Amoghavarsha I, was an author of repute. They were also great
builders, and their second king, Krishpa I, uncle of Dantidurga,
executed the famous Kailasa temple at EUora. The chief interest
of Rashtrakuta history in the days of Krishna I’s successors centres
round the struggle with the Pratiliaras of Kanauj, as that of the
Chalukyas of Vatapi centred round the conflict with the Pallavas
of Kanchi. Dhruva, younger son of Krishna I, defeated Vatsaraja
Pratihara and expelled a Gauda king, probably Dharmapala, from
the Gangetic Doab. Under Govinda III, son and successor of
Dhruva, the Rashtrakutas verily became invincible. They exacted
iribute from the Pallavas of Kanchi and installed one of their
princes on the throne of South Gujarat. Nagabhata II, son of
Vatsaraja, sustained defeats at their hands. Dharmapala of Bengal
and his vassal, Chakrajmdha, are said to have offered their sub-
mission. The next king, Amoghavarsha I, had a very long reign
(about A.D. 815-877). He removed his capital to Manyakheta or
Malkhed in the Nizam’s dominions. He could not successfully
emulate his father’s exploits in the far north as he was involved
in a struggle with the Chalukyas of Ven^ at the mouths of the
Godavari and the Krishpa. But the Rashtrakutas in his time
succeeded in checking the southern progress of Bhoja I of Kanauj.
He also attached the more important rulers of the far south to the
180 ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Rashtrakuta interest by marriage alliances. Incka III, great-
arandson of Amoghavarsha I, finished the work of his lUustnous
Ancestors, Dhruva and Govinda III, by inflicting a crushing defeat
on Mahipala, the Pratihara king of Kanauj, and takmg temporap
possession of his capital city. His nephew, Krishpa III, was the
last great king of the line. His dominions extended from Jura m
Baghelkhand to Tanjore in the Kaveri vaUey. In 973, the ^sh^ra-
kuta dynasty was overthrown by Taila II, a feudatory of I^ishpa
III, who claimed descent from the early Chalukyas of Vatapi.
The Later Chalukyas
Taila was the founder of the Chalukya dynasty of Kalyana or
Kalyani in the Nizam’s dominions. His successors became involved
in a contest with the Cholas of Tanjore, descendants of king Aditya
who had crushed the PaUava king Aparajita. The Cholas now
fast rose to power under Rajaraja and his son, Rajendra Chola L
While the Cholas and Chalukyas were engaged in bitter feuds in
the south, thrones and dynasties in Northern India were faUmg
before the onslaught of the famous Hammira, Sultan Mahmud of
Ghazni or Ghazna. The banner of Islam was unfurled in the Land of
the Five Rivers and the Valley of the Twin Rivers, the Upper Ganges
and the Jumna. The arms of the Ghaznavid invader penetrated
into the interior of Kathiawar and reached the temple of Somnath.
Indian history enters on a new epoch.
CHAPTER XIII
THE PASSING OF THE OLD HINDU KINGDOMS
The Coming of the Arabs
In the western part of Asia lies a vast country called Arabia, a
land of rocks and deserts with a few oases and fertile valleys,
thinly peopled by a hardy and sturdy folk. In this country, at a
short distance from the western sea coast, stands the holy city
of Mecca — where sometime in the year 570 was born the great
Prophet, the founder of a religion that preached the unity of God,
and roused the people to energy and unbounded enthusiasm. Under
the successors of the Prophet, called Khalifas or Cahphs, who led
the Faithful from a.d. 632, the arms of the Moslems advanced
in all directions, and the banner of Islam floated over many countries
from Iran to Spain. Prom the beginning the Arabs had their eyes
on the rich ports of Western India and the outlying parts of the
north-west borderland. As early as the time of the great Pulakeiin
II, an army was sent to Thana near Bombay (c. a.d. 637). This
was followed by expeditions to Broach, the Gulf of Bebal (m Sind),
and Al-Kikan (the district round Kelat). About the middle of the
seventh century, the satrapy of Zaranj in Southern Afghanistan
fell into the hands of the Arabs. The turn of Makran in Baluchistan
came next. The Arabs now made repeated onslaughts on the
Shah of Kabul, supposed to be a descendant of the great Kanishka,
and the Bathil of Zabul in the upper valley of the Helmund river
and some adjoining districts. The latter succumbed after a brave
struggle (a.d. 870). The Turk! Shahiya kings of Kabul maintained
a precarious existence till the closing years of the ninth century
when they were supplanted by Kallar, usually identified with
LaUiya, the founder of the Hindu Shahiya dynasty of Udabhapda-
pura (Waihand, Ohind or Und on the Indus).
Meanwhile, the Arabs had followed up their success in Baluchistan
by the conquest of Sind. That province figures in the narrative
of Bana as one of the territories overrun by Prabhakaravardhana
and his more famous son, Harsha. In the days of Hiuen Tsang
the throne was occupied by a Sudra djmasty which gave way to
181
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
a Brahmana family founded by Chaoh. Dahar or Dahir, son of
Cbacb, was on the throne when al-Hajjaj, governor of Irak, incensed
at the action of certain pirates of Debal, sent several expeditions
to Sind. The earlier incursions were repulsed by Dahir. There-
upon al-Hajjaj entrusted the work of punishing the Indian king
to his nephew and son-in-law, Muhammad ibn-Kasim. The young
commander stormed Debal, captured Nerun and some other cities
and strongholds, and pushed on to the western bank of the Indus.
His work was greatly facilitated by the treachery of certain Buddhist
priests and renegade chiefs who deserted their sovereign and joined
the invader. With the assistance of some of these traitors, Muham-
mad crossed the vast sheet of water separating his army from that
of Dahir and gave battle to the Indian ruler near Raor (a.d. 712).
Dahir offered a brave resistance, but was defeated and killed. The
fort of Raor fell next after a heroic defence by the widowed queen.
The invaders now pushed on to Bahmanabad and Alor, which sub-
mitted. The ttirn of Multan came next. The whole of the lower Indus
valley was now dominated by the Arabs. But the invaders had no
mind to stop there. Already in the time of Muhammad ibn-Kasim
minor operations were carried on in the neighbouring provinces.
A later governor, Junaid or Junayd, pursued a more aggressive
policy and sent expeditions against Marmad (Marwar ? ), al-Mandal
(Mandor ? near Viramgam ? ), Dahnaj, Barwas (Broach), Ujjain,
Malibah (Malwa), Baharimad, al-Bailaman (Vallamandala ? ) and
al-Jurz (Gurjara). According to Indian inscriptions, the territories
overrun by the invaders included Sind, Cutch, Surashtra or Kathia-
war, Chavotaka (some Chapa principality of Gujarat or Western
Rajputana), a Maurya principality apparently in southern Raj-
putana or Malwa, and the Gurjjara territory apparently round
Bhinmal or Broach. The progress of the Arabs was stopped by
Chalukyas m the south, the Pratiharas in the east, and the
Karkotas in the north. But a new scene opened with the founda-
tion of the kingdom of Ghazm by Alptigin in or about a.d. 962.
Alptigm was formerly a slave of the Samanid rulers of Contra!
Asia. This enterprising chief made himself independent in Ghazni
and conquered a part of the kingdom of Kabul. He died in a.d. 963.
In A.i>. 977 his sceptre passed into the hands of his son-in-law,
Sabuktigm. About this time a large part of the territory from
Lamghan or Laghman to Kangra acknowledged the sway of Jaipai
(JayapEla) of the Hindu ShShiya dynasty of Waihand (Udabhapda-
THE PASSING OP THE OLD HINDU KINGDOMS 183
pur). The Hindu king heard reports from travellers how the Sultan
of Ghazni was encroaching on his dominions in the prosecution of
“holy wars”. To put a stop to his depredations, he advanced
towards Ghazni and met his enemy near a place called Ghuzak
between Ghazni and Lamghan. A snow-storm compelled Jaipal
to conclude a humiliating peace, but he soon broke his engage-
ments and brought on his head the wrath of the Sultan. The latter
carried fire and sword into the territory of his antagonist and seized
the districts in the neighbourhood of Lamghan. In 997 Sabuktigin
died, and in the next year the crown went to his famous son,
Mahmud. In 1001 the new Sultan inflicted a crushing defeat on
Jaipal near the city of Peshawar. Unable to survive this disgrace,
the defeated king burnt himself on a funeral pyre and was succeeded
by his son, Anandapala (a.b. 1002 or 1003). In 1006 Mahmud
took Multan, but the final subjugation of the city was postponed
till 1010. In 1008 he routed the troops of Anandapala, led by
prince Brahmapapala, at the battle of Waihand, and pursued the
fugitives as far as Bhimnagar.
AnandajDala continued to offer resistance from the fastnesses
of the Salt Range (Nandana). His successor, Trilochanpala, carried
on the struggle with the assistance of Samgramaraja of Kashmir.
In the end he was compelled to retire to the east and conclude an
alliance with the Chandella ruler of Kalinjar and other prmces of
Mid India. But he was again defeated on the river Ruhut (Rahib)
identified by some with the Ramgahga. He was assassinated in
A.D. 1021-1022. With the death of his son and successor, Bhima,
in 1026 the dynasty came to an end. Both al-Biruni and Kalhapa
bear testimony to the courage and magnanimity of this noble
line of kings who poured out their blood like water in defending
the north-western gates of their country against the invader.
Mahmud did not remain content with the laurels he won in the
Punjab. In 1014 he took Thanesar, and in the following years
made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer the vale of Kashmir.
He also burnt the temple of Mathura. In 1018 he sacked Kanauj
and extinguished the once powerful empire of the Pratiharas.
In 1022-1023 he received the submission of Gwalior and Kalinjar.
His most famous expedition, that against Somnath in Kathiawar,
was undertaken in 1025. The fall of the most celebrated Hindu
shrine of the age in 1026 synchronised with the extinction of the
Hindu Shalnya kingdom of the Punjab. Pour years later the
Sultan died.
Mahmud’s expeditions were mostly in the nature of plundering
raids. The only permanent results of his arduous campaigns were
184 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the annexation of the Hindu Shahiya kingdom and certain other
districts in the Punjab and the north-west borderland and the
destruction of the morale of the Hindu armies. The raids of
Mahmud must have made a profound impression on the minds of
the great Rajput powers of Western and Central India that sought
to divide among themselves the imperial heritage of the Prati-
haras. During the period 1030-1192, that is to say from the death
of Mahmud to the arrival on the scene of Muhammad of Ghur,
the princes of the Indian interior enjoyed comparative immunity
from foreign attacks. The Ghaznavid Sultans now and then harried
certain territories, and on one occasion one of their generals advanced
up to Benares and sacked the holy city. But on the whole, the
invaders could not make much headway. The terror inspired by
their ravages had, however, lasting consequences.
Revival of the Vikramadityan Tradition
The situation in the latter part of the eleventh and first three
quarters of the tweKth century was not unlike that in the sixth
century a.d. The old empires of the Pratiharas and the Palas
were falling to pieces like the Gupta empire after Budha Gupta.
The task of defending Hindustan fell upon their former feuda-
tories who now set up as independent sovereigns. The fight with
the Yamini Turks and their successors became as engrossing a
subject as the earlier struggle with the Huns, There was a revival
of the Vikramadityan tradition, and the example of the great
hero who braved a Saka king in his own city, and that of his famous
grandson who beat back the incursions of the Huns and restored
an empire after vanquishing the enemies of his family, must have
inspired the greater rulers of the new age — ^kings like Gangeyadeva
of Chedi, Sindhuraja of Malwa, and TribhuvanamaUa of Italy an,
who called themselves Vikramaditya or the new Sahasanka, The new
spirit is well illustrated by the execution of the pusillanimous
Pratihara king Rajyapala by a Kachchapaghata chief who
was “anxious to serve Vidyadharadeva”, and the attempt of
TribhuvanamaUa Vikramaditya VI to supersede the Saka era by a
new national reckoning. But the cases of Rajyapala, the represent-
ative of the Imperial Pratiharas, and of TribhuvanamaUa himself
who fought agamst his own brother, are symptomatic of the
weakness of the Hindu princes— their mternal strife and fiiilure,
except on rare occasions, to take concerted action in a time of
national crisis. The Hmdus of the age, moreover, lacked the
invigorating and dynamic influence of a new imimlse that was then
THE PASSING OF THE OLD HINDU KINGDOMS 185
moving vast masses of mankind in Western and West Central
Asia.
Bhima I, the Chanlukya or Solanki king of Gujarat, had failed
to bar the route to the holy shrine of Somnath. After the invader
was gone, he sought to repair the ravages which the Turks had
inflicted on the habitations of the gods. He began to build at
Somnath a temple of stone in place of the former temple of brick
and wood. His general, Vimala, built the famous Jaina temple
at Abu, known as Vimala Vasahi. Other edifices were constructed
in the time of the successors of Bhima, particularly in the days of
Siddharaja Jayasimha and Kumarapala. Two later rulers, Mularaja
II Solanki and Viradhavala Vaghela, attamed greater success than
Bhima I in repelling the attacks of invaders. Two officers of
Viradhavala, Vastupala and Tejahpala, have immortalised their
names by the construction of magnificent shrines at Satrunjaya,
Girnar and Abu. In course of time the feelings of hostility roused
by Turkish aggression wore off to a certain extent and king Arjuna
of Gujarat had the broadmindedness to endow a mosque erected
by a Muslim ship-owner of Ormuz, and provided for the expenses
of certain Shiite festivals. He further laid down that under the
management of the Muslim community of Somnath any surplus
was to be made over to the holy districts of Mecca and Medina.
In 1297, Gujarat passed into the hands of Sultan ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji
of Delhi.
The throne of the Paramaras of Malwa was, in the days of
Sabuktigin, occupied by the famous Munja, a great patron of poets,
whose power was crushed by Taila II, the Chalukya king of the
Deccan. His brother and successor, Sindhuraja, assumed the
significant title of Navasahasahka, that is, the new Sahasahka or
Viloramaditya. Bhoja, son and successor of Sindhuraja, claims
victories over the Turushkas or Turks. He made his name immortal
by his patronage of learning, just as the Gujarat statesmen did by
their temples. A versatile scholar, he wrote treatises on numerous
subjects, including poetics, rhetoric, polity, philosophy, astronomy
and architecture. He also established a college for Sanskrit studies.
The construction of temples and the encouragement of Sanskrit
culture seem to have been parts of a common programme. The
attempts of Pericles to restore Greek temples and foster Greek
learning after the ravages of the Persian wars may be recalled m
this connection. The example of Bhoja was imitated by Hindu
statesmen in later ages, notably by the rulers of Vijayanagar.
The Chandellas of Jejakabhukti or Bundelkhand had, under
Dhanga, Ganda, and Vidyadhara, possibly attempted to help the
186
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
cause of the Shahis of Udabhanda, but their efforts proved
unavailing. Vidj^adhara, however, seems to have matured plans,
along with the Kalachuri king and Bhoja of Malwa, for the
restoration of the prestige of Hindu arms. But the power of his
family soon declined. There was a revival under Kirtivarman
Chandella in the closing years of the eleventh century, but some
of his successors were not so strong as he was. One of them,
Paramardideva, suffered defeats at the hands of Prithviraja III,
the Chauhan king of Ajmer and Delhi. The power of the
Chandellas was shattered by Qutb-ud-diu Aibak in a.d. 1202. Like
the contemporary dynasties of Gujarat and Malwa, the Chandellas
showed their interest in the work of reconstruction by the building
of temples at Khajuraho and the encouragement of poets like
Krishn a, Mi4ra who adorned the court of Kirtivarman.
Politically, a more important rdU was played by the Kalachuri
kings, Gahgeyadeva and his son Lakshmi Ka,riia. The former,
as already stated above, assumed the title of Vikramaditya and
took under his protection the holy cities of Allahabad and Benares.
Lakshmi Karpa seems to have made himself master of the Southern
Doab and did much to revive the glorious traditions associated with
the empires of Harsha and Bhoja I. He conciliated the rulers
of Bengal by matrimonial alliances and pushed his conquests south-
wards as far as Kahhga. Had he lived longer, he might have
restored the shattered fabric of imperialism in northern India and
erected an effective barrier against the advance of the Turks.
His career was cut short by a hostile combination of the rulers of
Gujarat, Malwa, BundeUdiand and the Deccan. The Kalachuris
still retained considerable power under his son and grandson,
but the control of the Madhya-de§a (upper Ganges valley) soon
passed into the hands of the famous house of Gahadavala.
The founder of the Gahadavala dynasty was Ghandradeva who
rose to power in the closing decade of the eleventh century. His
grandson, Govinda Chandra, was the real ruler of the Madhya-de^a
for half a century, first as crown prince (1104-1114) and later on
as king (1114-1154). He founded an empire embracing the greater
part of the present United Provinces and Bihar. He successfully
defended Jetavana (in northern Oudh), Benares and other holy
places of Buddhists and Hindus alike against the Turk.s. But a
rival empire was established in the west by the Chauhan Vigra-
haraja IV with seats at Ajmer and Dellri. The latter city w^as
probably founded by a Tomara chieftain about the middle of the
eleventh century a.d., and it was from the Tomaras that the
Chauhans obtained possession of this famous capital. Prithviraja
THE PASSING OF THE OLD HINDU KINGDOMS 187
III, nephew of Vigraharaja IV, came into conflict with Jayach-
chandra (Jai Chand), grandson of Govinda Chandra. The rivalry
of the Chauhans and the Gahadavalas weakened them both till
all of them were swept away by a fresh deluge that was gathering
force in the wilds of Ghur in Afghanistan.
Bengal under the later Palas and the Senas
Sheltered by the Kalachuris and the early Gahadavalas who
for more than a century protected the Madhya-de4a against a rush
of invasion from the north-west, the local dynasts of Eastern
India passed through vicissitudes of a different kind. The name
of the Pala sovereign of Gauda was still invoked m distant Benares
as late as a.d. 1026. In the following decades, the Palas entered
into close relations with Lakshmi Karria, the great khig of Chedi.
The passing away of Karpa almost coincided with a fresh disaster
that fell to the lot of the Gauda empire. A local rising in North
Bengal drove the PMas from Varendri. The power of the house
of Dharmapala was restored by Ramapala, mainly with the
assistance of his Rashtrakuta relations. But the restored kingdom
had no long lease of life left to it, being ultimately overthrown in
Bengal by Vijaya Sena, scion of a family that came from the Deccan.
The struggle between indigenous and foreign military chieftains in
Bengal ended in the victory of the latter.
The conqueror founded a new line, that of the Senas. The
ancestors of the new king came from Karpata in the Deccan.
They established a principality in Western Bengal which came
into prominence under Samanta Sena. Samanta Sena seems to have
retained some connection with his southern compatriots. After
him came Hemanta Sena. Vijaya Sena, son of Hemanta Sena, allied
himself with the illustrious family of the 6uras and founded the
independent sovereignty of his own dynasty. He vanquished
the king of Gauda, apparently of Pala lineage, and the neighbour-
ing princes of North Bihar, Assam and Orissa. He also laid the
foundation of the city of Vijayapura in Western Bengal, which became
the metropolis of the Sena family. Vikramapura in Eastern Bengal,
which was apparently conquered from the Yadava Varmans,
possibly served as the second capital. It was certainly graced
occasionally by the presence of the Sena sovereign.
The son and successor of Vijaya Sena was Ballala Sena, a name
famous in BengaK legend as the reputed founder of Kulinism,
a system of nobility. He is also credited with the authorship of
two notable works, the Ddnctsa^dTa and the Adbhutasdgara.
188 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
BaUala Sena’s son, Lakshma^a Sena, probably began to rule in
A D 1178-1179 or 1184-1185, though some scholars push the date
of his accession much further back and regard him as the founder
of the Lakshmapa Sena era of a.d. 1119. He seems to have served
his apprenticeship in the work of government as viceroy or military
governor in charge of some district in Kalihga. On commg to the
irone he distinguished himself as a conqueror and a patron of
learning. He claims to have pushed his conquests as far as the
southern ocean, reduced Kamarupa to subjection and vanquished
the king of Benares, who is no other than the Gahadavala king
of Kanauj. Among the poets who graced his court, the most
eminent were Jayadeva, the author of the GUa-Oovinda, and
Dhoyi, the author of the Pavanaduta. The last-mentioned work
contains an interesting description of the Sena capital. The Senas,
however, failed to stem the tide of Muslim invasion once the dyke
erected by the Gahadavalas was broken. Rai Lakhmaniya, usually
identified vith Lakshmaija Sena, had to flee before the advancing
arms of Malik Ikhtiyar-ud-din Muhammad Khalji towards the
close of the twelfth or early in the thirteenth century. His sons,
Vi^varupa Sena and Ke^ava Sena, mamtained the struggle against
the “Garga Yavanas”, that is to say, the Muslim invaders from
the Kabul valley, and preserved their independence in Eastern
Bengal till the latter half of the thirteenth century.
The Later Chalukyas and the Cholas
Karnata, the home territory of the Senas, was from 973 to 1190
dominated, with a short intermission, by the Chalukya family
established by Taila II. While the Shahis of Udabhanda were
trying to defend the north-western gates of India against the
Turks of Ghazni, the Chalukyas were engaged in bitter feuds with
the Raramaras of Malwa and the Cholas of Tanjore. They do
not appear to have actually helped the foreign invaders like their
predecessors, the Rashtrakiitas. The Cholas, under Rajaraja I
and his famous son, Rajendra Chola I, conquered nearly the whole
of the present Madras Presidency. The generals of Rajendra
carried their arms as far as the Ganges, while Chola admirals
asserted their authority over several overseas territories including
Ceylon, the Nicobar Islands and parts of the Malay Peninsula
and the Archipelago. Rajendra inflicted a defeat on Mahipala I of
Bengal. He also vanquished the Chalukya king of the Deccan
plateau at Musangi. The prestige of the Chalukya arms was
restored, to a certain extent, by Somesvara Ahavamalla, at Koppam,
THE PASSING OF THE OLD HINDU KINGDOMS 189
but lie suffered a crushing defeat at Kudal ^angamam at the hands
of a son of Rajendra Chola I. In the last quarter of the eleventh
and first quarter of the twelfth century the sovereignty of the
Deccan was shared between Vikramaditya VI, the second son of
Ahavamalla and Rajendra Chola (III) Kulottuhga I, son of a daughter
of Rajendra Chola I. As already stated above, Vikramaditya VI
established a new era in the place of the old reckoning of the ‘ Saka ’
king, and his example was followed by Siddharaja Jayasimha
of Gujarat and the Senas of Gauda. The reign of Vikramaditya
VI stands as a landmark in the history of Hindu law, and saw
the composition of a famous digest by the great jurist Vijnanesvara.
Poetry was also cultivated at the Chalukya court, and the celebrated
author Bilhana wrote his Vihramanlcadeva-charita, or Deeds of
Vikramaditya, to commemorate the achievements of his patron.
Some^vara III, son and successor of Vikramaditya VI, was also a
writer of repute.
Sometime after the death of Some^vara III, the power of the
Chalukyas of Kalyaria was temporarily eclipsed by Bijjala Kala-
churya and his sons. After 1190 the empire of Kalyana spHt up
into three parts, namely, the kingdom of Devagiri founded by the
Yadavas, the kingdom of Warangal governed by the Kakatiyas
and the kingdom of Dorasamudra ruled by the Hoysalas. The
Chola empire also declined after Rajendra Chola Kulottuhga. The
southern part of the Chola dominions fell into the hands of the
Papdyas. The home provinces formed a battle-ground between
the Hoysalas, the Kakatiyas and other powers. In the country
between the Godavari and the Ganges which had once been over-
rmi by the great Rajendra Chola I, rose the empire of the Eastern
Gahgas of Kahhga and Orissa.
Successors of the Imperial Chalukyas and Cholas
The independent Yadava kingdom of Devagiri was founded by
BhiUama and was raised by his grandson Singhana to the position
of the premier kingdom of the Deccan. Learning was encouraged,
and a college of astronomy was established for the study of the
works of Bhaskaracharya, the celebrated astronomer. The age of
the later Yadavas saw the composition of the famous works of
Hemadri, Bopadeva, and Jnane^vara. The rulers of Devagiri,
however, proved unequal to the task of defending the Deccan
against the northern invader in the manner of Gautamiputra and
Pulakegui II of old. In 1294 the troops of ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji swooped
down upon Devagiri and exacted a heavy contribution from
190 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Eamachandra, the Yadava king. In 1300-1307 Malik Kato again
invaded the Yadava dominions and forced the king to pay tnbute.
She sS of Eamachandra was killed about 1312, and his son-in-law
was flayed alive about 1317. Hindu sovereignty m Maharashtra
r^e to im tnd and was not restored tffl the seventeenth century.
The Kakatiyas rose to power y^\f“outh
aana-oati extended his dominions as far as Kanchi m the south.
The Lgdom flourished under Eudramma, f
V, -o pxtoUed bv the Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, ihe
pXr oft/d^tywls destroyed by the Sultans of Delhi early
“TtoX^^*‘rf”DoSsamudra attained great power under
ViJhnuvardhana and his grandson Vira Ballala
kinas they conquered a part of the Tamil country. ^ ira BaUala 111,
the^last notable ruler of the house, sustained def»ts at the hands
of mUXgeneral of ‘Ala.ud-din Khalji, and finally perished
*°Thrmdya°ktog1om, which won fame in the thirteenth century
as the dominant power in the Tamil country and a great centre of
international trade, was overrun by Kafur early m the fomteenth
century. After a brief period of Muslim rule, it was absorbed into
‘’"olsf tefale 7pSul kingdom under
Ganga whose descendants defended them dommions with s^e
amomt of success against the Muslim conquerors of ^
Ganga line came to an end in 1434 when it was supplanted by
the famous Kapilendra. In 1668 Orissa was finaUy conquered by
“trEaiput kingdoms of the north, the princes
India failed to offer a combined resistance to invaders and fell one
by one Only the Hindus beyond the Krishpa and the Tungabhadra
rJllied under the banner of Harihara and Bukka,
centuries maintamed their tadependence m the far south of India.
CHAPTER XIV
INDIAN CIVILISATION UNDER THE IMPERIAL GUPTAS AND THEIR
SUCCESSORS
The Administrative System
The period of the Gupta emperors and their successors saw the
gradual disappearance of kingless states. After the sixth century,
monarchy becomes the only form of government that demands
serious attention. Kingship was in most cases hereditary. The
ruler was at times nominated by his predecessor, but some cases
of election by the people or the nobles are recorded. Among notable
instances of popular election are the enthronement of Gopala by
the Prahritis or constituent elements of the body politic of Bengal,
and the choice of Brahmapala by the people of Assam. We have
also a similar instance in Southern India where Nandivarman
Pallavamalla was raised to the throne by the mula prahritis.
More often the choice of a sovereign in a time of crisis was entrusted
to a selected body of state nobles or Brahmapas. In the kingdom
of Thanesar it was a council of nobles headed by Bhap(B that
offered the crown to Harsha. Ya^askara of Kashmir was chosen
by an assembly of Brahmapas. Kumarapala of Gujarat was
selected by the state nobles sitting in council. Even in cases of
nomination by a preceding ruler, the presence of the councillors
{Sabhyas) and princes of the blood at the time of the formal act
of selection was perhaps deemed to be necessary. There was no
bar to the succession of a female, at least in certain parts of India,
notably Kashmir, Orissa and the Telugu country.
The divine character of kingship received wide acceptance in
the period under review. In the AUahabad PiUar inscription
Samudra Gupta is not only represented as equal to Kuvera, Varupa,
Indra and Yaraa, the presiding deities of the four quarters, but is
considered to be the Incomprehensible Being who is the cause of
creation and destruction, a god dwelling on earth, who was mortal
only in that he performed the acts necessary according to the
conventions of the world. In the literature of the age the king is
considered to be the incarnation of Jnstice and the representative
of Vishpu, that is, God in his aspect as the Eresorver, Like Vishpu,
. 191 ■'
192 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
bhe ruler in certain parts of India was styled gri PrRhp VaUablia
that is, the Beloved of the Goddess of Fortune and of the Earth
Goddess. Voices of protest against the view that the kmg was
divine are raised now and then. Bana regards the theory of the
king’s divinity as a delusion. “Though subject to mortal con-
ditions, kings look on themselves as havmg alighted on earth as
divine beings with a superhuman destiny; they employ a pomp
in their undertakings only fit for gods and win the contempt of
all manliind. They welcome this deception of themselves by their
foUowers. From the delusion of their own
their minds, they are overthrown by false ideas. The old theory
persists that the rulers do not exist for their own good but owe a
debt to the people which they can discharge only by good govern-
ment The ideal ruler is he who “possesses an inner soul pervaded
by the inclination for the acquittance of debts and obhgations,
and is occupied with the welfare of all mankind . The Chinese
nilsrims Fa Hien and Hiuen Tsang, the Arab merchant Sulaiman,
and the Venetian traveUer, Marco Polo, bear testimony to the
fact that the governments of Chandra Gupta II, Harsha, Bhoja I
and Rudramma (Rudramba) actually tried to translate this noble
maxim into practice. , i i r
Many kings of the age were doughty fighters and lovers of
manly sports Hke wrestling combats with wild beasts. But they
were not mere rough soldiers and war-lords. A notable trait m the
character of some of the most illustrious rulers of the period under
review is their love of learning and the fine arts. In this respect
the versatile Samudra Gupta in the north, and the ‘ cunous-inmded
(Vichitra-chitta) Mahendravarman in the south, set examples tnat
were imitated by some of the ablest among their successors.
Some of the occupants of the throne were themselves scholars
and poets of no meanirepute. Among royal authors, Harsha of
Kanaui, Mahendravarman of Kanchi, Amoghavarsha I of Ma^ed,
Bhoia of Dhara. SomeSvara III of Kalyapa, Vigraharaja IV of
Aimer, BaUala Sena of Bengal and Apararka of the Northern Koi^a^
deserve special mention as they have left works that are studied
even at the present day. The earliest among them figire mainly
as dramatists, but later kings were interested in a wide range ot
subjects. Several rulers are justly entitled to the desi^ation of
polymath. The latest kings took special interest m legal and
astrological studies.
Kings normally “held aU the levers and handles which worked
the governmental machinery”. They maintained the laws of the
realm and were responsible for defending the people agamst
INDIA UNDER GUPTAS AND SUCCESSORS 193
external attacks. They administered justice, usually led troops
in war and had the largest share in the formulation of policy.
But it was impossible to shoulder the burden of administration
without assistance. “A single wheel could not move.” Hence
sovereigns had to employ ministers. In the early Gupta period,
the most important among these functionaries were the Mantrin
(confidential adviser), SandhivigrahiJca (minister in charge of peace
and war), and Akshapatalddhikrita (minister in charge of records).
There were also important officials whose duties were mainly of
a military character. Such were the ' Mahdbalddhikrita and the
Mahddai^andyaka. There was, however, no clear-cut division
between civil and military officials. A Mantrin could become a
Mahdbalddhikrita, and the post of Amdtya could be combined
with that of Mdhddandandyaka. The office of a minister {Sachiva)
was often hereditary. One class of officials had the special designa-
tion of Kumdrdmdtya. They figure as ministers for peace and war,
generals, councillors, feudatories and district officers. Some of
them were directly under the sovereign; others were attached to
princes or placed under provincial governors. The expression
Kumara in the designation Kumaramatya may correspond to the
Elaya, Pina, Ckikka, or Immadi of South India, and is best rendered
by the term “cadet”. In the far south of India during the Chola
period, we have an important functionary, styled Olaindyagam,
who had to approve every order issued by the king.
With the efflux of time need was felt for the elaboration of the
administrative machinery in certain departments. This was
particularly the ease in regard to the Eoreign Office where special
Sandhivigrahikas were appointed to deal with the affairs of certain
definite areas. Thus, in the records of certain rulers of the Deccan
we find references to a Karnataka Sandhivigrahika. In certain
records we have references to an official styled Mahdpradhdna
and another designated Sarvddhikdrin whose functions might have
resembled those of the Mukhyapradhdna of the Maratha period and
the Sarvdrthachintaka of Manu. Though the number of ministers
was not definitely fixed, Manu’s recommendation of seven or eight
ministers may have been followed at times. It is doubtful if there
was a central Mantriparishad comparable to the Parishd of the
Maurya inscriptions. If such an institution did exist, it does not
find prominent mention in the epigraphs. The Sahhyas referred to
in the Allahabad Pillar inscription in connection with the nomin-
ation scene of Samudra Gupta may have been courtiers attend-
ing a Durbar as well as members of a central council. An important
functionary in several States governed by Hindu kings was the
194
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Rdja-guru. The PuroMta or royal chaplain, though a promment
personage in a Brahma^ical court, does not figure in the records of
devout Buddhist kings.
Justice was often administered by the sovereign himself or a
high official at the centre or in the provinces. Judges at the head-
quarters of a district had apparently the assistance of the chief
Seths and Kdyasthas of the locality, representatives of the com-
mercial and official classes. In villages, justice was administered
by royal officials with the help of the members of the village
council or assembly. In certain cases the assembly alone sat in
judgment and passed sentence. Special courts of self-governing
corporations are also alluded to in literature. The jury system,
according to some authorities, is found to have been in fuU swing
at least in southern India. Judicial methods included trial by
ordeal.
Indian armies in the period under review consisted mostly of
elephants, infantry and cavalry. Chariots gradually fell into disuse.
Some of the kings, especially in the desert tracts of Rajputana,
maintained camel corps. A few maritime States had their navies
with which they effected the conquest of riparian principalities or
islands scattered in the Indian Ocean. Many provinces, especially
in the south, had no good breed of horses and had to import animals
from Arabia. Marco Polo refers to the unfavourable climate of
South India in which these horses could not thrive. He also speaks
of the ignorance of the Indian horse-keepers. Recruitment to the
army was not confined to a particular caste. Some of the ablest
commanders of the period were Brahmapas. A successful leader
of North Bengal in the eleventh century a.d. belonged to the
Kaivarta caste. Armies of the period included hereditary forces as
well as local militia and feudal levies.
The principal sources of revenue were the bhdga or the king’s
share (normally one-sixth) of the produce of the land, certain
additional imposts on the rural population, as weU as duties at
ports, ferries and fortified stations. Rulers also got incomes from
the crown-lands, mines, etc., and tribute from vassal chiefs. Taxes
were often collected in kind, but payments in cash were also
allowed. Forced labour (VisMi) was not unknown, and we hear
of a special kind of cow^e called Bhotta-vishti in lands on the borders
of Tibet. Extra taxation was resorted to in times of emergency,
from which even temples were not exempted. Mention may be
made in this connection of imposts apparently levied by the
central government to deal with the menace from marauding
tribes. To this category belong possibly the Malla-Jcara and
INDIA UNDER GUPTAS AND SUCCESSORS 195
TurushJca-dw^a of mediaeval epigraphs. Extra cesses were also
levied for special purposes by local authorities.
Kingdoms and empires were divided for administrative purposes
into units styled Bhuhti^ Desa^ Rdshtra and Mandala. Bhuldi
is a very common designation in the north. It usually meant a
province or administrative division under an officer styled U2Mrika.
It was usually subdivided into Visha^as or Ilandalas. The post
of Vishayapati (that is the officer in charge of a Vishaya or district)
was filled either by a royal official styled Kumdrdmdtya, or Ayuhtaha,
or by a feudatory Maharaja. The Vishayapati was sometimes
assisted in the work of administration by the guild-president, the
chief scribe and other leading men of the locality. In the far south
of India the largest administrative division was the Mandala,
which was subdivided into Valanddus or into Nddus and KoUams.
The lowest administrative units were the Kurram (union of villages)
and grama (village), each under its own headman who was assisted
by assemblies {tjr, mahdsabhd). The village headman had his counter-
part in the nagarapati of cities. In certain rural areas the village
assembly consisted of the whole adult population, in others of
Brahmapas or a few great men who were selected by a kind of baUot.
The assembly appointed committees to look after specific depart-
ments, fike tanks, temples, justice, etc. The work of these self-
governing bodies was supervised by royal officers {Adhikdrin).
Towns and cities had, as already stated, special officers styled
nagarapati, and certain Gupta records refer to the existence of town
councils (Parishad).
Social Conditions
Social conditions underwent rapid changes during the period
under review. This is hinted at by those epigraphs that refer
to some of the most distinguished rulers of the age as “employed
in settling the system of castes and orders” and in “keeping the
castes confined to them respective spheres of duty”. Attempts in
this direction were not, however, always crowned with success.
We find members of the priestly and artisan classes taking to the
profession of arms, and members of the soldier caste figuring as
merchants. Vai^yas and ^udras figure as rulers of mighty king-
doms. Marriage rules were still somewhat elastic, and inter-
marriages between peoples of different castes, creeds and races were
not unknown. Complications were introduced by the influx of
foreigners, sections of whom were admitted into the framework
of caste. Some of the earlier foreign immigrants rank as degraded
Kshatriyas in the legal codes. Those who came after the fall of
196
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
" j the early Gupta empire and carved out independent or semi-
’’ independent principalities for themselves, usually found a place
among the thirty-six clans of the Rajputs, who now take the place
of the Kshatriya families of olden times. Among the new Rajput
Ijil, clans, the Huns and the Pratiharas or Parihars deserve special
mention. According to the view generally held by scholars, the
Pratiharas belonged to the race of the Gurjaras who came into
prominence for the first time in the sixth century a.d. While the
ruling families of foreign immigrants and Hinduised border tribes
often ranked as Rajputs, the rank and file came under less exalted
social groups like the Gujars, the Dhaki Khasiyas, the Bhotiyas
and others.
People belonging to the higher castes in the Madhya-de4a (Mid
India) did not, according to the testimony of Fa Hien, “kill any
living creature, nor drink intoxicatmg liquor, nor eat onions or
garhck”. Sharply distinguished from them were the Chaiidalas,
who hved apart from others. When they entered the gate of a city
or a market-place they struck a piece of wood to make themselves
known so that men knew and avoided them, and did not come
into contact with them. The existence of impure castes is vouched
for, not only by Indian and Chinese records, but by al-Biruni. If
the last-mentioned scholar is to be believed, the doctrine of
impurity was extended to foreigners in the north-west towards
the end of our period. The Hindus of several provinces in the
interior, however, did not share the views of their brethren about
whom al-Biruni wrote.
The position of women in our period presents certain interesting
features. Women of the upper classes in certain areas took a
prominent share in administration. The queen-consort clearly
occupied an important position in the Gupta period. In succeeding
ages we have clear and unequivocal testimony to the existence of
queens-regnant in Kashmir, Orissa and the Andhra country. A
Chinese author represents an Indian princess as administering the
government in conjunction with her brother. In some of the
provinces, notably in the Kanarese country, women acted as
provincial governors and heads of villages. The seclusion of women
was not generally observed in these regions. Some of the royal
ladies in the Deccan are referred to in contemporary epigraphs as
not only skilled in music and dancing but also displaying their
proficiency in the arts in public. Princess Raj ya^ri, in Northern
India, is represented as sitting behind her royal brother and listen-
ing to the exposition of the doctrine of the Great Vehicle by the
Chinese Master of the Law. These facts not only suggest that
INDIA UNDER GUPTAS AND SUCCESSORS 197
absolute seclusion of women was unknown in certain families, but
that girls, at least of the upper classes, received a liberal education
and took a keen interest in the cultural activities of the age. The
practice of Svayamvara, or self-choice of husband, had also not
gone out of use. There was, however, another side to the picture.
Polygamy was widely prevalent, but women were not ordinarily
allowed to contract a second marriage. The custom of burning
widows on the funeral pyre of their husbands was coming into
general use, at least among the ruling clans.
State of the Country and the General Condition of the People
We have interesting glimpses of the state of the country and
the condition of the people during the Gupta and the post-Gupta
periods, thanks to the accounts left by a number of Chinese and
Muslim observers. The information derived from this source is
supplemented by the testimony of contemporary epigraphs.
Referring to the “Middle Kingdom”, roughly corresponding to
the upper Ganges valley, Fa Hien, the earliest of the Chinese
pilgrims whose records have come down to us, and who paid a
visit to this country in the days of Chandra Gupta II, observes :
“The people are numerous and happy. They have not to register
their households, or attend to any magistrates and their rules.
The king governs without decapitation or other corporal punish-
ments. People of various sects set up houses of charity where
rooms, couches, beds, food and drink are supplied to travellers.”
South Bihar, in particular, was noted for the wealth and prosperity
of its cities and the benevolence and the righteousness of its people.
The elders and the gentry of the locality established houses for dis-
pensing charity and medicines. All the poor and destitute in the
country, and aU who were diseased, went to these houses and were
provided with every kind of help. Doctors examined their diseases.
In the city of PataUputra there were two large and beautiful
monasteries to which students and inquirers flocked from all
quarters to investigate the principles of duty to one’s neighbours.
More than two centuries later, when Hiuen Tsang came to this
country, vast stretches of territory, notably in the Swat vaUey
and in Eastern India, once prosperous, now wore an appearance
of desolation. Splendid edifices that had adorned them were now
in ruins. But with these exceptions the country in generM enjoyed
the benefits of good government. Taxes were light and the people
were not subject to an arbitrary tyranny. Forced service, though
not unknown, was sparingly used and labour was usually paid.
198 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Traces of slavery are, however, found up to the end of our period.
The roads and river-routes were less safe than in the Gupta period.
The criminal code had become more sanguinary. Liberal provision
was still made for education and charitable institutions. The
great educational establishments in Patahputra were no longer in
existence as the city itself was in rums. A great seat of learning
had, however, sprung up at Nalanda. “In the establishment were
some thousands of brethren, all men of great ability and learning.
They were looked up to as models by all India. Foreign students
came to the establishment to put an end to their doubts, and then
became celebrated.” Another great centre of culture was Valabhi
in Western India. These two places, Nalanda and Valabhi, are
compared by I-tsing to the most famous educational institutions
of China. We are told that “eminent and accomplished men
assembled there in crowds, discussed possible and impossible
doctrines, and after having been assured of the excellence of their
opinions by wise men, became far famed for then wisdom.”
Other centres of learning sprang up m subsequent ages. The
names of the first two sovereigns of the Pala djnasty are associated
with the famous establishments of Uddandapura (Bihar) and Vikra-
ma^ila. Bhoja, the versatile ruler of Malwa, established a Sanskrit
college at Dhara. During the reign of Singhana, the Yadava king
of Devagiri in the Deccan, a College of astronomy was founded by
a grandson of Bhaskaracharya. In the far south, Pallava kings
extended their patronage to educational institutions at Kahchi
and Bahur. The last-mentioned place was situated near Pondi-
cherry and had a College where provision was made for the study
of the Vedas, Vedaiigas, Mimamsa, Nyaya, Purapas and Dharma-
^astras (ninth century a.d.).
Hiuen Tsang has some interesting observations to make regard-
ing the dress and manners of the people of this country. Their
inner clothing and outward attire had no tailoring. As to colour,
a fresh white was esteemed. The men wound a strip of cloth
round the waist and up to the armpits and left the right shoulder
bare. The women wore a long robe which covered both shoulders
and fell down loose. The hair of the crown of the head wns made
into a cod, all the rest of the hair hanging down. Garlands were
worn on the head and necklaces on the body. In the far north of
India, where the climate was cold, closely-fitting Jackets were
worn, somewhat like those of the Tartars.
Regarding the character of the people, the pilgrim observes
that they were of hasty and irresolute temperament but of pure
moral principles. They would not take anything wrongfully, and
lOTIA UNDER GUPTAS AND SUCCESSORS 199
they yielded more than fairness required. They did not practise
deceit, and they kept their sworn obligations.
The country was famous for its vegetable and mineral wealth.
Onions and garlic were little used, and people who ate them were
ostracised. Milk, ghee, granulated sugar, sugar candy, cakes and
parched grain with mustard seed oil were the common food. Fish,
mutton and venison were occasional dainties. The flesh of oxen
and some other animals was forbidden. Household utensils were
mostly earthenware, few being of brass. The use of copper spoons
by the sick is also mentioned. Gold and silver were abundant and
were largely used for purposes of coinage. Besides gold and silver
coins, cowries and small pearls were also used as media of exchange.
Precious substances of various kinds from the sea-ports were
bartered for merchandise.
Certain South Indian records throw light on the standard of
living of the common people in the days of Chola supremacy. It
has been inferred that the average income of a family per month
was about rupees sixteen for a member of the upper classes and
rupees eight for a member of the lower orders.
Religion
The Gupta age is usually regarded as an era of Brahmanic revival.
There can be no doubt that Brahmapism enjoyed imperial patron-
age. Some of the rulers make a pointed claim to have revived
orthodox rites that had been in abeyance for a long period. But
the claim need not be taken too literally. It has been rightly
pointed out by a shrewd observer that the period of the Guptas
is one of culmination, of florescence rather than of renaissance.
The recrudescence of Brahmanism in the Ganges valley is as old
as the time of Pushyamitra, while in the south we have a long
succession of dynasties that counted it as their proud boast to have
repeatedly performed Vedic rites like the Vdja'peya and the Aim-
medhi. Some of the ablest among the foreign potentates and
statesmen of the north, who dominated the stage of Indian history
during the period that supervened between the age of the Suhgas
and that of the Guptas, were the adherents of two great Hindu
sects, namely, ^aivas and Bhagavatas or Vaishnavas, if not of
the Vedic sacrificial religion itself.
The most noticeable features in the religious life of the people
during the Gupta age were the growing importance of Bhakti (loving
faith in God) and the love of fellow-beings which found expression
in benevolent activities and toleration of the opinions of others.
200 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
Bhaldi, that is, intense devotion to God conceived of as personal,
a Saviour worthy of trust and ready to he gracious, is an important
element of Vaishnavism and Saivism as expounded in the QUd
and the iSvetdsvatara U'panisliad. ‘‘He who with unwavering
practice of devotion {bhaJcti yoga) does God service has crossed
beyond the strands” and is fit for salvation. BTialcti to Sambhu,
that is ^iva, led to the hollowing out by a minister of Chandra
BUDDHA (GUPTA AGE)
Gupta II of a cave at Udayagiri. Devotion to other Adorable
Beings found vent in the construction by various sections of the
community, royal personages, officials, priests, guilds, etc., of lofty
pillars, beautiful gateways, awe-inspiring images and splendid
temples in honour of Vishpu, Karttikeya, the Sun, the Tirthankaras
and the Buddha. The wide prevalence of a feeling of toleration
is well illustrated- by epigraphic and literary references to the
INDIA UNDER GUPTAS AND SUCCESSORS 201
employment by Vaishpava kings of Saivite and Buddbist officials and
the affection felt by Jainas for Brahmanas and by Brahmapas for
the Tirthankaras and the Buddha. Ea Hien testifies to the benevo-
lence and righteousness of the people of the Ganges valley, who
not only directed their attention to the ceremonial side of religion,
e.g. the celebration of processions of images, but also to the practice
of charity. Non-violence was observed by the whole community
except the outcastes. Abstention from intoxicating liquor must
have been a contributory factor in determining the proclivities of
the people in this direction.
A list of the important religious sects that flourished at the
close of the Gupta age is given in Bapa’s Harsha-charita, We
find mention in that work of Jainas, both Digambaras (sky-clad,
that is naked) and Svetambaras (white-robed), Vaishnavas, both
Bhagavatas and Pancharatras, Saugatas or Buddhists, Mashkarins,
possibly identical with the Ajivikas, and adherents of various schools
of philosophy including the Sankhaya, the Lokayatika, the Vai^e-
shika, the Vedanta, and the Nyaya.
Buddhism had powerful exponents during the Gupta age in the
famous sages and philosophers Asanga, Vasubandhu, Kumarajiva
and Dignaga. In the succeeding centuries it gradually lost ground.
The Hun invasions must have led to the destruction of numerous
monastic establishments in the north-west as well as in the east of
India. With the deification of the Buddha and his admission into the
Vishpuite pantheon as an incarnation of Narayapa-Vishpu, there
was little to distinguish the Buddhist laity from their Brahmapical
neighbours. Intermarriages between Buddhists and ^aiva or Vaish-
pava royal families illustrate the absorption and assimilation of
the votaries of the reforming cult by the followers of more orthodox
creeds. Brahmapa councillors begin to figure as prominently in
Buddhist courts as in the darbars of Brahmapical princes. The
growth of Tantricism made the distinction between the Vajrayana
type of Buddhism and certain forms of ^aivism and Saktism purely
nominal. The advent of saintly poets and zealous reformers who
sang the praise of Vishpu and 6iva and vigorously combated the
heretical doctrines of the Great Vehicle must have weighted the
scale in favour of Orthodox Hinduism. With the destruction of
the last remnants of the great Buddhist establishments that once
covered the entire face of Hindustan by a new race of conquerors
in the tw'elfth and succeeding centuries, Buddhism almost vanished
from the land of its birth.
Jainism seems to have enjoyed popularity for a long time in
Bengal, certain regions in the United Provinces and the Kanarese
202 an advanced HISTORY OE INDIA
country in South India. Hiuen Tsang found the religion JBourishing
in Bengal in the seventh century. But it was in Western India
that it had its most important stronghold. The canon of the white-
robed Jainas was reduced to writing in the fifth or sixth century
A.D. as a result of the deliberations of a council held at Valabhi
in Western India. The Digamhara sect attained eminence during
the rule of the Chalukyas of Vatapi and the Eashtrakutas of
Malkhed. The Chalukya king, Vinayaditya (a.d. 680-696), had for
his spiritual adviser a famous teacher of the Digambaras. Amogha-
varsha (a.d. SIS-S??), one of the greatest of the Eashtrakutas,
liberally patronised the sect. Jainism also received the homage
of Bijjala Kalachurya of Kalyapa (1156-1167) and of Kumarapala
Chaulukya of Anhilvara (1143-1172). The last-mentioned monarch
was a patron of the famous Jaina Acharya Hemachandra. To
Vimala, Vastupala, Tejahpala, ministers of Gujarat, we owe some
of the splendid shrines at Abu, Girnar, ^atrunjaya and other places.
Both Jainism and Buddhism had eventually to yield the palm
to the more orthodox forms of Hinduism in most of the provinces
where they had once enjoyed popularity and prosperity. Brahmap-
ism had gained ascendency in the Madhya-de^a since the days of
Pushyamitra. It enjoyed the almost uninterrupted patronage of
the imperial power in that region since the days of the Imperial
Guptas. Even Harsha, who had a genuine admiration for Buddhism,
is described in official records as a devotee of MaheSvara, that is
^iva. Many of the princes, specially in Mid-India, strove to restore
the social order and discipline enjoined in Brahmanical scriptures.
The heterodox faiths no doubt continued in some of the outlying
provinces, thanks to the patronage of the Palas, the Karas of
Orissa and the Western Gangas of Mysore, but the religion of the
Vedas and Puranas triumphed in the end in Bengal under the
Senas, in Orissa under the Eastern Gangas and in the far south
under the later Tamil kings and the Hoysalas. Traces of Buddhism
are found in the Deccan as late as the time of Vikramaditya VI,
while the prestige of Jainism remained undimmed till the days of
Bijjala. It was the rise of the ^ri Vaishnava sect under Rama-
nuja and the Lingayat or Vira ^aiva sect under Basava that turned
the scale definitely in favour of the votaries of Vishnu and ^iva.
Both these great apostles had their precursors.
5iva Worship
The worship of §iva found favour with many of the highest
officials during the early Gupta age. Pa^upata or ^aiva ddharyas
INDIA UNDER GUPTAS AND SUCCESSORS 203
are constantly naentioned in contemporary records of the Gupta
and post-Gupta periods. These include not only inscriptions but
literary works like those of Varahamihira, Bana, Mahendravarman
PaUava and Hiuen Tsang. In the sixth and seventh centuries a.b,
^aivism seems to have replaced Vaishnavism as the imperial
religion of Northern India. It counted among its votaries supreme
rulers, foreign as well as indigenous, such as Mihiragula, Ya^odhar-
man, Sa^ahka and Harsha. Among renowned PaSupata dchdryas
of the age was the famous Udyotakara, the writer of a gloss on
Vatsyayana’s commentary on the Nydya Sutras. In the eighth
century the country of Kerala on the Malabar coast produced a
teacher who, though not an adherent of any form of sectarian
Saivism, did much to popularise devotion to Siva among the teem-
ing millions of India. This was the famous Sahkaracharya, one of
the greatest Hindu philosophers and teachers of the post-Gupta
period. Sankara came of a Brahmapa family of Kaladi. He was
an ardent Vedantist and the most powerful exponent of the doctrine
of pure monism {advaita) which he elucidated in his commentaries
on the classical Upanishads, the Bhagavad Qitd and the Brahma
Sutras of Badarayapa. He was not only a great thinker but an able
organiser. Among the most durable monuments of his organising
zeal are the famous monasteries at ^rihgeri in Mysore, Dwaraka
in Ka^thiawar, Puri in Orissa and Badrinath on the snowy heights
of the Himalayas. He died at a comparatively early age, and his
memory is held in affectionate reverence by millions of Hindus
throughout India.
The province of Kashmir in the far north of India produced in
the ninth and succeeding centuries a number of teachers who are
reckoned among the greatest exponents of the iSaiva doctrine and
philosophy. No less important than the Kashmir school of Saivas
were the Tamil and Kanarese saints and scholars known as the
Ndyaudrs and Vlra iSaivas respectively. Foremost among the
Tamil Saiva saints were Tirujnana-Sambandar, Appar, Sundara-
murti and Manikka Vasahar. Kanarese Saivism found a champion
in the famous Basava, wko has already been mentioned above.
Basava was a minister of the Jaina king, Bijjala of the Kalaohurya
dynasty of Kalyana, who lived in the middle of the twelfth century
A.B. A distinguishing feature of the Vira Saiva sect of Karpata
to which Basava belonged was its zeal for social reform and special
solicitude for the emancipation of women from the thraldom of
rigid custom.
INDIA UNDER GUPTAS AND SUCCESSORS 205
The Vaishnava Movement
Achdryas devoted to the cult of Vishnu figure prominently in
inscriptions of the early Gupta period. The Gupta emperors them-
selves were votaries of Vishnu. Bana mentions two important
Vaishpava sects, namely the Bhagavatas and the Pancharatras,
perhaps worshippers of Vasudeva and Narayapa respectively, in
connection with the search for the princess Rajya^ri in the Vindhyan
wilds. Some of the early Chalukya kings of Vatapi professed
Bhagavatism and the famous bas-reliefs at Badami testify to the
popularity of the cult in the Deccan in the sixth century a.d.
The Bhdgavata Purdna refers to South India, particularly the Tamil
country, as a special resort of devotees of Vishpu. The earliest
among the Tamil Vaishpava saints were the Alvars. The most
renowned among them seem to have flourished in the seventh
and eighth centuries a.d. The Alvars represented the emotional
side of Vaishpavism, and they were followed by a line of achdryas
who represented its intellectual side. Foremost among the achdryas
were Nathamuni, Yamunacharya and Ramanuja. The last-
mentioned teacher was the son of a Brahmapa who lived in a
village near Madras. Ramanuja made Kanchi and Srirangam
the chief centres of his activities, but the hostility of the Chola
government compelled him to seek shelter at the Hoysala court
in the Mysore country. He died in the twelfth century a.d. He
combated the absolute monism of Sankara and laid emphasis on
Bhakti as a means of salvation. The school of philosophy that he
established was known as VUishiddvaita or qualified monism. His
followers are known as Sri Vaishpavas. Many of the great mediaeval
reformers of India drew their inspiration from his teachings.
Shortly after Ramanuja lived Madhva, a famous exponent of
the dualistic school of the Vedarda.
Vedic Rites
Vedic rites which Samudra Gupta made attempts to revive after
a long period of abeyance in certain areas, had their staunch
advocates in the Purva Mlmdmsd or Karma Mimdmsd school
represented by Savarasvamin, Prabhakara and Kumarila. Savara’s
acquaintance with the Great Vehicle may point to a date later than
Nagarjuna of the Kushan-Satavahana period. Prabhakara is later
than Savara but earlier than Kumarila, who is probably an elder
contemporary of Sankara. In spite of the teaching of the Mlmdrh-
saJcas, the Karma mdrga,ox the way of deliverance by the performance
INDIA UNDER GUPTAS AND SUCCESSORS 207
of Vedic rites, does not seem to have attained amongst the
masses of the Hindus the same popularity as the BhaUi mdrga
professed by the ardent sectaries devoted to the cults of ^iva,
Vishpu and associated deities. It is significant that the ancient
rite of Aivamedha tends to fall into disuse after the age of the
Guptas and the early Chalukyas.
Literary Activity
Buhler observed long ago that during the Gupta age court
poetry was zealously cultivated in India. Samudi'a Gupta took
delight in the title of Kavirdja or king of poets. He associated with
learned people and is said to have put an end to the war between
good poetry and prosperity. There can hardly be any doubt that
many poets who were none too wealthy received his patronage.
The most notable poet of his court was Harishexia, the writer of the
Allahabad panegyric. Chandra Gupta II, Vikramaditya, son of
Samudra Gupta, followed in the footsteps of his father, and counted
among his high ministers a poet named Virasena-^aba. Tradition
associates the name of Kalidasa, the greatest of Sanskrit poets
after the immortal writers of the two ancient epics, with king
Vikramaditj^a and the dchdrya Dignaga, who probably flourished
during this time. The fame of Kalidasa and Bharavi is well
attested by Ba^ia and Ravikirti who adorned the courts of
Harsha and of Pulake^in II respectively. The rulers of Valabhi
extended their patronage to the famous author of the Bhatti-
Tcdvya. To the Gupta period have also been assigned the celebrated
dramatists who wrote the MricJichhakatika, the Mudrd Rdkskasa
and the Devi Chandra Quptam, but the matter is not free from doubt.
The seventh century a.d. saw the composition of the works of Baria,
Mayura, Bhartrihari, Subandhu and the royal poets, Sri Harsha and
Mahendravarman. The portions of the PurdncLs dealing with the
so-called future kings were apparently compiled during the Gupta
age, and it is probable that the Mahdbhdrata received its latest
accretions during the same epoch. In the domain of science the
Gupta period produced the celebrated astronomers, Aryabhata
and Varahamihira. Even before Varahamihira’s time Indians had
invented the decimal notation. The law-books of Narada and
Brihaspati are also reckoned by several scholars as products of the
same age.
In the post-Gupta period we have in addition to male writers
a number of poetesses, among whom ^ilabhattarika deserves special
mention. The Kaumudi mahotsava is also ascribed by some scholars
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210
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
to a female dramatist, but her identity and date are uncertain.
Among writers of the opposite sex, Bhavabhuti stands pre-eminent.
Both he and Vahpatiraja enjoyed the patronage of Ya^ovarman
of Kanauj. Towards the end of the ninth century the court of
Kanauj was adorned by Raja^ekhara.
Epic poetry and the drama in the period after the Great Guptas
did not always reach the level of Bharavi and Bhavabhuti. But
the later age stiU produced poets and playwrights of ability like
Magha, Sri Harsha, Bhattanarayapa, Kshemisvara, and Krish-
na Mi^ra. Lyric poetry flourished long after Bhatrihari, and the
twelfth century saw the composition by Jayadeva of the Gtta
Govinda, one of the sweetest of the Sanskrit song-books. Works
of merit continued to be produced in other fields of learning and
literature. The prose romance of Dapdin, the later versions of the
didactic fables of the Panchatantra, the ethical compositions of
^antideva and treatises on polity \vritten by Kamandaka and
Somadeva may be mentioned in this coimection. In one domain,
that of historical literature, the post-Gupta period produced works
the like of which had not been seen in earlier ages. The most
notable among them were the Harsha-charita of Bapa, the Bdma-
chafita of Sandhyakara, the Vikmmanka-charita of Bilhapa and
the Rdjatarangim of Kalhapa. Sankara, Ramanuja and other
eminent philosophers of the epoch under review do not suffer by
comparison with the great masters of the days of Kanishka and the
SStavahanas. In astronomy, the period of Yadava rule produced
the great Bhaskara. We have towards the close of the age under
review a number of pol3nnath8 like Bhoja of Dhara, Somes vara III
of Kalyapa and Kshemendra of Kashmir who showed their interest
in such diverse subjects as poetry, rhetoric, polity, philosophy,
astronomy, architecture, medicine, alchemy, music and painting.
CHAPTER XV
COLONIAL AND CXJLTTJUAL EXPANSION
Feom time immemorial the people of India had free and intimate
intercourse with the outside world. Even in the dim pre-historic
age, the Neolithic people, as we have seen above, had relations
with the Ear East, and there are good reasons to believe that they
emigrated in large numbers, both by land and sea, and settled in
Indo-China and the Indian Archipelago. In the succeeding age,
while a high degree of civilisation flourished in the Indus valley,
there was undoubtedly a familiar intercourse with the countries
of Western and Central Asia. Of the two important races that
moulded Indian civilisation, the Aryans apparently, and the
Dravidians possibly, came to India from outside, and necessarily
relations were established and maintained, at least for some time,
with the countries where they had lived before the occupation of
India. It would, therefore, be reasonable to assume that India as
a whole had never led an isolated life completely cut off from the
rest of the world.
The intercourse between India and the countries by which she was
surrounded on the north, east and west was maintained dining the
historical period. In the west, there were trade relations with
Babylonia, and also with Syria and Egypt. So far as the most
ancient periods are concerned, we have to rely upon indirect evidence,
such as the discovery of Indian articles in those lands or the use of
Indian names for these articles. From the Mamya period we possess
more definite evidence. But the most detailed account that we
possess of this trade belongs to the first century a.d. Towards the
latter half of this century a Greek sailor, living in Egypt, under-
took a voyage to India along the coasts of the Red Sea and the
Arabian Sea, and recorded a minute account of his experiences in a
book called The Periplus of the Erythrcmm Sea. We learn from
this book that there was active trade between India and the
western countries. There were important harbours on the coast
such as Barbarike, Barygaza, Muziris, Nelcynda, Bakarai, Korkai,
and Puhar, and ships built and fitted up by Indians sailed from
these ports with their merchandise which consisted, among other
\ 211
212
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
things, of pearls, precious stones, spices, unguents, and fine cotton
cloths called muslins, all of which were in great demand in western
countries.
These goods were carried to the harbours on the sea-coast from
inland cities by a network of roads. We learn from the same
book that In dia ns settled in some islands of the Arabian Sea for
purposes of trade, and the island of Socotra had a colony of Indian
merchants.
The account of the Periplus is supplemented by later writers.
Pliny, for example, complains that for the purchase of luxurious
articles Rome pays every year a million sesterces to India. The
statement of Pliny is corroborated by the actual discovery of a
large number of Roman coins in India which must have been paid
for the Indian goods and carried here by way of trade.
It is further proved by the Indian missions sent to Roman
emperors. The king of Papdya sent a mission to Augustus in or
about 26 B.c. In later periods we hear of seven missions to Roman
emperors. The trade with Rome and other western countries was
carried through the important port of Alexandria where goods,
carried by sea up to the Red Sea coast, were transported either
by land, or by small boats through canals of the Nile. There was
also a land-route from India to the Mediterranean coast which
ran through Persia and along the shores of the Caspian, to Syria
and Asia Minor. This route had become familiar after the invasion
of Alexander the Great. During the early centuries of the Christian
era. Palmyra (in Syria) was one of the principal centres of this trade.
Both the sea and land routes came under the control of the
Arabs when they rose to power in the seventh century a.d. Hence-
forth the Arabs carried on an active trade with India and we have
interesting records of it in the chronicles of the Arab merchants.
It is a well-known fact that culture and civilisation follow in
the wake of trade and commerce. We find accordingly that the
Indian religion spread to the western countries. A§oka sent Burldhist
missionaries to western Asia, northern Africa and south-eastern
Europe, and claimed that the tenets of that religion were welcomed
in these regions. We have no means of ascertaining the truth of this
from independent evidence, but there is no doubt that even long
after A^oka people in Alexandria showed interest in Buddhism, and
that both Buddhist and Brahmapical religion were widely prevalent
in several countries of western Asia before the advent of Islam. The
knowledge of Indian philosophy and literature in the West is also
an undoubted fact. There is, however, equally little doubt that
Western culture also flowed to India. The knowledge of Greek and
COLONIAL AND CULTURAL EXPANSION 21S
Roman astronomy and Greek influence on the art and coinage of
India are undisputed facts. The Arabs imbibed a great deal of
Indian culture, and carried it, along with Indian merchandise, to
the western countries, Indian medicine and the wonderful inven-
tion of the decimal notation in Arithmetic, among others, became
through the Arabs the universal property of the world.
In Central Asia the cultural conquest almost completely over-
shadows the trade relations of India. Here, partly by missionary
propaganda, and partly by the political influence of the Kushans,
Buddhism became almost the universal rehgion of the nomadic
peoples that settled in the vast region between the shores of the
Caspian and the Wall of China. Indians also settled in large
numbers in the region round modern Khotan. The physical aspects
of this region have changed so completely that it is now difficult
to imagine that flourishing Indian colonies once dotted the area
which now lies buried under the sands of the Taklamakan desert.
Yet the archaeological explorations of Sir Aurel Stein in this inhospit- j
able tract have laid bare the ruins of numerous Buddhist stupas i
and monasteries, the images of Buddhist and Brahmapical gods,|
and many manuscripts and shorter records written in Indian '
languages and Indian alphabets. Sir Aurel Stein has remarked
that whilst he moved in these excavated areas under the ground he
could have believed himself to be in the familiar surroundings of ;
an ancient Indian city in the Punjab, so complete was the Indianisa- J
tion of these out-of-the-way colonies. Even as late as the seventh
century a.d., when Hiuen Tsang passed through Central Asia !
on his way to and back from India, he noted the dominance of
Buddhism and Indian culture over this wide area. It is believed
that Chingiz Khan, the great Mongol leader of the thirteenth
century, professed some form of Buddhism.
From Central Asia Buddhism spread to China and there it ;
remains a living faith, even to-day, among her untold millions.
It is difficult to exaggerate the influence which Buddhism and
Indian culture exerted upon the ancient civilisation of China. She
showed the proverbial zeal of the new convert. Bands of Chinese
monks undertook the perilous journey to India, both by land and
sea, in order to study at first hand the religious beliefs and practices
of Indian Buddhists and to collect Buddhist books and images.
Hundreds and thousands of Buddhist books were carried from
India to China and then translated into Chinese. For this purpose
not only did the Chinese themselves learn Sanskrit and Pali, but
they also invited Indian Pandits to go to China and collaborate
with them in the arduous task of translating the sacred scriptures
214 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OE INDIA
of Buddhism. Hundreds of Indian scholars settled in China and
dedicated their lives to the pious task. It is singular to note that
there are Chinese translations of Buddhist texts whose originals
can no longer be traced in India, In addition to this intimate
contact established by religion, we have to take note of the political
and commercial relations between India and China, and the exist-
ence of a fairly regular trafiSc by way of the sea.
From China, Buddhism spread to Korea, and from Korea to
Japan. Buddhism is still a living faith in both these countries, and
has moulded their civilisation during the last fifteen hundred years,
Tibet forms a narrow enclave between India and these northern
countries. It was not, however, such an exclusive and isolated
region as it is to-day, and a regular route from China to Nepal
passed through it. Tibet became a powerful kingdom in the seventh
century a.d., and Srong-tsan Gampo, one of its best-known kings
(seventh century a.d.), introduced Buddhism into his country. He
had married a princess from China and another from Nepal, and
presumably the influence of his queens converted him to the new
faith. Along with the new religion, he introduced Indian alphabets
which were in use in Khotan, and thus was paved the way for a
new culture and civilisation in Tibet. As in the case of China,
Tibetan Buddhists came to India in large numbers, and the proxim-
ity of India enabled them to come into closer contact with the
home of Buddhism. The Pala emperors helped towards the reform
of Buddhism in Tibet, and there was a lively intercourse between
Tibet and the Pala kingdom. Tibetan monks studied at the
monasteries of Nalanda and VikramaSila, and many Indian Buddhist
monks visited Tibet. The name of Atisa Dipamkara, a monk of
Eastern Bengal, who visited Tibet in the eleventh century a.d.
in the days of Nayapala, is stUl held in the highest veneration
there, Plundreds of the sacred texts of Buddhism were translated
into Tibetan, of which two famous collections, Tanjur and Kanjur^
still exist.
The spirit of maritime adventure in India found its full and
free scope in the south-east. Across the Bay of Bengal lay Indo-
China and the Malay Archipelago. They were peopled by primitive
races, and held almost a monopoly of the world’s spice trade. These
fertile tracts were also rich in minerals and soon drew the attention
of the Indians. The eastern coast of India, from the mouth of the
Ganges to Cape Comorin, was studded with ports, some of which
are named in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. The author of this
book refers to some of the Far Eastern countries as Chryse, or the
Golden Land. He implies, though he does not expressly state,
COLONIAL AND CULTURAL EXPANSION 215
that there was a coasting voyage from Bengal to those regions.
Ptolemy, in the second century A.n., knew the names of important
trading centres in the Malay Peninsula and the islands of Java
and Sumatra, Buddhist texts, written about the same period, give
a long list of trading centres in the Ear East which agrees fairly
well with that of Ptolemy. These names are mostly in Sanskrit.
There is thus no doubt that by the second century a.d, Indians
had developed important trading relations with the Far East.
We learn from Ptolemy that there was a direct route from Palura
(not far from Chicacole and Ganjam) across the sea to the Malay
Peninsula.
Indian literature has faithfully preserved the traditions of the
early days of this perilous voyage to unknown lands beyond the
sea. The stories preserved in the Jdtahas, the Kathasaritsdgara
and other similar collections frequently refer to traders’ voyages
to Suvarpabhumi — the land of gold, which was a general designa-
nation of several lands in the Ear East. Traders returned with
immense riches from the land whose very soil was supposed to be
made of gold. On the other hand, many met with shipwreck and
there were also sufferings and miseries of other kinds. Some stories
represent young Kshatriya princes, dispossessed of then hereditary
kingdoms, sailing to Suvarnabhumi to restore their fortunes.
To some such Kshatriya enterprise we perhaps owe the founda-
tion of Indian political power in these far-off regions. Erom the
second century A.p. onwards we find reference to kingdoms ruled
by persons with Indian names. Their religion, social manners
and customs, language and alphabet are all Indian and we may
therefore regard these States as Indian colonial kingdoms. Between
the second and fifth centuries a.d. such kingdoms were established
in the Malay Peninsula, Cambodia, Annam, and the islands of
Sumatra, Java, Bali and Borneo. The history of these khigdoms
is known, partly from the Sanskrit inscriptions found in those
countries, and partly from the accounts preserved by the Chinese.
The Brahmanical religion, mainly ^aivism, flourished in these
regions, though Buddhism was also not miknown. The indigenous
people adopted the civilisation of their masters and there was a
gradual fusion between the two races. Hindu customs and manners
were no doubt modified to some extent by coming into contact
with these people, but still for nearly a thousand years the essential
features of Indian civilisation were the dominant characteristics
of society in these regions.
The Indian colonists established great kingdoms, some of which
lasted for more than a thousand years and continued to flourish
216
AN ADVANCED HISTOBY OE INDIA
even long after the end of Hindu rule in India. On the mainland of
Indo-China there were two powerful kingdoms, those of Champa
and Kambuja. The kingdom of Champa comprised, at its greatest
extent, nearly the whole of modem Annam. Some of its kings,
such as Jaya ParameSvaravarmadeva I^varamurti (c. 1050-1060),
Rudravarman (c. 1061-1069), Harivarman (1070-1081), Mahara-
jadhiraja Sri Jaya Indravarman (c. a.d. 1163-1180), Jaya Simhavar-
man (c. 1257-1287), were great heroes and defended their country
successfully against the attacks of their western neighbours, the
Kambiijas, and the great Mongol chief, Kublai lOian. They
had diplomatic relations with the Chinese- After a glorious
existence of more than thirteen hundred years {cir. a.d, 150-1471)
their power was virtually broken by the repeated attacks of their
northern neighbours, the Annamese, and in the sixteenth century
the Hindu kingdom was overrun by these Mongolian hordes.
There were many flourishing cities in Champa, and the whole
country was adorned with beautiful temples, both Hindu and
Buddhist,
The origin of the Hindu kingdom of Kambuja is shrouded in
mystery. According to an old legend, Kaupdinya married Soma,
a Naga princess, and founded the royal dynasty of Kambuja.
He planted a spear which he had obtained from Droua’s son
A^vatthama. Another version makes the hero a son of Adityavamsa,
king of Indraprastha. In any case, we can trace the earliest Hindu
kingdom in Kambuja to the first or second century A.i). It occupied
the southern part of Cambodia and was called Fu-nan by the
Chinese, It rose to great power, and exercised suzerainty over
several vassal states. On its southern frontier was the vassal
kingdom of Tuen-sien. A Chinese author writes about this kingdom
as follows: “More than a thousand Brahmapas from India reside
there. The people follow their doctrines and give them their
daughters in marriage. They read their sacred books day and night.”
The kings of Fu-nan sent ambassadors to both India and China.
The position of supremacy passed in the sixth century to
Kambuja-deSa, originally one of the vassal states of Fu-nan.
Kambuja-de^a, at first only a small principality in the north-east,
has given its name to the whole country, and its kings ruled in
great splendour for nine hundred years. Among its most valiant
kings may be named Jayavarman I, II, and VII, Ya^ovarman, and
Suryavarman II. In the fifteenth century a.d. the invasions of the
Annamites from the east and the Thais (who had conquered Siam)
from the west reduced the powerful kingdom to a petty principality
which still exists under the protectorate of the French.
COLONIAL AND CULTURAL EXPANSION 217
The kingdom of Kambuja rose to far greater power than Champa.
In addition to the whole of modem Cambodia, Cochin-China, Laos,
Siam and parts of Burma and the Malay Peninsula were included
within the Kambuja empire at its greatest extent. Numerous
Sanskrit inscriptions give us the detailed history of their kings,
and wonderful temples like Angkor Vat, those of Angkor Thom
and a hundred others still teU the tale of their grandeur and
magnificence.
Angkor Vat is, in every sense, a wonder of the world. It is a i
shrine originally dedicated to Vishpu, and stands on the top of a
terraced structure. Each terrace forms a sort of covered gallery,
adorned throughout with sculptures, and leads to the next higher
one by means of a staircase. There are numerous spires and towers,
the eight towers at the four angles of the third and last gallery
being each 180 feet high. After ascending the third terrace, we
stand in front of the central shrine with its high tower (213 feet
above the ground) dominating the entire region. The whole
structure is surrounded by a stone enclosure provided with gates
and galleries, measuring two-thirds of a mile east to west and half
a mile north to south. Outside the enclosure runs a ditch, 700 feet
wide. A stone causeway, 36 feet wide, with balustrade, runs over
the ditch. It is continued as a broad paved road from the gate
of the enclosure right up to the gate of the first terrace, a distance
of about two furlongs.
Angkor Thom (Nagaradhamal) is the modern name of the capital!' ^
city founded by King Jayavarman VII. The city was square in
shape, each side measuring more than two miles. It was surrounded
by a moat 330 feet broad and enclosed by a high stone wall. The
centre of the city was occupied by the grand temple of Bayon.
It is pyramidal in shape and has three stages, adorned with high
towers, nearly forty in number. The central tower dominating the
whole structure is nearly 160 feet high. Each of these towers has
a finely carved human face on four sides, representing Siva, deeply
absorbed in meditation. Several other massive structures, both
religious and secular, surrounded the temple of Bayon.
The city gates, with towers and guard-houses, were imposing
structures. Live avenues, about 100 feet wide, run from the gates
to the heart of the city, a distance of a mile. The city was adorned
wth a large number of tanks with embankments, and a royal
terrace about 1,200 feet in length and 13 feet in height with sculp-
tured reliefs of exquisite quality. In short, everything was conceived
on a truly noble scale, and it was one of the grandest cities in the
whole world in that age.
COLONIAL AND CULTURAL EXPANSION 219
The Malay Peninsula and the Indian Archipelago saw the rise
and fall of two big Hindu empires. The first empire was founded
by the ^ailendra dynasty in the eighth century a.d. It comprised
the Malay Peninsula and nearly the whole of the Archipelago includ-
ing the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Borneo. The Arab
merchants who traded in these parts described in rapturous terms the
power, wealth and magnificence of the grand monarch who exercised
supreme sway and styled him “Maharaja”. He owned a powerful
navy and made successful raids both against Champa and Kambuja.
According to the Arab writers, he “was overlord of a large number
of islands over a length of 1,000 parsangs or more”. Many of
these chroniclers tell the story how the Maharaja every morning
threw into a lake a brick made of solid gold. According to the
Arab accounts, the Maharaja was held in high esteem by the rulers
of both India and China. Ibn Rosteh, writing about a.d. 903,
remarks: “The great king is called Maharaja, i.e. king of kings.
He is not regarded as the greatest among the kings of India because
he dwells in the islands. No other king is richer or more powerful
than he, and none has more revenue.” Ibn Khordadzbeh (a.d.
844-848) estimates the daily revenue of the king as two hundred
maunds of gold.
The ^ailendra kings were followers of Mahayana Buddhism and
had diplomatic relations with the rulers of China and India. King
Balaputradeva sent an ambassador to the emperor Devapala of Ben-
gal (p. 166), requesting him to grant five villages to the monastery
which he (Balaputradeva) had built at Nalanda. Devapala, of course,
granted the request. It appears that the ^ailendras derived theh
religious inspiration from Bengal which was then the chief centre
of Mahayana Buddhism in India. Kumaraghosha, a Buddhist monk
of Bengal, became the guru or preceptor of the ^ailendras, and at
his bidding the l^ailendra emperor constructed the beautiful temple
of Tara. The Sailendras were great builders and the famous stupa
of Barabudur stands to this day as the living monument of their
grandeur and magnificence. This noble building, situated on the
top of a hill, consists of a series of nine successive terraces, each
receding from the one beneath it, and the whole crowned by a
bell-shaped stupa at the centre of the topmost terrace. The lowest
terrace has an extreme length of 131 yards. The five lower terraces
are each enclosed on the inner side by a wafi supporting balustrades
so as to form four open galleries. The three uppermost terraces
are encircled by a ring o^ stupas, each containing an image of
Buddha within a perforated framework. The galleries are covered
with sculptures, illustrating scenes from Buddhist texts, and the
BABABTJDTTR (JAVA)
COLONIAL AND CULTURAL EXPANSION 221
balustrades are decorated with small rdclie- temples containing
images of Buddha. The images and sculptures are the finest
examples of Indo-Javanese art. When we remember that the
structure is nearly 400 feet square and that its successive
galleries are full of sculptures and images of Buddha, exhibiting
the highest skill and workmanship, we may well understand
why Barabudur is referred to as the eighth wonder of the world.
The art of Java and Kambuja was no doubt derived from
India and fostered by the Indian rulers of these colonies, but
Barabudur and Angkor Vat far exceed in grandeur of concep-
tion and skiU of execution anything that we know of in India
itself.
The ^ailendras ruled in glory till the eleventh century a.d.
when the Cholas cast covetous eyes upon the rich maritime empire.
Rajendra Chola I (p. 188) possessed a magnificent fleet and invaded
the dominions of the Sailendras. His efforts were successful and he
conquered a large part of the Sailendra empire. But it was not
an easy task to keep such distant provinces under control.
The Sailendras continued the struggle and shook off the Chola
supremacy after nearly a century. But soon their power declined
and an ill-fated expedition against the island of Ceylon in the
thirteenth century brought about the final disruption of the
empire.
The decline and downfall of the Sailendras gave an opportunity
to an aspiring kingdom in the island of Java to assert its power.
A Hindu kingdom was established in the island as early as the
fourth century a.d. but it was conquered by the ^ailendras. Java
formed a part of the ^ailendra empire till the ninth century a.d.
when it recovered its independence. The seat of political power
was, however, removed from the central part of the island, which
was at one time the centre of Sailendra power and contained their
famous monuments, including Barabudur. Henceforth Eastern
Java, with its seat of power at first at Kediri and then at Singhasari,
played the do min ant part in politics. Towards the close of the
thirteenth century a.d. a new royal dynasty was founded by king
Vijaya with the city called Tikta-vilva (bitter vilva fruit) or its
Javanese equivalent, Majapahit, as its capital. The kingdom of
Majapahit conquered the surrounding islands, and by the year
A.D. 1365 the empire of Majapahit included nearly the whole of the
Malay Peninsula and the Malay Archipelago. Roughly speaking,
it comprised the present Dutch possessions in the Archipelago with
the addition of the Malay Peninsula, but excluding perhaps northern
Celebes.
222
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Early in the fifteenth century a.d. a fugitive Hindu chief of
Java founded the kingdom of Malacca, which soon rose to be a
great political power and an important commercial centre. The
conversion of its second king to Islam made Malacca a stronghold
of that power, which soon reacted on neighbouring territories.
The new faith penetrated into Java, in the wake of trade and
commerce, and even some members of its royal family were
converted to it. By a concerted attempt of the votaries of
the new faith, the ruler of Majapahit was driven from the
throne at the beginning of the sixteenth century. With the fall
of the Hindu kingdom of Majapahit, the whole of the island
was converted to Islam. But the royal family and a large element
of the Hindu population took refuge in the island of Bah, which
had been a Hindu colony for nearly a thousand years. With the
exception of this island, where Hinduism flourishes even to-day,
the rest of the Malay Archipelago, generally speaking, adopted the
faith and culture of Islam.
Indian art and literature flourished in Java to an extent un-
known elsewhere. There are still hundreds of temples in ruius, and
an extensive literature, in manuscripts, based on Sanskrit. The
Ramaya'tm and the Mahabhdrata were most popular in that island,
and even to-day furnish the theme of their popular shadow-play,
called Wajang, and theatrical performances. With the fall of
Majapahit, artistic activities came to an end in Java.
We may conclude with a broad survey of the Indian colonies
in the Far East. For nearly fifteen hundred years, and down to
a period when the Hindus had lost their independence in their own
home, Hindu kings were ruling over Indo-China and the numerous
islands of the Indian Archipelago, from Sumatra to New Guinea.
Indian religion, Indian culture, Indian laws and Indian government
moulded the lives of the primitive races all over this wide region, and
they imbibed a more elevated moral spirit and a higher intellectual
taste through the religion, art and literature of India. In short,
the people were lifted to a higher plane of civilisation. A greater
India was established by a gentle fusion of races, which richly
endowed the original inhabitants with the spiritual heritage of
India. So long as Hinduism was in full vigour at home, Hinduism
in the colonies was also a vital force, but the downfall of the
Hindus in India also led to the decay of their colonial supremacy.
The fountain head having dried up, the streams fed by it were
also gradually choked, leading to their ultimate disappearance.
It is no mere accident that from after a.d. 1100 or 1200 Hinduism
had spent its force in the colonies, and the indigenous element
COLONIAL AND CULTURAL EXPANSION 223
began gradually to assert itself till Islam was iirmly planted in
tEe" fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries a.d.
The history of the colonies demonstrates the unsoundness of
the popular belief that Hinduism cannot be adopted by foreigners
but is meant only for those who are born within its fold. It shows
the great vigour with which it could absorb and vitalise foreign
culture and could elevate even the most primitive races to a
higher sphere of culture and civilisation. If we remember that
Indian culture and civilisation played a similar role, though perhaps
in a lesser degree, in western, central and eastern Asia, we can realise
an aspect of the true greatness of India, not always sufficiently
emphasised. The colonial and cultural expansion of India is one of
the most brilliant, but forgotten, episodes of Indian history, of
which any Indian may justly feel proud.
CHAPTER XVI
MONUMENTS OE ANCIENT INDIA
The Pre-historic Period
In a previous chapter, reference has been made to the artistic
relics of the pre-historic period. They consist, first, of Neolithic
implements, and secondly, of seals, buildings, sculptures and
implements of copper and bronze found at Mohenjo-Daro and a
few other sites.
The most artistic objects at Mohenjo-Daro are no doubt the seal-
engravings, portraying animals like the humped bull, the buffalo,
the bison, etc. Regarding these. Sir John Marshall observes as
follows ;
“In no sense can these objects be regarded as products of
primitive or archaic art. Small as they are, they demonstrate
a thorough comprehension of both work in the round and relief,
and exhibit a spontaneity and truthfuhiess to nature of which
even Hellenic art might not have been ashamed.”
The same author makes the following remarks on two stone
statues found at Harappa:
“When I first saw them I found it difficult to believe that they
were pre-historic; they seemed so completely to upset all estab-
lished ideas about early art. Modelling such as this was unlcnown
in the ancient world up to the Hellenistic age of Greece.”
Maurya Period — the Origin of Art
The earliest ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro have been
assigned to a period not later than 2700 B.c. Eor more than two
thousand years after that we possess no ancient monuments that
deserve any serious consideration.
In the historical period, we have ruins of monuments that may
be referred to as early a period as 500 b.c. But it is only in the
age of A§oka, the great Maurya emperor, that we come across
224
A^OKAN PHiLAB, LAUKryA-NANDANGABH
By courtesy of the Archaeological Department and Lucknow University
226 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
monuments of high quality in large number which enable us to
form a deiSnite idea about the nature of Indian art.
The finest examples of A6okan art are furnished by the monolithic
pillars (see p. 226) on which his edicts are engraved. Each pillar
consists of a shaft or column, made of one piece of stone, supporting
a capital made of another single piece of stone. The round and slightly
tapering shaft, made of sandstone, is highly polished and very
graceful in its proportions. The capital, equally highly polished,
consists of one or more animal figures in the round, resting on an
abacus engraved with sculptures in relief; and below this is the
inverted lotus, which is usually, though perhaps wrongly, called
the Persepolitan Bell. A high degree of knowledge of engineering
was displayed in cutting these huge blocks of stone and removing
them himdreds of miles from the quarry, and sometimes to the
top of a hiU. Extraordinary technical skill was shown in cutting
and chiseUing the stone with wonderful accuracy and in imparting
the lustrous polish to the whole surface. But these pale into
insignificance before the high artistic merits of the figures, which
exhibit realistic modelling and movement of a very high order.
The capital of the Sarndth Pillar is undoubtedly the best of the
series. The figures of four lions standing back to back, and the
smaller figures of animals in relief on the abacus, all show a highly
advanced form of art and their remarkable beauty and vigour
have elicited the highest praise from all the art-critics of the
world. The late Dr. V. A. Smith made the following observation on
the Sdmdth capital:
“It would be difficult to find in any country an example of
ancient animal sculpture superior or even equal to this beautiful
work of art, which successfully combines realistic modelling with
ideal dignity and is finished in every detail with perfect
accuracy.”
Many other pillars of AiSoka, though inferior to that of Samdth,
possess remarkable beauty. It may be mentioned in this connection
that the jewellery of the Maurya period also exhibits a high degree
of technical skill and proficiency.
As compared with sculptures, the architectural remains of the
Maurya period are very poor. Contemporary Greek writers refer
to magnificent palaces in the capital city of Pataliputra and regard
them as the finest and grandest in the whole world. Some seven
hundred years later the Mauryan edifices inspired awe and admira-
tion in the heart of the Chinese traveller. Fa Hien. But these noble
MONUMENTS OE ANCIENT INDIA
oapitaij oit a§okan PEtLAB, sAbnXts (mmar bbkaebs)
By courtesy of the ArcTuieological Department anA Lucknow University
228 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
buildings have utterly perished. Recent excavations on the site
have laid bare their ruins, the most remarkable being those of a
hundred-pillared haU.
The extant architectural remains consist, besides a small mono-
lithic stone rail round a stupa at Sarnath, mainly of the rock- cut
Chaitya haUs in the Barabar hills and neighbouring localities in
the Bihar subdivision of the Patna district. Although excavated
in the hardest rock, the walls of these caves are polished like glass.
Asoka also built quite a large number of stupas. The stupa is
a soHd domical structure of brick or stone, resting on a round
base. It was sometimes surrounded by a plain or ornamented
stone railing with one or more gateways, which were often of
highly elaborate pattern and decorated with sculptures. Tradition
credits A^oka with building 84,000 stupas all over India and
Afghanistan but they have almost entirely perished. Some of
them, enclosed and enlarged at later times, perhaps still exist,
the most famous example being the big stupa at Sanchi, in Bhopal
State, not far from Bhilsa. The diameter of the present stupa
is 121 1 feet, the height about 77| feet, and the massive stone
railing which encloses it is 11 feet high. According to Sir John
Marshall, the original brick stupa built by A§oka was probably of
not more than half the present dimensions, which were subsequently
enlarged by the addition of a stone casing faced with concrete.
The present railing also replaced the older and smaller one. A similar
fate has possibly overtaken many other stupas of A^oka.
It is quite evident from what has been said above, that Maurya
art exhibits in many respects an advanced stage of development
in the evolution of Indian art. The artists of ASoka were by no
means novices, and there must have been a long history of artistic
effort behind them. How are we then to explain the almost total
absence of speeunens of Indian art before c. 250 b.c.?
This is the problem which faces us at the very beginning of our
study of Indian art — highly finished specimens of art, belonging
to such remotely distant periods as 2700 b.o. and 250 b.o., with
little to fill up the long intervening gap.
We are not in a position to solve this problem until more data
are available. In the meantime we can only consider various
possibilities.
First, it is not unlikely that the artistic traditions of the Indus
valley continued down to the Maurya period. The absence of
specimens has to be explained by the supposition that most of the
monuments being made of wood or other perishable materials
have left no trace behind. Rare specimens in stone or other durable
230 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
materials may yet be imeartbed by future excavations. This
solution is prompted by the analogous problem of Indian alphabets.
The earliest Indian alphabets so far known, and from which all
the current Indian alphabets have been derived, are those found
in the inscriptions of A4oka. How they came to be evolved into
that finished stage has been a mystery, and attempts have been
made to derive them from various types of alphabets in Western
Asia. But the numerous seals found at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
with pictorial writings (in which an alphabet or a syllable is repre-
sented by a pictorial illustration of a material object) have induced
some scholars to regard these as the origin from which the Brahmi
alphabet of A^oka has been ultimately derived. In a similar way,
the artistic traditions of the AiSokan period might be ultimately
traced to those of the Indus valley. But in both cases, the inter-
mediate stages of development or processes of evolution are hidden
from us.
Secondly, it is permissible to hold that the art-traditions of the
Indus valley were gradually lost and that Mauryan art has an
independent history. What that history may be is involved in
doubt, and it is possible to entertain two different views on the
subject. We may either hold that, in addition to works in wood,
the Indian artists of the pre-Maurya period also excelled in works
in stone, though these have perished or not yet come to light.
Or we may suppose that the Indians fii’st began to work in stone
during the Maurya period. The results of their endeavour to change
from wood to stone are seen in the crude inferior pillars of A§oka
while those which are excellent and highly finished were the work
of foreign artists employed by that great emperor. According to
this theory, Indian art continued more or less under this foreign
tutelage long after Afioka, until a full-fledged Indian art was
developed under the Imperial Guptas.
From the End of the Maurya Period to the Rise of the Guptas
The five hundred years that intervened between the fall of the
Mauryas and the rise of the Gupta empire constitute a distinct
period in the evolution of Indian art. So far as we can judge from
extant remains, several important schools of sculpture flourished
in different localities during this period — at Bharhut (Nagod
State, Central India), Bodh-Gaya, Sanchi (Bhopal State), Mathura
and Gandhara (North-Western Punjab and adjoining region) in
Northern India, and Amaravati and Nagarjimikopda (near the
mouth of the Krishna) in South India.
MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT INDIA 231
In the second century b.o., during the reign of the Suhgas, a
big stupa was constructed at Bharhut. Nothing now remains of the
stupa itself, but a portion of the railings that surrounded it, and
one of the gateways, are now preserved in the Indian Museum,
Calcutta. The railing is made of red sandstone and consists, as
usual, of uprights, crossbars and coping-stone. All these have
sculptures engraved on them representing incidents from Buddha’s
life, Jataka stories and many humorous scenes. Short labels
incised below the sculptures enable us to identify the episodes
represented therein. Taken individually, the human figures do
not appear to be well executed and there are obvious defects in
the physiognomy and posture of the bodies. But regarded as a
mass, the sculptures represent the religious faiths and beliefs, the
dress, costumes, and manners, and are executed with wonderful
simplicity and vigour. We get an insight into the minds and
habits of the common people of India, and a keynote of the joys
and pleasures of life seems to pervade them all. Ancient India,
with its robust optimism and vigorous faith in life, speaks, as it
were, through these stones, in a tone that offers a sharp but pleas-
ing contrast to the dark pessimistic views of life which some of
the old religious texts are never tired of repeating. From this
point of view, the art of Bharhut is a great corrective to the
impressions which we are likely to form from literature.
At Bodh-Gaya there is a small railing round the great temple.
The railmg probably belongs to about the first century B.o., but
the temple is of a much later date. The sculptures on the railing
belong to the same type as at Bharhut, though the individual figures
are somewhat better.
Sanchi contains three big stupas that belong to the period under
review and, happily, they are all in a good state of preservation.
The big stupa, originally constructed by A§oka, was enlarged
during this period, and four gateways of elaborate construction
were added to the railing, one in each cardinal direction. Although
the railmg is quite plain, the gateways are full of sculptures, illus-
trating the Jataka stories and various episodes in the life of
Gautama Buddha. The scenes represented are similar to those
of Bharhut, and convey more or less the same ideas, but the
individual figures, the method of their grouping, mode of expression,
and decorative elements — all show a far higher standard of
technical skill and artistic conception. The obvious defects in the
representation of the physique at Bharhut are removed, and
human figures are elegantly carved and shown in various difiScult
moods and poses. The sculptors of Sanchi are throughout inspired
232 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
by a far higher sense of beauty, rhythm, and symmetry, and
possess the difficult art of telling a complicated story in a simple
lucid way. As at Bharhut, we find before us a wonderful panorama
of scenes of daily life and concrete illustrations of faith, hope, and
ideals, though as a rule these are more complex and varied in
character, showing a more intelligent appreciation of the facts and
views of life.
On the whole, the railings at Bharhut, Bodh-Gaya and Sanchi
may be regarded as three landmarks in the gradual evolution of
SAS'CHJ OATE\rAy
art during the two centuries, 150 b.c.-a.d. 50. The Indian artists
had now mastered the difficult technique and acquired a highly-
developed aesthetic sense. The stone sculptures proved in their
hands to be a valuable medium for expressing faiths and beliefs,
and ideas and feelings.
Mathura has proved a large treasure-house of ruins of this
period. No big railing, like that of Bharhut or Sanchi, with a
continuous series of relief sculptures, has yec come to light, but
we have instead numerous fragments of smaller railings with
MONUMENTS OE ANCIENT INDIA 233
sculptures, and quite a large number of images, either detached or
engraved in very high relief on some architectural fragments.
Photo : A. E. Coomaraswamv
The Mathura sculptures are easily distinguished by the material
used — a kind of spotted red stone. It is possible to classify the
sculptures of Mathura into two chronological periods. The earlier
ones are rude and rough works, gpmewhat resembling those of
234 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
Bharhut, but of a different style, and do not call for any special
remark. The sculptures of the later period possess one distinguish-
ing characteriatic, viz. the representation of Buddha as a human
figure. This is entirely unknown at Bharhut, Bodh-Gaya and
Sanchi where Buddha is always represented by a symbol such as
a wheel, a throne, or a pair of footprints, and never by any human
figure. With the evolution of a human type of Buddha at Mathura
begins a new epoch in Indian art, and for centuries the best
artistic efforts of India were directed towards giving a concrete
expression of the spiritual ideals of India through the images of
Buddha and other great beings.
The Gandhara School
The Gandhara school of sculpture has attained 'a celebrity
perhaps beyond its merits. There was a time when European
scholars considered it as the only school in ancient India which
can rightfully claim a place in the domain of art. Many still regard
it as the source of all subsequent development of art in India
and the Far East. In spite of the undeniable merit of Gandhara
sculptures, the above views seem to be highly exaggerated.
The Gandhara sculptures have been found in the ruins of Taxila
and in various ancient sites in Afghanistan and the North-West
Frontier Province. They consist mostly of images of Buddha and
relief-sculptures representing scenes from Buddhist texts. Some
technical characteristics easily distinguish them from all other
specimens of Indian sculpture. In the first place, there is a tendency
to mould the human body in a realistic manner with great attention
to accuracy of physical details, especially by the delineation of
muscles and the addition of moustaches, etc. Secondly, the repre-
sentation of the thick drapery with large and bold fold-lines forms
a distinct characteristic.
The Gandhara sculptures accordingly offer a striking contrast
to what we meet with elsewhere in India, viz. the smooth round
features of the idealised human figures, draped in a transparent
or semi-transparent cloth, closely fitting to the body and revealing
its outline.
These distinguishing characteristics of Gandhara sculpture were
undoubtedly derived ftom Greek art, or, to be more precise, the
Hellenistic art of Asia Minor and the Roman empire. Gandhara
art is accordingly known also as Indo-Greek or Graeco-Roman.
There is, also, no doubt that this art owed its origin to the Greek
rulers of Bactria and North-West India. But though the technique
MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT INDIA 235
was borrowed from Greece, the art was essentially Indian in spirit,
and it was solely employed to give expression to the beliefs and
practices of the Buddhists. With a few exceptions, no Greek
story or legend, and no Greek art motif has been detected among the
numerous specimens of Gandhara
sculpture. The Gandhara artist
had the hand of a Greek but
the heart of an Indian.
The most important contribu-
tion of Gandhara art was the
evolution of an image of Buddha,
perhaps an imitation of a Greek
God like Apollo. Fine images of
Buddha and Bodhisatva, and
relief-sculptures illustrating
various episodes of Buddha’s
present and past lives, are
remarkably executed in a kind
of black stone. For a long time
it was believed that the
Gandhara Buddha image served
as the model for those executed
at Mathura and other centres.
But it is now recognised that
the Buddha image was evolved
independently at MathurS, and
Gandhara. There is a striking
difference between the Buddha
images of Gandhara and those
of the Indian interior. The
former laid stress on accuracy
of anatomical details and
beauty, while the latter strove
towards imparting a sublime and
spiritual expression to th
The one was realistic
other idealistic, and this may be
regarded as the vital difference
between Western and Indian art. The rich and varied contents of
Gandhara sculpture, like those of Sahchi and Bharhut, hold before
us a mirror, as it were, reflecting ancient life and ideals.
It may be added that both the schools of Mathura and Gandhara
flourished under the lavish ’ patronage of Scythian kings. The
India Office, London
CASING SIA-B, AMABlVATl STCPA
lower valley of the K^ish^a river, at Amaravati, Jagayyapeta
and Nagarjnnikoiida, Not only w^ere the railings of the Amaravati
atnpa made of marble, but the dome itself was covered with slabs
of the same material. It must have produced a marvellous effect,
when intact. Unfortunately, the entire stupa is in ruins, and the
fragments of its railmgs have been removed, partly to the British
Museum, London, and partly to the Government Museum at
Madras. The sculptures of all the stupas resemble one another and
236 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
portrait-statues of the Kushan kings add a novel feature to the
art of this period. The Kushan art, particularly that of the Gan-
dhara school, spread through Chinese Turkestan to the Far East
and influenced even the arts of China and Japan.
Somewhat later than the flourishing period of the schools of
sculpture described above, beautiful stupas were erected in the
MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT INDIA
237
are marked by striking differences in style from those of Northern
India. Hence they are classed as belonging to a new school, viz.
that of Amaravati. The figures at Amaravati are characterised
by slim, blithe features and they are represented in most diflQcult
poses and curves. But the scenes are mostly overcrowded, and
although there is a distinct charm in individual figures, the general
effect is not very pleasing. Yet there is no doubt that the technique
of art had reached a high degree of development. The plants and
flowers, particularly the lotuses, are most admirably represented
in this school. The image of Buddha occurs here and there, but
the Blessed One is often represented by a symbol. It thus points to
the period of transition between Bharhut, Bodh-Gaya and Sanchi
on the one hand and Mathura and Gandhara on the other.
At Nagarjunikopda, important relics of the period have recently
been discovered as a result of excavations made by the Archaeo-
logical Survey of India. The finds include a stu^a, two Chaityas
and a monastery. Near the stujpa were found slabs of limestone
illustrating scenes from Buddha’s life. The panel shown on p. 238
represents the nativity and seven footprints of Buddha on the
piece of cloth held by the deities, who were present to welcome
the arrival of the Blessed One.
The period under review (c. 200 b.o, to a.d. 320) is not so rich
in architecture as in sculptures. There were, of course, beautiful
temples and monasteries, and the famous tower of Kanishka at
Purushapur (Peshawar) was one of the wonders of Asia. But all
these have perished without leaving any trace behind. Excepting
the stupas referred to above, there is only one class of buildings
which merit serious attention as works of art. These are the caves
hewn out of solid rock, of which hundreds have been found in
different parts of India. The caves of the A^okan period were
plain chambers, but now the addition of pfllars and sculptures
made them beautiful works of art. Some of the caves were used
as monasteries, i.e. residences of monks. These were quite plain
and consisted of a central haU with small cells on all sides. Others
were used as Chaityas or halls of worship. A Chaitya was a fine
work of art. The fully developed specimen consisted of a long
rectangular hall with apsidal end (i.e. the side opposite the entrance
was semicircular and not straight). Two long rows of pillars
divided the hall into a nave (big central part) and two side aisles
(narrow parts at the two sides). A small stupa, called a Ddgoba,
stood near the apsidal end. The ffont wall was decorated with
elaborate sculptures, and there were three small doorways leading
to the nave and the side aisles. But a big horseshoe window above
PANEL ILLTTSTEATING THE NATHTITY OP THE BUDDHA, NIGAEJUNIKO^TDA
of pillars inside the hall, and the fine proportion of the different
parts of the building.
In addition to the pillars inside these caves, we have also several
free-standing pillars, as for example that at Besnagar which was
dedicated as a Qarudctdhvaja by the Greek ambassador, HeHodoros.
They are in many cases monoliths (in the case of rock-out caves
they are necessarily so) but they lack the wonderful polish, the fine
proportions and the grand capitals which characterise the best
pillars of A§oka. In this respect there was undoubtedly a decline.
But in sculptures and the construction of stupas and caves there
was wonderful progress. It is perfectly true that the fine figures
of certain animals which we see on the pillars of Aioka have no
the central doorway admitted a volume of light which illumined the
Ddgoba at the far end. When worshippers assembled in comparative
darkness in the nave (central part) before the bright Ddgoba in
front, the effect must have been very solemn and impressive.
There are many such Chaitya caves at Nasik, Bhaja, Bedsa,
Karle and other places in the Bombay Presidency. The Karle cave
is unanimously regarded as the finest specimen, on account of the
beauty of the sculptures on the front wall, the remarkable rows
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
240
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
parallel in subsequent times, but the loss is made up by the
delineation of human figures and the evolution of the wonderful
image of Buddha.
The Gupta Period (A.D. 320-600)^
With the Gupta period we enter upon the classical phase of
Indian sculpture. By the efforts of centuries techniques of art were
perfected, definite types were evolved, and ideals of beauty were
formulated with precision. There was no more groping in the dark,
and no more experiments. A thorough intelligent grasp of the
true aims and essential principles of art, a highly developed
aesthetic sense, and a masterly execution with steady hands
produced those remarkable images which were to be the ideal
and despair of the Indian artists of subsequent ages. The Gupta
sculptures not only remained models of Indian art in all times to
come, but they also served as such in the Indian colonies in the
Far East. The sculptures of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java,
Annam, Cambodia and even Celebes bear the indelible stamp of
Gupta art.
The most important contribution of Gupta art is the evolution
of the perfect types of divinities, both Buddhist and Brahmapical.
A large number of Buddha images have been unearthed at Sdmdth
near Benares, and one of them is justly regarded as the finest in
the whole of India. Stone and bronze images of Buddha have
also been found at Mathura and other places. The images of Siva,
Vishpu and other Brahmanical gods are sculptured in some of the
finest panels of the Deogarh temple (Jhansi district) and also occur
elsewhere. These images are the best products of Indian art.
They present a beautiful figure, full of charm and dignity, a grace-
ful pose and a radiant spiritual expression. In general, a sublime
idealism, combined with a highly-developed sense of rhythm and
beauty, characterises the Gupta sculptures, and there are vigour
and refinement in their design and execution. The inteUeetual
element dominates Gupta art and keeps under control the highly-
developed emotional display and the exuberance of decorative
elements which characterise the art of succeeding ages.
The art of casting metals reached a degree of development
which may well be regarded as wonderful. Hiuen Tsang saw at
^Although the political supremacy of the Imperial Guptas did not last
much beyond a.d. 495, the style of art ushered in by them continued till
A.D. 600 or even somewhat later. Hence the title “Gupta period” in relation
to art covers a much longer period than what would be understood in political
history.
By courtesy of the Indian Museum, Calcutta
NABA-NlRAyAKA, DEOQABH TEMPLE
242 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Nalanda a copper image of Buddha, about 80 feet high. The
Bronze Buddha, found at Sultanganj, is 7| feet high and is a fine
piece of sculpture. The Iron Pillar of Delhi, near the Qutb Minar, is
a marvellous work belonging to the early Gupta period. A century
ago, it would have been difficult, even for the best European
foundry, to manufacture a similar piece made of wrought
iron.
The art of painting reached its height of glory and splendour
in this age. The fine fresco-paintings on the walls and ceilings of
the Ajanta Caves have extorted the unstinted admiration of the
MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT INDIA
243
whole world. Of the twenty-nine caves, sixteen contained paintings
which survived, to a greater or less extent, even as late as 1879.
Most of these, it is sad to thmk, have been destroyed, and the rest
are also gradually crumbling to dust. Although some are as old as
the first century a.d., most of them belong to the Gupta Age. A fine
conception, brilliant colour, and admirable drawing invested these
paintings with a unique charm which we can only faintly realise in
their present ruined condition. In addition to decorative designs
“as varied and graceful as they are fanciful” and “executed with
masterly skill”, they depict sacred objects and symbols, the figures
of Buddha, and the incidents of his life (including past lives des-
cribed m the Jdtaha stories). Those known as “The Dying Princess ”,
“The Mother and Child”, etc., have won the highest admiration.
The fresco-paintings at Sigiriya in Ceylon, executed towards the close
of the fifth century a.d., show a close resemblance to those of Ajanta
and are in a better state of preservation. Some fresco paintings of
high merit also adorn the caves at Bagh.
Compared with sculpture, Gupta architecture, to judge by the
extant remains, must be regarded as poor. The stone temple at
Sanchi, like that at Deogarh, is very small, but exhibits refinement
in style. The brick temple at Bhitargaon is large but ruined.
Remains of stone temples of this period have also been found at
Nachna-ke-Talai and other places. These temples are weU-designed,
and consist of a square chamber, a cella (shrine), and a portico
or veranda as essential elements. They are decorated with fine
sculptured panels, but the decoration is properly subordinated to,
and is in full harmony with, the architectural plan of the buildings.
There is no doubt that magnificent temples of large dimensions
were constructed during the Gupta age, but they have been com-
pletely destroyed. High and elaborately-worked towers {iikharas)
which surmoimted the roofs of temples in later ages, had not yet
made their appearance, but the beginnings of this development
are seen in the Bhitargaon temple and the miniature representations
of temples on relief-sculptures of the Gupta period.
The artistic excellence of the Gupta period also found expression
m the rich variety of gold coins issued by the wealthiest and mightiest
monarchs of the age. According to some scholars, foreign influence is
clearly traceable in this series, but the engravers who produced them
were no mere imitators of the work of others. They gave free and
spontaneous expression to their own ideas, and skilfuUy assimilated
alien models with their own national tradition. The masterly execu-
tion of these coins is only matched by the elegance of their design, and
they are justly regarded as among the finest examples of Indian art.
244
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The Medieval Period (A.D, 600 - 1200 )
During the six hundred years that followed the Gupta age,
architecture gradually assumed the more important r61e in the
evolution of Indian art. It was during this age that the different
styles of architecture were evolved and led to the construction of
the magnificent temples which we see to-day all over India.
Broadly speaking, there were two important styles of archi-
tecture, — Indo-Aryan or North-Indian, and Dravidian or South-
Indian. The difference lies mainly in the shape of the dikhara or
the high tower-like superstructure which now almost universally
surmounts the cella or the shrine containing the image of the deity.
The North Indian iikhara (see illustration on p. 245) has the
appearance of a solid mass of curvilinear tower, bulging in the middle
and ending in almost a point. The South Indian iikhara (see p. 249)
looks like a pyramid made up of successive storeys each smaller than,
and receding a little from, the one beneath it. This also ended in a
small round piece of stone as its crowning member. Both types of
iikharas were minutely carved with decorative sculptures.
There is another essential difference between the two styles of
architecture. In South Indian temples pfilars play an important
part while they are altogether absent in edifices constructed in the
North Indian style.
North India
Temples with curvilinear iikharas are found all over Northern
India, and there are large groups of them at Bhuvanesvar in
Orissa, and Kdiajuraho in the State of Chattarpur in Central India.
Many of the.se temples are covered with sculpture from top to bottom,
and present a grand and magnificent appearance. Infinite charm and
variety are introduced in the iikhara by suitable modification
of forms and application of sculptures, without destroying its
essential characteristics. In the lOiajuraho temples, as in most
later examples, miniature iikharas are used as decorative orna-
ments on the body of the iikhara (see p. 246), and, in course of
time, these decorative iikharas are developed into small independent
iikharas, round about the central one.
It is impossible to describe in detail any one of these temples.
The Lingaraja temple and the Rajarani temple at Bhuvanesvar,
and some of the temples erected by theChandella kings atKliajura-
ho, may be regarded as the finest specimens of earlier and later
types. The temple of Jagannath at Puri, though more famous,
S.N.A.
LISTGABAJA TEMPLE, BHXJVAEBSVAK
tion. The hard stone is worked as if it were a fragile substance like
paper. The rich exuberance of their decoration displays almost
superhuman skhl and entitles them to rank as priceless treasures
of art. One of these was erected by a minister or governor named
Vimala Sha in a.d. 1032 and the other by Tejahpala in a.d. 1231.
I
meet with, the Dravidian style. In addition to the
i the capital city, Kanchi or Conjeeveram, and other
ae of the rock-cut temples, known as the seven Pagodas
photo, Johnston & Hoffmann
MA.HjkDEVA TEMPLE, KHAJTJRAHO
or Bathas of Mamallapuram, are built in this style which may
therefore be justly called the Pallava style. The latter are small
temples, each of which is cut out of a single big rock-boulder.
They lie near the sea-beach and adorned the town called
Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram, founded by the great Pallava
TBJAHPIIjA’S temple, mount ABU
testimony to the superb quality of Pallava art. Among the sculp-
tures, one large composition has obtained great celebrity. The scene
represented is usually described as the penance of Arjuna, but this
is very doubtful. There are also many rock-cut caves belonging
to the Pallava period.
It is important to note that the earliest specimens of Pallava
art already exhibit a fairly advanced stage of development.
Although we have no remains of an earlier epoch, we must pre-
sume its existence. Por the men who built the temples at Kanchi
or Mamallapuram, or wrought the sculptures on the rocks at the
king, Narasimhavarman (seventh century a.d.) It is now an
insignificant place, and its only attraction is provided by these
wonderful monolithic temples and a series of fine sculptures on rock-
walls (see p. 248). The temples or pagodas are named after the five
Paudava brothers and their common spouse Draupadi (Dharma-
rajarath, Bhim-ratha, Draupacb-ratha, etc.). These monolithic
temples, wrought out of massive stone, are complete with all the
details of an ordinary temple and stand to-day as an undying
MONUMENTS OE ANCIENT INDIA 247
248 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
latter place, were no novices in their art, and must have been
trained in schools with art traditions of centuries and generations
at their back. The problem is analogous to' that offered by the
finished art of the Maurya period, and its probable solution has
been discussed above. But the theory that foreign artists were
imported to do the work can hardly be maintained in this case.
We must hold, therefore, that earher artists mostly worked in
wood or other perishable materials, and hence their work has
(JupynytU iUn'm U7M Jfeyer
BOOK-OUT SOULPTUBE, MAMAUjAPUBAM
entirely disappeared, though chance or luck might some day
restore a few relics of it.
The style of PaUava architecture not only set the standard in
the South Indian Peninsula, but also largely influenced the archi-
tecture of the Indian colonies in the Far East. The characteristic
Pallava or Dravidian type of Sikhara is met with in the temples
of Java, Cambodia and Annam. But there are important differences
between them and the South Indian temples. The pillars which
form such an important adjunct to the latter are altogether absent
in the former.
The Cholas who supplanted the Pallavas in South India were
mighty builders. The Dravidian style was developed and almost
MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT INDIA 249
perfected under them. Perhaps the best example of this style is
furnished by the great gaiva temple at Tanjore built by Raiaraja
the Great. The great iilchara, consisting of fourteen store3\s, rises to a
height of 190 feet and is crowned by a massive dome consisting of a
TANJOKE TEMPLE
single block of stone. It is said that this huge block was carried to
the immense height by being rolled along an inclined road, about four
miles long, specially built for this purpose. The massive budding
is covered from the base to the top with sculptures and decora-
tive mouldings. It occupies the centre of a courtyard with other
260 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
subsidiary chapels, but the whole area is dominated by the high tower
0 ¥er the shrine which is a conspicuous landmark in the locality.
There was another massive temple at Gangaikopda-cholapuram,
the new capital city built by Rajendra Chola in the Trichinopoly
district. The city was also adorned with a magnificent palace
and a vast artificial lake, with stone embankment, more than
fifteen miles long. All these are now in ruins.
Chola art is characterised by a massive grandeur. The huge
structures were decorated with minute sculptures involving im-
mense labour and infinite pains. As Fergusson very aptly remarked,
the Chola artists conceived like giants and finished like jewellers,
A new development was slowly taking place in Chola art which
was destined to modify Dravidian architecture in later times.
This was the addition of a huge gateway, called a Gopuram, to the
enclosure of the temple. Gradually, the Gopurams came to be
multiplied and assumed huge proportions, being composed, like
the temple itself, of a large number of superimposed storeys. Ultim-
ately the gigantic Gopurams, sometimes large in number, came
to occupy the dominant place by their towering height and lavish
decoration, while the central shrine, being far less imposing, was
reduced to comparative insignificance. The Gopuram at Kum-
bhakonam, for example, is a very splendid piece of work, by itself,
but it so completely overshadows the main shrme that the struc-
ture, taken as a whole, is less pleasing and produces far less artistic
effect than might have been reasonably expected.
There are many massive temples in South India, built in the
same style. In addition to Gopurams, pfilared halls and long
colonnades were added as new features in the later temples. Modem
travellers are struck with awe by the sight of the gigantic temples
at Madura, ^rirangam, RameSvaram, and other places, with
successive enclosures, long courts with a bewildering maze of
buildings, thousand-pillared halls, and long vistas of covered
colonnades which seem to fade into the distance. But most of these
temples are of a much later period.
The Upper Deccan
Between North India and the Far South, which had evolved
two independent styles of architecture, lay the Deccan plateau
where both the styles were in use. The Chalukyas and the Rash-
trakutas who ruled in this region were great builders. Near the
Chalukya capital, Badami, we find a number of cave-temples which
are dedicated to Brahmamcal gods, and contain a number of fine
MONUMENTS OE ANCIENT INDIA 261
images and good sculptures. There are also many stone temples
at Badami and various other places constructed in the ordinary
way. Most of these show the PaUava or Dravidian style. The
same style was also largely adopted by the Rashtrakutas, and the
world-famous Kailasa Temple at Ellora is a marvellous specimen
of the Dravidian style. It was constructed during the reign of
Krishna I, in the latter half of the eighth century a.d. The process
of construction employed in the case of the Mamallapuram Ratlms
was repeated here on a much bigger scale. An entire hillside was
first demarcated and separated from a long range of mountains;
and then a huge temple was cut out of it in the same way as each
Ratha at MamaUapuram was cut out of a rock-boulder. The big
temple, standing in an open court, now appears like an ordinary
one, but it is merely the remnant of a solid mass of stone that
once formed a part of the hill which now surrounds the temple
on three sides.
The temple has a Dravidian iikhara and is elaborately carved
with fine sculptures. Caves, excavated in the sides of the hills
round it, contain big halls decorated with finely wrought pillars
and images of various Brahmapical divinities. The Kailasa temple
at Ellora is a splendid achievement of art, and considering the
technical skill and labour involved, is unequalled in the history of
the world.
The hill at Ellora contains a number of rock- cut caves within
a short distance of the famous temple. The caves generally resemble
those of the earlier period at Nasik and Karle, but the fagade of
the Vi^vakarma cave shows a pleasing modification.
The caves on the island of Elephanta, near Bombay, are also
renowned and contain a number of large and remarkable images of
Brahmapical gods.
The Mysore Plateau
The Hoysalas who succeeded the later Chalukyas and ruled
over the Mysore plateau in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
A.D. evolved a new style of architecture. They perhaps inherited
the art-traditions of their predecessors, the Gahgas, during whose
rule the famous colossal Jaina image of Gomata was constructed
by Chamunda Ray, a minister, in about a.d. 983. The statue,
placed on the top of a hillock at Sravapa Belgola, is more than
66 feet high, i.e. about ten times the size of a human being. It
is wrought out of a single block of stone of the hardest species.
In boldness of conception and difi&culty of execution, it has perhaps
no rival among the sculptures of the world.
r’T’? -7'*"'“" ’"'35
252 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The Hoysalas displayed the same qualities, though in a different
way, in the construction of their temples. These temples are not
square but polygonal or star-shaped. The essential characteristics
of these temples are the high bases or plinths which follow aU the
windings of the temple and thus offer a huge length of vacant
space to be elaborately carved with sculptures. The Mkhara is
pyramidal but low, and may be regarded as a modified type of the
Dravidian. The best-known example of the Hoysala style is the
famous Hoysale^vara temple at Halebid or Dorasamudra. It
E-N.A
HOYSALBSVAEA TEMPI.B, HALEBID
stands on a terrace, about five or six feet high, paved with stone
slabs. The entire height is covered with a succession of eleven run-
ning friezes of elephants, tigers, scrolls, horsemen, and celestial
beasts and birds. Each frieze has a length of 700 feet or more, and
the entire surface is covered with sculptures. The lowest frieze, for
example, contains no less than two thousand elephants finely
executed, and most of them with riders and trappings. Similar
elaboration of decoration is found in the r(imaining ten friezes.
The Hoysale^vara temple contains, as has been aptly remarked
“one of the most marvellous exhibitions of human labour to be
found even in the patient Bast”,
MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT INDIA
253
Medieval Sculptures
The medieval sculptures may best be studied with reference to
the temples which they adorn. There were, besides, isolated images
of gods and goddesses, in considerable numbers. There were many
local schools with distinctive characteristics, fostered by differ-
ent ruling dynasties (e.g. Palas, Senas, Chandellas, Kalachuris).
It is neither possible nor necessary to refer in detail to these numer-
ous schools spread all over India. The medieval sculptures are
gradually dominated more and more by religious influence and
less by aesthetic ideas. Sometimes they seem ugly and even horrible
to the modern eye, though they represent faithfully some religious
concept. The conception of Nataraja ^iva is one of the few valuable
contributions of medieval art, especially in South India. In North
India we come across both Buddhist and Bramanical images of a
fairly high standard, but there is hardly any original conception. In
the later period they are influenced by Tantrik ideas which are not
always very pleasing to the modem taste.
Art in ancient India has in the main been a handmaid of religion.
It has ordinarily expressed the prevailing rehgious faiths and beliefs,
and spiritual conceptions and emotions. To understand and appre-
ciate it properly one must have a thorough understanding of the
different phases of religious evolution. In earlier periods, however,
there was more of really artistic spirit, and the religious ideas were
also more compatible with modern aesthetic taste. Gradually
there was a decline in artistic feeling and the artists were mere
mechanical instruments in rendering, to order, the later concepts
of religion.
Medieval Painting
The ceilings of the rock- cut temple at Kailasa and the adjoining
caves contain pictures of a type and style different from those of
Ajanta and Bagh. The cave temple at Sittanna vasal in Pudukottai
(Madras) contains some fine paintings of the time of the Pallava
king Mahendravarman. Chola paintings of the eleventh century a.d.
have been discovered in the great temple at Tanjore. The art of
painting in later periods is mostly known from iflumhaations on
palm-leaves of manuscripts found in Eastern India and Gujarat, but
they are of much inferior quality.
Conclusion
A review of the progress and development of Indian art, such
as we have attempted above, is necessary for the proper under-
254
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OR INDIA
standing of the high culture and refinement of the ancient Indians.
For true art is an unerring expression of mind, and a national art
is a true reflex of national character. Great nations of the world
have left behind them unmistakable evidence of their greatness
in their works of art. The nature and excellence of art constitute
a sure means by which we can understand the essential character-
istics of a nation and make a fair estimate of its greatness. Judged
by the standard of art, Indian civilisation must be regarded as
occupying a very high place indeed among those of antiquity.
It e:^bits not only grace and refinement but technical skill and
patient industry of a very high order. Taken in a mass, Indian
art offers the most vivid testimony to the wonderful resources in
men and money possessed by the rulers, and the religious spirit,
occasionally reaching to a sublime height, that dominated the
entire population. It shows, as the national ideal, the subordina-
tion of ideas of physical beauty and material comfort to ethical
conceptions and spiritual bliss. Amid the luxuries and comforts
of worldly life, the thought of the world beyond never ceased to
exercise a dominant influence. The changes in spiritual ideas and
ideals, from the sublime purity of early Buddhism to the less
pleasing forms of the Tantrik cult, are also reflected in art. A more
detailed study of the subject is beyond the scope of the present
work, but its meaning and significance for the correct interpreta-
tion of ancient Indian life must be clearly grasped by every student
of History.
GENEALOGICAL TABLES TO PART I
THE MAUBYAS
Chandragupta Priyadarsana
Bindusara Amitraghata
^
Sushima (Sumana) A^okavardhana VigataSoka
I Priyadarsin (? Tissa)
Nigrodha 1
Mahendra Saughamitra Charumatl Kiinala Jalauka Tivara
(Dharmavivardhana, (Kaslmair)
Suyasas)
!
Bandhupalita Samprati Vigatasoka
(Dasaratha?) ^aJisuka |
Devadharma (-Vaxman) Virasena
Satamdhanus ( Gandbara)
Brihadratha Subhagasena
THE EABLY GUPTAS
Gupta
I
Ghatotkacha
I
Chandra Gupta I = KumaradevI (Lichehhavi)
Samudra Gupta (Parakramanka; ^ri Vikrama?)
I
Chandra Gupta II (Vikramaditya)
(Deva Gupta)
L
Govinda Gupta Ktunara Gupta I Prabhavatl
(Tirhut) (Maiiendraditya) (Queen of the Vakatakas)
Skanda Gupta Puru Gupta Ghatotkacha Gupta (?)
(Vikramaditya) (]§rl Yikrama) (Tumain)
Narasiihha Gupta Budha Gupta
(Baladitya)
Kumara Gupta II
(Klramaditya)
Vishnu Gupta
256
256
?:»?:«
;«ss(s
i"ii9
ill
, |<
IfpmlM
WmlB.
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
HOUSE OF PUSHYABHUTI
Narav^ardliana (Thanesar)
Rajyavardliana I
Ad ityavardhana
Prabhakaravardliana
Harshavardhana RajyasrI
(Siladitya) (Queen of the Mauldiaris)
( 1 hanesar and Kanau j )
daughter = Dhruvasena II
(Dhruvabhata Baladitya) (Valabhi)
Dharasena IV (Valabhi)
THE IMPERIAL PRATIHARAS
Unnamed ancestor
(claiming descent from Lalcshmana of the Raghu family)
Nagabhata I
Name not loiown
Kakustha
Devaraja (Devaiiakti)
Vatsaraja
Nagabhata II (Maru, Kanauj, etc.)
Ramabhadra (Ramadeva)
Bhoja I (Mihira, Prabhasa,
(Kanauj) Adivaraha)
Yuvaraja Nagabhata
Mahendrapala I
(Mahendrayudha Nirbhayaraja, Bhaka)
Mahipala I (KshitipMa?)
Vinayakapala (Harsha)
1 Mahendrapala II
Vijayapala (?)
Hajyapala (?) (Kanauj and Bari)
Triloehanapala ( ?) (Bari)
Yasahpala (?)
Devapala ( ?)
Mahipala II ( ?)
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
257
THE PALAS of BENGAL AND THE GAHADAVALAS
Dayitavishnu
^ri Vapyata
Gopala I
1
Dharmapala
Tribhuvanapala
“I
Devapala
I
Rajyapala
Fa^ovigraha (Gahadavala)
I
Mahlchandra
I r
Chandradeva Mahana
(KanauJ and Benares) 1
I
Vakpala
I
Jayapala
1
Vigrahapala I (Surapala I)
I
Narayanapala
r
Rajyapala
Gopala II
I
Vigrahapala II
Mahipala I
Nayapala
I
Lakshmi-Karna (Chedi)
I
girl = Vigrahapala III = YauvanaSri
I
Madanapala Devarakshita = Sankaradevi
I (S. Bihar) |
Govindachandra == Knmaradevi
I I I 1
Vijayachandra Mahipala II Surapala II Ramapala
I I
J ayachchandra
ViraSrl =
Jatavarman
(parts of
E. India)
Rajyapala Vittapala Kumarapala Madanapala
i I I
Harischandra ? Samyukta = Prithviraja III Gopala III
258
A]!^ ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
THE SENAS OE BENGAL
Vi^varupa Sena
? Princes Silryya Sena and
Purushottama Sena
Vira Sena (ancestor)
Samanta Sena (Radha or West Bengal)
Hemanta Sena
Vijaya Sena (Bengal)
Ballala Sena
Lakslunana Sena
J
Kesava Sena
(Lakhmanya pisar Rai Lakhman of
the Tabakat-i-Akbari?)
EARLY CHALUKYA KINGS
Jayasiiiiha I
^ I
Ranaraga
1. Pulakesin I, a.c. 543-44
1
^ Maigale.%
A.D. 566-c. 597 e. a.d. 597-608
i ViahLvardlmna
c. A.D. 609-642 ‘ Visliama-Siddhi'.
Founded the Eastern
Chalukya Dynasty of
Pishtapura and Vehgl.
Jayasiihha
‘ Dharasraya ’
Nagavardhana
(Nasik branch)
CliMdraditya Adityalarman s. Vikraiiaditya I
‘Ranarasika’
a.d. 655-680
6. Vinayaditya
a.d. 680-696
7. Vijayaditya
A.D. 696-733
Jayasiihha
(Lata branch)
8. Vikramaditya n
a.d. 733-746
9. Kirttivarman II
A.D. 746-767
Bhima I
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
259
EASTERN CHALUKYA DYNASTY
1. Kubja Vishimvardliana I
Brother of early Chalukya king Pulakesin II
; I
2. Jayasirhha I 3. Indra-Bhattaraka
1
4. Vishnuvardhana II
I
5. Mangi-Yuvaraja
I
1 1 ' I
6. Jayasirhha II 8. Vishnuvardhana III 7. Kolduli
I
9. Vijayaditya I
I
10. Vishnuvardhana IV
11. Vijayaditya 11 Narendra-mriga-raja Nripa-Rudra
12. Kali- Vishnuvardhana V
■j
1 ^ I I
13. Gunaka-Vijayaditya III Vikramaditya I Yudhamalla I
(Yuva-raja) |
I I
14. Chalukya-Bhima I IS. Tarapa, Tadapa, or
‘Droharjuna’. Tala I
Coronation a.d. 892 )
1 21. Yuddhamalla II
I 'I
15. Vijayaditya IV 19. Vil£ramadit 5 '-a II
16. Aroma I ‘Vishnuvardhana VI’ 22. Chalukya- 23b Badapa Tala II
‘Rajamahendra’ Bhima III ‘Vishnuvardhana’
I I
r “ 1 I ~ i
17. Beta Vijayaditya V 20. Bhima II 24. Danarnava 23*. Ammall
I ‘Vijayaditya VI’,
‘.Ra ja-mahendra ’
A.D. 945-970
25. ^aktivarman 26. Vimaladitya
(Md, Kundavva, dau. of
Rajaraja Chola I)
A.D. 1011-1022
J__
27. Rajaraja Narendra I Vijayaditya VII
Md. Ammanga-devi, dau. of Rajendra Chola I. 1022-1063 Viceroy of Vehgi
28. Rajendra III
United the E. Chalukya and Chola crowns and reigned as Kulottvuiga
Chola I, 1070-1122. Md. Madurantaki, dau. of Rajendradeva II Chola.
260
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
THE BASHTBAKHTA DYNASTY
Dantivarman 1
I
Indra I
I
Govinda I
I
Karka, or Kakka I
Indra II Krishna I
(Md. a Chalukya princess) ‘ Akalavarsha’,
I ‘^ubhatuhga’.
I A.D. 768-772. _
I Constructed the Kailasa
i rock-cut temple at Ellora
Dantidurga (Dantivarman II) j
‘ Vairamegha’, ‘Khadgavaloka’. j
A.D. 754 1
I I
Govinda II Dhruva
Ivamba Govinda III Indi’a
‘ Stambha’, ‘Banavaloka’ 793-814 (Lata branch)
Nripatuhga
Amoghavarsha I
or ‘Aarva’ 814-877
!
Krishna II Dau: ^ahkha
877-913 Md. the Pallava king
Md. dau. of Kokljalla the Nandivarman III
Chedi or Kalachuri king.
Jagattuhga
Md. Lakslimi, a Kalachuri princess
I
I"'"'" ^ " I
Indra III. 915-927 Vaddiga, or Amoghavarsha III
Md. Vijamba, a Kalachuri c. 934-939. Md. Kundaka
princess |
I I
Amoghavarsha II Govinda IV
Ruled 1 year, and deposed Sahasanka
by his brother 918-934
Dau. Bevaka Krishna III Khottiga
Md. W. Gahga 939-968 968-972
King Butuga II |
a son
Nirupama
I
Kakkala or
Karka II or
Amoghavarsha IV
972-973
Nanna
. . I
Saiikaragana
793
I
Indra IV
(died 982)
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
26!
CHALUKYA DYNASTY. OF KALYANA
Vijayaditya (696-733)
1
Bhima I
Klrfetivarman III
Tailapa, or Taila I
Vikramaditya III
1
Bhima II
1
Ayvana I
I
Vikramaditya IV
Md. Bonthadevi, dau. of the Chedi king Lakshmana
1. Tailapa or Taila II. ‘Ahavamalla’.
Md, Jakavve, dan. of a Rashtrakfita king. a.o. 973-997
1
I ■ 1
2. Satyasraya, Irivabodahga. Dasavarman
A.D. 997-1008 or Yasovarman
3. Vikramaditya V 4. Ayyana II 6. Jayasirhha II
A.D. 1008-1014 1014-1016 ‘ Jagadekamalla’
A.D. 1015-1042
J
6._ Somesvara I Dau. Hanma or Avall§-devl
‘Ahavamalla’ Md. Yadava Chief Bhillama
A.D. 1042-1068 in of Seuna-desa
I _ _ •
r T ■ !
7. Somesvara II 8. Vikramaditya VI Jayasimha Vishnu vardhana
‘Bhuvanaikamalla’ ‘ Tribhu vanamalla ’ Vijayaditya
1068-1076 1076-1127
Jayakarna 9. Somelvara III Dau. Mailala-devi,
‘Trailokyamalla’ ‘ Bhulokamalla ’ Md. Jayakeiin II of
1127-1138 the Kadambas of Goa.
10. Perma, Jagadekamalla II 11. Tailapa III
1138-1151 ‘Nurmadi Taila’, ‘Trailokyamalla
1151-1156. Died 1163
12. Somesvara IV
‘ Tribhuvanamalla ’
1184-1200
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
PALLAVA KINGS
Sirhhavarman IV
Vishnugopa III
Sirhhavarman V
Sirfahavishnu
Mahendravarman 1
Narasiriihavarman I
e. 642-668
Mahondi'avarman II
Paramesvaravarman I
c. 674
Narasiihhavarman II
I
1
Parame^varavarman II Mahendravarman III Dantivlirman
Vanquished by Rash-
trakuta Govinda III (793-814)
Nandivarman III (Kampa 1 )
Md. ^ahkha, dau. of
Rashtrakuta Amoghavarsha I
Nripatuhga
Aparajita
Crushed by the Chola King
Aditya I in the last quarter
of the ninth century a.d.
Bhimavarman
Buddhavarman
Adityavarman
Govindavarman
Hiranyavarman
Nandivarman II
Ruled for at least 65
years in the eighth century
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
263
CHOLA KINGS
Vijayalaya
Seized Tanjore.
e. 846-871
5dit}-a I
c. 871-907
Parantaka I
A.D. 907-953
Sditya II, or
‘Karikala II’
956-960
Parantaka 11
‘Simdara Ohola*
956-973
.1
Riijaraja I
‘ Mniranadi-Chola
‘Nurmadi-Chora’,
‘Arumoll-deva’.
985-lOlG
Rajendra I
‘Pandita-Chola’,
‘MndikoD^a Chola’,
‘ fiangaikonda-Ohola
‘Nigariii-Chbla’. 1012-1044
Dau. Ammangadovi
Md. Rajarilja I
E. Chnlukya
Bajadhiraja I
‘Jayamiconda Cliola’
Yuvaraja 1018-1044
King 1044-1054
Dau, Kundavva
Md. E. Chalukya
king Vimaiaditya.
Bajendra III
Bulottuuga Chola 1
1070-1122
Dau. Madhurantaki
Md. E. Chalukya
Bajendra III,
Kulottuhga I
Dau. md. Vikra-
maditya VI of
Kalyana
Bajaraja
Viceroy of
Vehgl
Mummadl-Chola
Viceroy of
Vengl
Vira Chola
Viceroy of
Vehgi
Kulottunga Chola II
1133-1150
Bajaraja II
1146-1173
Cousin
Rajadiiiraja II
1163-1179
Successors
Kulottuhga III
1178-1218
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART I
Chapter 1.
x4ncient Geography of India — Cuniiingliam.
Bhuvanakosa section of the Puranas.
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I.
Census of India, 1931, Vol. I.
Pimdamental Unity of India — R. K. Mookerji.
History of Greece — George Grote.
Imperial Gazetteer of India, the Indian Empire, Vol. I, XXVL
Studies in Indian Antiquities — Raj’-chaiidhuri.
Chapter II.
Imperial Gazetteer of India, the Indian Empire, Vols. I-II.
Indus Civilisation — Ernest Mackay.
Indus Valley Civilisation — S. R. Kohli.
Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilisation — Sir John Marshall.
Oxford History of India — V. Smith.
Pragaitihasika Mohenjo-Daro (in Bengali), Calcutta University
— K. Goswami.
Prehistoric India — Stuart Piggott.
Script of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro — G. R. Hunter.
Chapter III.
Ancient India — R. C. Majumdar.
Buried Empires — ^Patrick Carleton.
Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. II.
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, Chapters III and IV.
Hindu Public Life, Vol. I — Ghoshal.
History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature — ^Max Muller.
History of Indian Literature, Vol. I — Winternitz.
Imperial Gazetteer of India, the Indian Empire, Vol. II.
Life in Ancient India — P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar.
Original Sanskrit Texts — ^Muir.
Orion — ^B, G. Tilak,
Religion and Philosophy of the Veda — Keith.
Rig-Veda — ^Kaegi.
Rig- Veda Samhita (Translated by R. 0. Dutt).
Rig-Veda Samhita (Translated by Wilson).
264
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART I 265
Sanskrit Literature — Macdonell,
Vedapravesika — U. C. Vatavj’-ala.
Vedic Age (History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol. I)~
edited by R. C. Majumdar and A. D. Pusalker.
Vedic Index — MacdoneU and Keith.
Vedic Mythology — Macdonell,
Chapter IV.
Aitareya Aranyaka — Keith.
Aitareya Brahinana.
Ancient Indian Numismatics — S. K. Chakrabortty.
Atharva Veda Samhita.
Athar vaveda (Translation) — Bloomfield ,
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, Chapter V.
Chhandogya Upanishad,
Commemoration Volume — Bhandarkar.
Early History of the Vaishnava Sect — Raychaudhuri.
History of Indian Literature — Weber.
History of Indian Literature, Vol. I — Winternitz.
Hymns of the Atharvaveda Translated — Griffith.
Jaiminiya Brahmana.
Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana.
Katha Upanishad.
Kena Upanishad.
Life in Ancient India — P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar.
Mundaka-Mandukya Upanishad.
Panchavimsa Brahmana.
Prasna Upanishad,
Religion and Philosophy of the Veda — Keith.
Sama Veda Samhita.
Sanlchayana Aranyaka,
Sanskrit Literature — ^Macdonell.
Satapatha Brahmana,
Saunaka’s Brihad Devata.
Svetasvatara Upanishad.
Taittiriya Aranyaka.
Texts of the White Yajurveda Translated — Griffith,
Translation of the Samhita of the Sama Veda^ — Stevenson,
Vedic Index — ^Macdonell and Keith.
Vedic ]\Iythology^ — ^Macdonell.
Yajurveda Samhita.
Yaska’s Nirukta.
ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Ompter V.
Ancient Persian Lexicon and the Texts of the Achaemenidan
Inscriptions — Tolman.
Bhavisyanukirtan section of the Puranas.
Buddhist India — Rhys Davids.
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, Chapters VI, VII, XIII,
XIV, XV, XVI.
Dialogues of the Buddha — Rhys Davids.
Dynasties of the Kali Age — Pargiter.
Early History of India — V. Smith.
History of Greece — George Grote.
History of Greece — J. B. Bury.
History of Herodotus translated by George Rawlinson.
Illustrated London News, February 22, 1936, p. 328.
Invasion of India by Alexander the Great — MHrindle.
Jaina Sutras — Jacobi.
Jataka — Fausboll.
Mahavamsa — Geiger.
Nii’ayavaliya Sutta — Warren.
Old Persian Inscriptions of the Acliaeuienian Emperors — Sukiimar
Sen.
Parisishtaparvan — Hemachandra.
Political History of Ancient India — Raychaudhuri.
Uvasaga Dasao — ^Hoernle.
Vinaya Texts — Rhys Davids and Oldenberg.
Chapter VI.
Agrarian System of Ancient India — Ghoshal.
Ancient India as Described in Classical Literature — M’Crindle.
Ashtadhyayi Sutrapatha— Panini.
Asvalayana Grihya Sutra.
Bodhayana Dharmasutra.
Buddha — Oldenberg.
Buddhist India — Rhys Davids.
Buddhist Suttas.
Buddhistic Studies — B. C. Law.
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, Chapters VI, VII, VIII,
IX, X, XI, XVI.
Corporate Life in Ancient India — R. C. Majumdar.
Dialogues of the Buddha.
Early History of the Vaishnava Sect — Raychaudhuri.
Epic Mythology— Hopkins.
Gautama Dharraasastra.
Gobhila Grihya Sutra.
267
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART I
Great Epic of India — Hopkins.
Heart of Jainism — Sinclair Stevenson.
Hindu Law and Custom — Jolly.
Hindu Polity — Jayaswal.
Hinduism and Buddhism, 3 vols. — Sir Charles Eliot.
History of Indian Literature — ^Winternitz.
History of Pali Literature — B. C. Law.
Indian Antiquities — ^Barnett.
Indo-Aryan Races — Chanda.
Jaina Sutras.
Jatakas.
Life of Buddha — E. J. Thomas.
Local Government in Ancient India — R. K. Mookerji.
Mahabharata,
Mahabhashya — Patanj ali.
Manual of Indian Buddhism — ^Kern.
Oxford History of India — V. Smith.
Political History of Ancient India — Raychaudhuri.
Eamayana.
Social Organisation in North-East India — Pick.
Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient
India — ^Hopkins.
Studies in Indian Antiquities — Raychaudhuri.
Theism in Medieval India — Carpenter.
Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems — Sir R. G.
Bhandarkar.
Vasishtha Bharmasutra.
Vinaya Texts.
Chapter VII.
The Age of Imperial Unity — ^Edited by R. C. Majumdar.
Age of the Nandas and Mauryas — Edited by IC. A. N. Sastri.
Ancient India as described by Megasthonos find Arrian—
M’Crindle.
Asoka — R. K. Mookerji.
Asoka — -V. Smith.
Asoka Edicts in New Light — ^B. M. Barua.
Asoka Inscriptions — B. M. Barua.
Asokavadana.
Bhavishj^anukirtan section of the Puranas.
Buddhist India — Rhys Davids.
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, Chapters XVIII, XX.
Carmichael Lectures, 1923.
Chandragupta Maurya and His Times — -R. K. Mookerji.
268 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
A Comprehensive History of India, Vol. II — Edited by K. A. N.
Sastri.
Early History of India — V. Smith.
Epitome of the Historiae Rhilippicae of Pompeius Trogus —
Justin.
Inscriptions of Asoka — Hultzsch.
jMahavamsa.
Mudra Rakshasa — ^\^sakhadal: ta.
Parisishtaparvan — Hemaehandra.
Political History of Ancient India — Raycliaudhuri.
Rajaterangini.
Ancient History of the Deccan — Jouveau Diibreuil.
Beginnings of South Indian History — S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar.
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, Chapters XVII, XXI, XXII,
XXIII, XXIV.
Catalogue of Indian Coins (Ancient India) — Allan.
Catalogue of Indian Coins (Andhras, Western Kshatrapas, etc.)
— Rapson.
Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum — Smith.
Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India —
Gardner.
Dynasties of the Kali Age — Pargiter.
Early History of the Deccan — Sir R. G. Bhandarkar.
Early History of India — V. Smith.
Greeks in Bactria and India — ^Tarn.
Guide to Sanchi — Marshall.
Guide to TaxUa — ^Marshall.
Indo-Greek Coins — ^Whitehead.
The Indo-Greeks — ^A. K. Narain.
Kharoshthi Inscriptions — Sten Konow.
Notes on the Indo-Scythians — Sylvain Levi.
Political History of Ancient India — Raychaudhuri.
Sakasthana — ^E. W. Thomas.
Scythian Period^ — Johanna Engelberta Van Lohuizen de Leeuw.
Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago — V. Kanakasabhai Pillai.
CJdayagiri Khandagiri Cave Inscriptions — Barua.
Chapter IX.
Ancient India (M’Crindle’s Translation) — Ptolemy.
Ancient India as described in Classical Literature — M’Crindle.
Ancient India as described by Megasthenes and Arrian —
M’Crindle.
Arthasastra — ^Kautilya.
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART I
269
Asoka — Smith.
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I.
Catalogue of Indian Coins (Andhxas, Western Kshatrapas, etc.)
— Rapson.
Champa — R. C. Majumdar.
Early History of Bengal — ^Monahan.
Hindu Political Theories — Ghoshal.
Hindu Revenue S5^stem — Ghoshal.
History of Dharmasastra — Kane.
History of Indian Literature — ^Winternitz.
History of Sanskrit Literature — Keith.
India and Java — Bijam-aj Chatterjee.
Indian Cultural Influence in Cambodia — Bijanraj Chatterjee.
Indo-Greek Coins — ^Whitehead.
Inscriptions of Asoka — Hultzsch.
Mahabhashya — Patanjali.
Manava Dharmasastra.
Manual of Indian Buddhism — Kern.
Natural History — Pliny.
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Political History of Ancient India — Raychaudhuri.
Sanskrit Drama — Keith.
Some New Numismatic Data in Pali Literature — C. D. Chatterjee.
Suvarnadvipa — R. 0. Majumdar.
Chapter X.
Age of the Imperial Guptas — ^R. D. Banerji.
Ancient History of the Deccan — Jouveau-Dubreuil.
Arya Manjusri Mula Kalpa.
Buddhist Records of the Western World — ^Beal.
Catalogue of Indian Coins (Gupta Dynasties) — Allan.
The Classical Age — Edited by R. C. Majumdar.
The Decline of the Kingdom of Magadha — B. P. Sinha.
Dynasties of the Kali Age — Pargiter.
Early History of India — Smith.
History of North-Eastern India — ^Basak.
Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings — Fleet.
On Yuan Chwang — Watters.
Political History of Ancient India — ^Raychaudhuri.
Travels of Fa-Hien.
Vakataka Dynasty of Berar — Smith.
New History of the Indian People, Vol. VI. Edited by R. 0.
Majumdar and A. S. Altekar.
mmrn
270 AK ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Chapter XL
Banglar Itihasa — R, D. Banerji.
Dynastic History of Northern India — H. C. Ray,
Early History of India — Smith.
Gauda Lekha Mala — A. K. Maitreya.
Gauda Rajamala — R. P. Chanda,
Giirjara-Pratiharas — R. C. Majuindar.
Harsha-Charita — Bana.
Harsha — R. K. Mookerji,
History of India as told by her own Historians, Vol. I— Elliot.
History of Kanauj— R. S. Tripathi.
Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings— Fleet.
On Yuan Chwang — Watters.
Political History of Ancient India — Raychaudhuri.
Rajatarangini.
Chapter XII.
Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts — Fleet.
Early History of the Deccan— Sir R, G, Bhandarkar.
Foreigii Notices of South India— Nilakanta Sastri.
Historical Inscriptions of Southern India — Sewell and Aiyangar.
A History of South India— K. A. N. Sastri.
Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions— Rice.
Pallavas — Dubreuil .
Bashtrakutas and their Times — Altekar.
Studios in Pallava History — Heras.
Successors of the Satavahanas— D. G. Sircar.
Chapters XIII and XIV.
The Age of Imperial Kanaiij— Edited by R. 0. Majumdar.
Ancient India — vS. K. Aiyangar.
Arab Invasions of India— R. C. Majumdar.
Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. I,
Caste in India — Senart.
Caste System of Northern India — Blunt.
Census of India, 1931.
Cholas, The — ^Nilakanta Sastri.
Dynastic History of Northern India— H. C. Ray.
Early History of Bengal— Girindramohan Sarkar.
Early History of Kamrup— K. L. Barua.
Historical Inscriptions of Southern India— Sewell and Aiyan^rar.
History of Assam — Gait. ”
History of India as told by her own Historians, Vols. I II—
EUiot.
271
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART I
History of Kanauj — R. S. Tripathi.
History of Orissa — R. D. Banerji.
History of the Paramaras — C. Ganguli.
History of Sanskrit Literature — Keith.
Hymns of the Alvars — ^Hooper.
Hymns of the Tamil Saivite Saints — Kingsbury and Phillips.
India (Sachau) — al-Beruni.
Inscriptions of Bengal — ^N. G. Majumdar.
Kamarupasasanavali — Padmanath Bhattachary a .
Lakshmanasena Era — Raychaudhuri.
Life and Times of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna — Nazim.
List of the Inscriptions of Northern India — ^Kielhorn,
List of the Inscriptions of Southern India — ^Eaelhorn.
Navasahasankacharita — Padmagupta.
Nepal — Percival Landon.
Origin and Early History of Saivism in South India — C. V.
Narayan Iyer.
Origin and Growth of Caste in India — Dutt.
Outline of the Religious Literature of India — ^Farquhar.
Palas of Bengal — R. D. Banerji.
Pandyan Kingdom — ^Nilakanta Sastri.
Pavanadutam — Dhoyi.
Rajatarangini — ^Kalhana.
Rajputana Gazetteer.
Ramacharita — Sandhyakara Nandi.
Sri Sankaraoharya — 0. N. Krishnaswami Aiyar.
The Struggle for Empire — ^Edited by R. 0. Majumdar.
Studies in Tamil Literature and History — Dikshitar.
Theism in Medieval India — Carpenter.
Travels — ^Marco Polo.
Unavimsa-samhita edited by Panchanan Tarkaratna.
Vaishnavism, Saivaism and Minor Religious Systems — Sir R. G.
Bhandarkar.
Vaishnavite Reformers of India — ^T. Rajagopala Chariar.
V ikramankade vacharita — Bilhana .
The Wonder that was India — ^A. L. Basham.
Chapter XV.
Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East — R. C. Majumdar,
Vol. I. — Champa.
Vol. II. — Suvarnadvipa.
Ancient Indian Colonisation in South-East Asia — ^R. 0. Majumdar.
Hindu Colonies in the Far East— R. 0. Majumdar.
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol. II— Eliot.
India and Central Asia — P. C. Bagchi,
India and the Western World — H. G. Rawlinson.
Indian Cultural Influence in Cambodia — B. R. Chatter ji.
Indian Influences on the Literature of Java and Bali — H. Sarkar.
Chapter XVI.
Beginnings of Buddhist Art — A, Fouchor.
Cambridge History of India, Vol, I.
History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon — V. A, Smith.
History of Indian and Indonesian Art — A. K. Goomarswaniy
Hi.story of Indian and Eastern Architecture (Edited by ,
Burgess and R. P. Sijiers) — J. Fergusson.
Indian Architecture— Percy Brown.
Indian Sculpture — Stella Kramriscli,
A Survej’’ of Indian Sculpture — S. K. Saras wati.
PART II
MEDIEVAL INDIA
Book I
THE MUSLIM CONQUEST AND THE
DELHI SULTANATE
CHAPTER I
THE ADVENT OF THE MUSLIMS
The Arabs in Sind
We have seen in a previous chapter how the Arabs, roused to
energy and enthusiasm by a new creed, effected the conquest of
Sind and carried on operations in some of the neighbouring provinces.
With the decline of the Caliphs or Klialifahs of Baghdad, supreme
leaders and rulers of the greater part of the Islamic world, the
Muslim governor of Sind became virtually independent. In a.d.
871 the Khalifah practically handed over the province to the
famous Saffarid leader, Ya‘qub-ibn-Lais. On the latter’s death,
the Muslim territories in Sind were divided between two independent
chiefs, those of Mansurah (near Bahmanabad) and Multan. Neither
of these ever attained to great power, and both had to live in
constant dread of their Indian neighbours, particularly the Imperial
Pratiharas of Kanauj.
The Arab conquest of Sind did not immediately produce any
far-reaching political effect, and it has been described by Mr.
Stanley Lane -Poole as “an episode in the history of India and of
Islam, a triumph without results”. But it is significant from the
cultural point of view. Besides helping the exchange of ideas, it
facilitated the dissemination of the seeds of Indian culture in
foreign lands. The Arabs acquired from the Hindus some new
knowledge in Indian Religion, Philosophy, Medicine, Mathematics,
Astronomy and Folklore, and carried it not only to their own
land but also to Europe. We know definitely from Mas'udi and
Ibn Hauqal that Arab settlers lived side by side with their Hindu
fellow’’- citizens for many years on terms of amity and peace, and
Amir Khusrav mentions that the Arab astronomer Abu Ma’shar
came to Benares and studied astronomy there for ten years.
The Ghaznadds : Sultan Mahmud
-From the political point of view, the conquest of the Punjab
by the Sultans of Ghaznij to which reference has already been
' ; ' 276
276 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
madej was of far greater importance than the establishment of
Arab principalities in the lower Indus valley.
Sultan Mahmud, who carried to fruition the policy of his father,
Sabuktigin, was undoubtedly one of the greatest military leaders
the world has ever seen. His cool courage, prudence, resourceful-
ness and other qualities make him one of the most interesting
personalities in Asiatic history. In addition to his victorious
expeditions in India he had to his credit two memorable campaigns
against hostile Turks in the course of which he routed the hosts of
Ilak KJian and the Seljuqs. Great as a warrior, the Sultan was no
less eminent as a patron of arts and letters.
But in spite of all this, to the historian of India he appears mainly
as an insatiable invader. He was neither a missionary for the
propagation of religion in this country nor an architect of empire.
The main object of his eastern expeditions seems to have been
the acquisition of the “wealth of Ind” and the destruction of the
morale of its custodians. The annexation of the Punjab was a
measure of necessity rather than of choice. Nevertheless, it would
be a mistake to assume that his invasions had no permanent
political results in India. He drained the wealth of the country
and despoiled it of its military resources to an appalling extent.
The Ghaznavid occupation of the Punjab served as the key to
unlock the gates of the Indian interior. Big cracks were made in
the great fabric of Indian poKty, and it was no longer a question
of whether but when that age-old structure would fall. Neither the
Arabs nor the Ghaznavid (Yaraini) Turks succeeded in adding
India to the growing empire of Islam, but they paved the way for
that final struggle which overwhelmed the Gangetic kingdoms
some two hundred years later.
Muhammad of Ghur
The empire of Ghazni began to fall to pieces under the later
successors of Sultan Mahmud, who were too feeble to maintain
their position at Ghazni and in North-West India in the face of
the rising power of the princes of Ghur, a small obscure princi-
pality in the mountainous region of Afghanistan to the south-east
of Herat. The petty chiefs of Ghur, of eastern Persian extraction,
were originally feudatories of Ghazni, but, taking advantage of
the weakness of their suzerains, they steadily rose to power and
entered into a contest with them for supremacy. In the course of
this contest, Qutb-ud-din Muhammad of Ghur, and his brother
Saif-ud-din, were cruelly executed by Bahram Shah of Ghazni.
THE ADVENT OF THE MUSLIMS 277
‘Ala-ud-din Husain, a brother of the victims, took a terrible
revenge on Ghazni by sacking the city and giving it to the flames
for seven days and nights. This action earned for ‘Ala-ud-din the
title of Jahdnsuz, “the world-burner”, Bahram’s son and feeble
successor, Khusrav Shah, was driven from Ghazni by a horde of
the Ghuzz tribe of Turkmans and fled to the Punjab, then the
sole remnant of the wide dominions of his ancestors. Ghazni
remained in possession of the Ghuzz Turkmans for about ten
years, after which it was occupied by the princes of Ghur. Saif-
ud-din Muhammad, son and successor of the “world-burner”,
was killed in fighting against the Ghuzz Turkmans ; but his cousin
and successor, Ghiyas-ud-din Muhammad, drove the Ghuzz Turk-
mans from Ghazni in 1173 and appointed his younger brother,
Shihab-ud-din, also known as Mu‘iz-ud-din Muhammad bin Sam
or popularly called Muhammad of Ghur, governor of that province.
Very cordial relations existed between the two brothers, and
Muhammad of Ghur began his Indian campaigns while still a
lieutenant of his brother.
The first Indian expedition of Muhammad of Ghur (a.d. 1175),
directed against his co-religionists, the Isma‘ilan heretics of Multan
was attended with success, and he soon captured the strong
fortress of Uch by a stratagem. But his invasion of Gujarat in
A.D. 1178 proved a failure; the raja of Gujarat inflicted a terrible
defeat on him. Nevertheless, he occupied Peshawar in the follow-
ing year and established a fortress at ^ialkot in a.d. 1181. By
allying himself with Vijaya Dev, the rdjd of Jammu, against
Khusrav Mahk, son and successor of Khusrav Shah and the last
representative of the dynasty of Sabuktigin and Sultan Mahmud,
then in possession of Lahore only, he captimed the Ghaznavid
ruler and took him prisoner to Ghazni. Thus disappeared the
rule of the Ghaznavids in the Punjab. Its occupation by Muhammad
of Ghur opened the way for his further conquest of India, which,
however, made inevitable a conflict with the Rajputs, particularly
with his neighbour, Prithviraj, the powerful Chauhan king of
Ajmer and Delhi,
The political condition of Northern India had changed consider-
ably since the days of Sultan Mahmud. Though a part of Bihar,
was in the possession of the Buddhist Palas, Bengal had passed
under the control of the Hindu djnasty of the Senas. Bundelkhand
remained under the rule of the Ohandellas, but the Pratiharas in
Kanauj were displaced by the Gahadavalas. Delhi and Ajmer were
under the Chauhans. Jaichand or Jayachchandra, the Gahadavala
ruler of Kanauj, who lived mostly at Benares, was considered
278
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
by the Muslim writers to be the greatest king of India at the time ;
and, if Tod is to be believed, he was jealous of Prithviraj’s proud
position. His beautiful daughter is said to have been carried away
by the Chaulian hero, and the story of this romance has formed the
theme of many of the bardic songs of the time. This is said to
have added to the bitterness of their relations so that Jaichand
did not ally himself with Prithviraj when Muhammad of Ghur
appeared on the scene. There is no reason, however, to believe
that Jaichand invited Muhammad of Ghur to invade India. The
invasion of this country was an almost inevitable corollary
to Muhammad’s complete victory over the Ghaznavids in the
Punjab.
When, in the winter of 1190-1191, Muhammad of Ghur marched
be.yond the Punjab, Prithviraj, the bold and chivalrous hero of
the Rajputs, who were in no way inferior in bravery and courage
to the invaders, advanced to oppose him with a large army, includ-
ing, according to Ferishta, 200,000 horse and 3,000 elephants.
Prithviraj had the support of many of his feUow Rajput princes,
but Jaichand held aloof. The Ghuri invader stood in the middle
of his army wdth two wdngs on two sides and met the Rajputs at
Tarain near Thanesar in a.d. 1191. Fighting with their usual
vigour, the Rajputs greatly harassed the Muslim troops, w'ho were
soon overpowered, and their leader, being severely wounded,
retired to Ghazni. But Muhammad did not become disheartened
at this initial failure. He soon raised a strong army with a view
to avenging his defeat, and with adequate preparations, invaded
India once again in 1192 and met his Rajput adversary on the
same field. By superior tactics and generalship, the invading army
inflicted a severe defeat on the Rajputs. Prithviraj was captured
and put to death, and his brother was also slain. This victory of
Muhammad was decisive. It laid the foundation of Muslim dominion
in Northern India; and the subsequent attempts of the relatives
of Prithviraj to recover their lost power proved to be of no avail.
Different parts of Northern India were conquered in the course of
a few years by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the most faithful of Muhammad’s
Turkish oflEtcers, and Ikhtiyar-ud-din Muhammad.
Qutb-ud-din Aibak was originally a slave of Turkestan. In his
childhood he was brought by a merchant to Nishapur, where its
Qazi, Fakhr-ud-din ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Kufi, purchased him and provided
for his religious and military training along with his sons. After
the Qazi’s death, he was sold by the Qazi’s sons to a merchant,
who took him to Ghazni, where he was purchased by Muhammad
of Ghur. Thus Qutb-ud-din began his career as a slave, and
THE ADVENT OF THE IVIUSLIMS 279
the dynasty founded by him in India is known as the “Slave
dynasty.”^
Qutb-ud-din was “endowed with all laudable qualities and
admirable impressions” though “he possessed no outward comeli-
ness”. His qualities gained for him the confidence of Muhammad
of Ghur, who soon raised him to the post of Amir-i-AhJiiir (Lord of
the stables). He rendered valuable services to his master during
his Indian expeditions, in recognition of which he was placed in
charge of his Indian conquests after the second battle of Tarain
in 1192. He was left “untrammelled not only in his administra-
tion of the new conquests, but also in his discretion to extend
them”.
To strengthen his own position, Qutb-ud-din contracted matri-
monial alliances with the powerful rival chiefs ; thus while he him-
self married Taj-ud-din Yildiz’s daughter, his sister was married
to Nasir-ud-din Qabacha and his daughter to Iltutmish. Qutb-ud-
din justified the confidence which his master had reposed in him.
In 1192 he captured Hansi, Meerut, Delhi, Ranthambhor and
Koil. In 1194 he helped his master in defeating and slaying
Jaichand, rdjd of Benares and Kanauj, at Chandwar on the Jumna
in the Etawah district. In 1197 he chastised Bhimdev II of Gujarat,
for his having caused him some trouble, plundered his capital and
returned to Delhi by way of Hansi. In 1202 he besieged the fortress
of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand, overpowered its defenders and cap-
tured vast booty from them. Fifty thousand people, male and
female, were made prisoners. He next marched to the city of
Mahoba, took possession of it and returned to Delhi by way of
Badaun, one of the richest cities of Hindustan, which also was
occupied. Meanwhile, Bihar and a part of Western Bengal had been
added to the empire of Ghur by Ikhtiyar-ud-din Muhammad, son of
Bakhtiyar Kiialji, who had driven Lakshmapa Sena from Nadia
possibly to Eastern Bengal,® to a place near Dacca, where the Sena
^ This description of Qutb-ud-din’s d 3 masty is inaccurate. None but three
kings (Qutb-ud-din, Iltutmish and Balban) of this d 3 masty were slaves, and
even these three were manumitted by their masters. Qutb-ud-dIn received
a letter of manumission and a canopy of state from Sultan Qhiyas-ud-din
Mahmud, the nephew and successor of his master, Muhammad of Ghur,
before his elevation to the throne of Delhi (Ilaverty, Tabaqdt-i-Ndsin, pp.
624-5) ; and Iltutmish was freed before his master (ibid., pp. 605-6). Balban, who
belonged to the “forty Turkish slaves of Iltutmish”, got his freedom along
with them (Zia Barni, Ta'rlkh-i-Flruz Shahl). It is also incorrect to describe
the dynasty as the “I?athan” or “Afghan” dynasty, because all these rulers
were neither “Pathana” nor “Aighans” but Turks.
® Authorities differ in their opinions regarding the date of the capture
of Nadiii by the Muslims. According to Baverty, it was effected in a.h,
590 ~ A.D. 1193 (op. cit., Vol. I, p. 588 f.n.) but this date was rejected
280
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
power survived for more than half a century, and had made Gaur or
Lakhnauti, in the modem Maldah district, the seat of his government.
Thus by the beginning of the thirteenth century, a considerable part
of Hindustan, extenchng from the Indus in the west to the Ganges
in the east, had been conquered by Muslim arms. But the consolid-
ation of Muslim rule requhed a few years more.
On the death of his elder brother Ghiyas-ud-din Muhammad in
February, 1203, Mu‘iz-ud-din Muhammad became the ruler of Ghazni,
Ghur and Delhi in name, which he had been so long in reality.
But soon his position was endangered by some disasters. In 1205
he sustained a defeat near Andkhui in Central Asia at the hands
of ‘Ala-ud-din Muhammad, the Shah of Khwarazm, which dealt a
severe blow at his military prestige in India and stirred up revolts
and conspiraeies in different parts of his kingdom. He was refused
admittance to Ghazni ; Multan was seized by a Ghazni officer, and
his old enemies, the Khokars, created troubles in the Punjab. But
with great zeal and promptitude, Mu'iz-ud-dm Muhammad marched
to India, suppressed the rebellions everywhere, and inflicted a
crushing defeat on the Khokars in November, 1205. His days,
however, were numbered. On his way from Lahore to Ghazni, he
was stabbed to death at Damyak on the 15th March, 1206, by a
band of assassins whose identity has not been precisely deter-
mined. Some writers attribute the deed to the Khokars, who had
been so recently deprived of their homes, while, according to others,
he was killed by some Muslim enthusiasts of the Isma'ili sect. A
legend of the Rajputs, mentioned also by a Muslim historian,
attributes his death to their hero. Frith viraj, who, according to it,
had not been slain at the second battle of Tarain but was blinded
and remained a captive. The body of the murdered Sultan was
taken to Ghazni and buried there.
by Blochmarm with cogent arguments {J.A.S.B., Pt. I, pp. 275-7). The
views of Edward Thomas that Nadia fell in a.h. 599 = a.d. 1202-1203
{Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi, p. 110) and of Charles Stewart
{History of Bengal, p, 47) that it was captured in a.h. 600 = a.d. 1203-1204
are in conflict with the facts of contemporary history. A recent writer con-
siders the theory of Blochmann that Nadia was captured in a.h. 594-595 =
A.D. 1197-1198, to be “the most plausible one” {Indian Historical Quarterly,
March 1936, pp. 148-51).
CHAPTER II
THE SO-CALLED SLAVE DYNASTY AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF
MUSLIM POWER IN NORTHERN INDIA
I. Qutb-ud-din Aibak and Aram Shah
Muhammad of Ghur left no male heirs to succeed him, and his
provincial viceroys soon established their own authority in their
respective jurisdictions. Taj-ud-din Yildiz, Governor of Kirman,
ascended the throne of Ghazni, while Qutb-ud-din Aibak assumed
the title of Sultan and was acknowledged as the ruler of the Indian
territories by the Muslim officers in India like Ikhtiyar-ud-din of
Bengal and Nasir-ud-din Qabacha, Governor of Multan and
TJch. Qutb-ud-din Aibak’s rise excited the jealousy of Taj-ud-din
Yildiz, who entered into a contest with him for the mastery over
the Punjab. Qutb-ud-din defeated Yildiz, drovo him out of Ghazni
and occupied it for forty days. But the people of Ghazni, disgusted
with his excesses, secretly invited Yildiz to come to their rescue.
Yildiz did not fad to avail himself of this opportunity, and on his
sudden and unexpected return to Ghazni, Qutb-ud-din fled away
precipitately. This destroyed the chance of a political union
between Afghanistan and India, which was not achieved till
Babur’s occupation of Delhi, and Qutb-ud-din became a purely
Indian Sultan. He died at Lahore, early in November, a.d. 1210,
in consequence of a fall from his horse while playing Chaiigdn or
polo, after a short reign of a little more than four years.
Qutb-ud-din was, remarks Minhaj-us-Siraj, a “high-spirited
and open-hearted monarch”. Endowed with intrepidity and
martial prowess, he rarely lost a battle, and, by his extensive con-
quests, brought a large part of Hindustan under the banner of
Islam. His “gifts were bestowed by hundreds of thousands and,
for his unbounded generosity, he has been styled by all writers as
Lalch balchsh, or giver of lacs. Hasan-un-Nizami, the author of
Tdj-ul-Ma'dsir, who is full of praise for Qutb-ud-din, writes that
he “dispensed even-handed justice to the people, and exerted
himself to promote the peace and prosperity of the realm”. But the
^His contemporary, Lakslimana Sena of Bengal, was also known for
his lavish generosity.
■ ■ , , -281 ■
282 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Sultan felt no hesitation in having recourse to stern measures in
his conquests and administration when necessary, EQs devotion
to Islam was remarkable. Thus Hasan-un-Nizami remarks: “By
his orders the precepts of Islam received great promulgation, and
the sun of righteousness cast its shadow on the countries of Hind
from the heaven of God’s assistiince.” He gave proof of his zeal
by building one mosque at Delhi and another at Ajmer.
On the sudden death of Qutb-ud-din at Lahore, the Amirs and
Maliks of Lahore set up Aram Bakhsh as his successor with the
title of Sultan Aram Shah, “for the sake of restraining tumult, for
tlie tranquillity of the commonalty, and the content of the hearts
of the soldiery”. The relationship of Aram with Qutb-ud-din is a
subject of eont^overs 3 ^ According to some, he was Qutb-ud-din’s son,
but Minhaj-us-Siraj distinctly vnites that Qutb-ud-din only had three
daughters. Abul Fazl has made the “astonishing statement” that
he was the Sultan’s brother. A modern writer has hazarded the
opinion that “he was no relation of Qutb-ud-din” but was selected
as his successor as he was available on the spot.^ In fact, there were
no fixed rules governing the succession to the Crown in the Turkish
State. It was determined largely by the exigencies of the moment
and the influence of the chiefs and the nobles. Aram was ill-
qualified to govern a kingdom. The nobles of Delhi soon conspired
against him and invited Malik Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, then
Governor of Badaun, to replace Aram. Iltutmish responded to their
call, and, advancing with all his army, defeated Aram in the plain
of Jud near Delhi. What became of Aram is not quite certain.
2 . Iltutmish
Iltutmish belonged to the tribe of Ilbari in Turkestan. He was
remarkably handsome in appearance, and show'ed signs of intelli-
gence and sagacity from his early days, which excited the jealousy
of his brothers, who managed to deprive him of his paternal home
and care. But adversity did not mar his qualities, which soon
opened a career for him. His accompHshmenta attracted the
notice of Qutb-ud-din, then Viceroy of Delhi, who purchased him
at a high price. By dint of his merits, Iltutmish raised his status
step by step till he was made the Governor of Badaun and was
married to a daughter of Qutb-ud-din. In recognition of his
services during the campaign of Muhammad of Ghur against the
Khokars, he was, by the Sultan’s orders, manumitted and elevated
as Amir-ul-Umara.
* Indian Historical Quarterly, March, 1937, p. 120.
MUSLIM POWER m NORTHERN INDIA 283
Tiius the choice of the Delhi nobles fell on a worthy man. But
on his accession in the year a.d. 1210 or 1211, Htutmish found
himself confronted with an embarrassing situation. Nasir-iid-diii
Qabacha had asserted his independence in Sind and seemed
desirous of extending his authority over the Punjab ; and Taj-ud-din
Yildiz, who held Ghazni, still entertained his old pretensions to
sovereignty over the Indian conquests of Muhammad. ‘ Ali Mardan,
a Khalji noble, who had been appointed Governor of Bengal by
Qutb-ud-din after the death of Ikhtiyar-ud-din in a.d. 1206, had
thrown off his allegiance to Delhi after Qutb-nd-dm’s death and
had styled himself Sultan ‘Ala-ud-din. Further, the Hindu princes
and chiefs were seething with discontent at their loss of indepen-
dence; Gwalior and Ranthambhor had been recovered by their
rulers during the weak rule of Aram Shah. To add to Iltutmish’s
troubles, some of the Amirs of Delhi expressed resentment against
his rule.
The new Sultan, how'^ever, faced the situation boldly. He first
effectively suppressed a rebellion of the Amirs in the plain of Jud
near Delhi, and then brought under his control the different parts
of the kingdom of Delhi with its dependencies like Badaun,
Oudh, Benares and Siwalilc. The ambitious de.signs of his rivals
were also frustrated. In a.d. 1214 Taj-ud-din Yildiz, being driven
from Ghazni by Sultan Muhammad, the Shah of Klnvarazm, fl.ed
to Lahore, conquered the Punjab up to Thaiiesar and tried to
establish his independent power and even to assert his authority
over Iltutraish. This was what Iltutmish could hardly tolerate.
He promptly marched against his rival, and defeated him in a
battle fought near Tarain in January, a.d. 1216. Yildiz was taken
prisoner and sent to Badaun. Nasir-ud-din Qabacha, who had
in the meanwhile advanced to Lahore, was expelled from that
city by Iltutmish in a.d. 1217. He was completely subdued in
February, a.d. 1228, and was accidentally drowned in the Indus,
Sind being annexed to the Delhi Sultanate. About a year later,
Iltutmish received a robe of honour and a patent of investiture
from A1 Mustansir Billah, the reigning Caliph or Khalifah of
Baghdad, confirming him in the possession “of aU the land and
sea which he had conquered’* as JSuUdn-i-Azam (Great Sultan).
This added a new element of strength to Iltutmish’s authority and
gave him a status in the Muslim world. Further, “it fastened the
fiction of Khalifat on the Sultanate of Delhi, and involved legally
the recognition of the final sovereignty of the Khalifah, an authority
outside the geographical limits of India, but in.side that vague yet
none the less real brotherhood of Islam”. On his coins Iltutmish
TTWSHMBaHBBWl
284 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
described himself as the lieutenant of the Caliph. His coins, remarks
Thomas, “constituted the veritable commencement of the silver
coinage of the Delhi Pathans”.
Meanwhile, Ranthambhor had been recovered by Iltutmish in
A.D. 1226 and a year later Mandawar in the SiwaHlc hills was
captured b}?' him. The Edialji Maliks of Bengal were reduced to
complete submission in the winter of a.d. 1230-1231, and ‘Ala-
ud-din Jani was appointed Governor of Lakhnauti. Gwalior,
which had regained its independence since the death of Qutb-ud-
din, was recaptured by the Sultan towards the end of a.d, 1232
from its Hindu Raja, Mangal Deva. The Sultan invaded the
kingdom of Malwa in 1234, and captured the fort of Bhilsa. He
next marched to the famous city of UJjain, which was also captured
and sacked. An image of the famous Vikramaditya was carried
off to Delhi, The last expedition of Iltutmish was directed against
Banian^, but on his way he was attacked with such a severe iUness
that he had to be carried back to Delhi in a litter. This disease
proved fatal and he expired on the 29th April, 1236, after a reign
of twenty-six years.
It was durmg the reign of Iltutmish, in the year a.d. 1221,
that the Mongols appeared for the first time on the banks of the
Indus, under their celebrated leader Chingiz Khan. Chingiz was
born in a.d. 1155 and his original name was Temuchin. He was
not merely a conqueror. Being trained in the school of adversity
during his early days, he developed in himself the virtues of
patience, courage and self-reliance, which enabled him to organise
in an empire “the barbarous tribal communities of Central Asia
and to found laws and institutions which lasted for generations
after his death”. He overran the countries of Central and Western
Asia with lightning rapidity, and when he attacked Jalal-ud-din
Mangabarni, the last Shah of Khwarazm or Khiva, the latter fled to
the Punjab and sought asylum in the dominions of Iltutmish.
The Sultan of Dellii refused to comply with the request of his
unwelcome guest. Mangabarni entered into an alliance with the
Khokars, and after defeating Nasir-ud-din Qabacha of Multan,
plundered Sind and northern Gujarat and went away to Persia.
The Mongols also retired. India was thus saved from a terrible
ealamit}'-, but the menace of Mongol raids disturbed the Sultans
of Delhi in subsequent times.
^Situated, according to Raverty (p. 623, f.n. 8), in the hill tracts
of the Sind-Sagar Doah, or in the country immediately west of the Salt
Range, Badafini (Ranking, Vol. I, p, 95), and Perishta (Briggs, Vol. I, p. 21 1),
borrowing from Nizam-ud-din, write Multan, but they are wrong.
MUSLIM POWER IN NORTHERN INDIA 285
Iltutmisli may justly be regarded as the greatest ruler of the
Early Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, which lasted till a.d. 1290.
To him belongs the credit of having saved the infant IMuslim
dominion in India from disruption and of having consolidated the
conquests of Qutb-ud-din into a strong and compact monarchy
extending at his death over the whole of Hindustan, with the
exception of a few outlying provinces. An mtrepid warrior and a
stern chastiser of foes, he was busy till the last year of his life
in military conquests. He was at the same time gifted with brilliant
qualities as a man and extended his patronage to arts and letters.
The completion of the structure of the famous Qutb Minar at
Delhi by the Sultan in a.d. 1231-1232 stands as an imperishable
testimony to his greatness. The column was named not after the
first Turkish Sultan of Delhi, as some writers VTongly hold, but
after Khwaja Qutb-ud-din, a native of Ush near Baghdad, who
had come to live in Hindustan and was held in much esteem and
veneration by Iltutmish and others. It was out of gratitude that
Iltutmish caused the names of his patrons, Sultan Qutb-ud-din and
Sultan Mu‘iz-ucl-din, to be inscribed on it. A magnificent mosque
was also built by the Sultan’s orders. He was intensely religious
and very particular about saying his prayers. “Never has a
sovereign,” writes Minhaj-us-Siraj, “so virtuous, kind-hearted
and reverent towards the learned and the divines, sat upon the
throne.” He is described in some contemporary inscriptions as
“the protector of the lands of God”, “the helper of the servants
of God”, etc.
3. Raziyya
Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, the eldest son of Iltutmish, died in
April, A.D. 1229, while governing Bengal as his father’s deputy.
The surviving sons of the Sultan were incapable of the task of
administration. Iltutmish, therefore, nominated on his death-bed his
daughter Raziyya as his heiress. But the nobles of his court were too
proud to bow their heads before a woman, and disregarding the
deceased Sultan’s vishes, raised to the throne his eldest surviving
son, Ruloi-ud-din Firuz, who had been in charge of the government
of Badaun and, after a few years, of Lahore, duriug his father’s
lifetime. This was an unfortunate choice, Rukn-ud-din was unfit
to rule. He indulged in low tastes, neglected the affairs of state,
and squandered away its wealth. Matters were made WDrse by
the activities of his mother, Shah Turkhan, an ambitious woman
of humble origin,^ who seized all power while her son remained
^ She was originally a Turkish handmaid.
286
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
immersed in enjoyment. The whole kingdom was plunged into
disorder, and the authority of the central government was set
at naught in Badaun, Multan, Hansi, Lahore, Oudh and Bengal.
The nobles of Delhi, who had been seething with discontent about
the undue influence of the queen-mother, made her a prisoner and
placed Raaiyya on the throne of Delhi. Rukn-ud-din Firuz, who
had taken refuge at Kiiokhri, was also put in prison, where he
met his doom on the 9th November, a.d. 1236.
The task before the young queen was not an easy one. Muhammad
Junaidi, the wazlr of the kingdom, and some other nobles, could
not reconcile themselves to the rule of a woman and organised an
opposition against her. But Raziyya was not devoid of the virtues
necessary in a ruler, and by astuteness and superior diplomacy
she soon overpowered her enemies. Her authority was established
over Hindustfin and the Punjab, and the governors of the distant
provinces of Bengal and Sind also acknowledged her sway. Thus,
as Minhaj-us-Siraj has stated, “From Lakhnauti to Debal and
Damrilah all the Malilcs and Amirs manifested their obedience and
submission”. During the early part of Raziyya’s reign, an organised
attempt to create trouble was made by some heretics of the Qira-
mitah and Mulahidah sects, under the leadership of a Turk named
Nur-ud-din. One thousand of them arrived with swords and
shields, and entered the Great Mosque on a fixed day, but they were
dispersed by the royal troops and the outbreak ended in a ludicrous
fiasco.
The queen was not, however, destined to enjoy a peaceful reign.
The undue favour shown by her to the Abyssinian slave Jalal-ud-
din Yaqut, who was elevated to the post of master of the stables,
offended the Turkish nobles, ^ who were organised in a close corpora-
tion. The first to revolt openly was Ikhtiyar-ud-din Altuniya, the
governor of Sarhind, who was secretly instigated by some nobles
1 Ibn Batfitah wrongly states that her “fondness” for the Abyssinian was
“criminal”. No such allegation is made by the contemporary Muslim
chronicler, Minhaj; he simply writes that the Abyssinian “acquired favour
in attendance upon the Sultan” (Raverty, Vol. I, p. 642). Ferishta’s only
allegation against her is that “a very great degree of familiarity was observed
to exist between the Abyssinian and the Queen, so much so, that when she
rode he always lifted her on horse by raising her up under the arms” (Briggs,
Vol. I, p. 220). As Major Raverty has pointed out, Thomas has assailed the
character of this princess without just cause in the following terms: “It
was not that a virgin Queen was forbidden to love — she might have indulged
in a submissive Prince Consort, or revelled almost unchecked in the dark
recesses of the Palace Harem, but wayward fancy pointed in a wrong direc-
tion, and led her to prefer a person employed about her Court, an Abyssinian
moreover, the favours extended to whom the Turk! nobles resented with one
accord” (Ohronides of the Pathan Kings, p, 106).
MUSLIM POWER IN NORTHERN INDIA 287
of tlie court. The queen marched with a large army to suppress
the revolt, but in the conflict that ensued the rebel nobles slew
Yaqut, and imprisoned her. She was placed in charge of Altuniya,
and her brother Mu‘iz-ud-dia Bahram was proclaimed Sultan of
Delhi. Raziyya tried to extricate herself from the critical situation
by marrying Altuniya, but to no effect. She marched with her
husband tow'ards Delhi, but on arriving near Kaithal she w'^as
deserted by the followers of Altuniya and defeated on the 13th
October, 1240, by Mu'iz-ud-din Bahram. She was put to death
with her husband the next day. Thus the hfe of the queen
Raziyya ended miserably after a reign of three years, and a few
royal months,
Raziyya was possessed of remarkable talents. Perishta writes
that “she read the Koran with correct pronunciation, and in
her father’s lifetime employed herself in the affairs of the Govern-
ment”. As a queen, she tried to display her virtues more promin-
ently. According to the contemporary Muslim chronicler, Minhaj-
us-Siraj, she “was a great sovereign, sagacious, just, beneficent,
the patron of the learned, a dispenser of justice, the cherisher of
her subjects, and of warlil^e talent, and was endowed with all the
admirable attributes and qualifications necessary for Eangs”. She
marched in person against her enemies, set aside female garments,
discarded the veil, “donned the tunic and assumed the head-dress
of a man” and conducted the affairs of her Government wdth
considerable ability in open darbar. Thus she endeavoured to
“play the king” in all possible ways. But the proud Turkish nobles
could not reconcile themselves to the rule of a wmman and brought
about her downfall in an ignominious manner. The tragic end of
Raziyya clearly shows that it is not always very easy to overcome
popular preju^ce.
The removal of Raziyya was foUow’-ed by a period of disorder
and confusion. Her successors on the throne of Delhi, Muhz-ud-din
Bahram and ‘Ala-ud-din Ma'sud, were worthless and incompetent,
and during the six years of their rule the country knew no peace
and tranquillity. Foreign invasions added to the woes of Hindustan .
In A.D. 1241 the Mongols entered into the heart of the Punjab,
and the fair city of Lahore “fell into their merciless grip”. In 1245
they advanced up to Uch but were repulsed with great loss. During
the closing years of the reign of Ma‘sud Shah discontent grew in
volume and intensity. The Amirs and Maliks raised to the throne
Nasir-ud-dm Mahmud, a younger son of Iltutmish, on 10th June,
1246.
28S
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
4 . Nasir-ud-din Mahmud
Nasir-ud-din was a man of amiable and pious disposition. He
was an expert caUigrapbist and spent his leisure moments in copy-
ing the Quran. He was also a patron of the learned. Minhaj-us-
Siraj, who held a high post under the Sultan and received various
costly presents from him, dedicated his Tabaqdt-i-Ndsirl to his
royal patron.
As a ruler, Nasir-ud-din’s abilities fell far short of what the
prevailing complicated situation demanded. Ghiyas-ud-din Balban,
his minister, and later on his deputy, was the real power behind
the throne. Balban proved himself worthy of the confidence thus
reposed in him. He did his best to save the State from the perils
of internal rebellions and external invasions. The attacks of the
Mongols were repelled, and several expeditions were led into the
Doab and other parts of the kingdom to chastise the rebellious
Rajas and Zamindars. A party of nobles, opposed to Balban,
induced the Sultan to exile him in 1253. But his enemies mis-
managed the ajffaks of the State, and he was recalled and restored
to supreme authority in a.d. 1255. Nasir-ud-din Mahmud died
on the 18th February, 1266, leaving no male heir behind him.
Thus was extinguished the line of Iltutmish. Balban, a man of
proved ability, whom the deceased Sultan is said to have designated
as his successor, then ascended the throne with the acquiescence
of the nobles and the officials.
5 . Ghiyas-ud-din Balban
Like his predecessors on the throne of Delhi, Balban was
descended from the famous Ilbari tribe of Turkestan. In his early
youth, he was taken as a captive to Baghdad by the Mongols,
from whom he was purchased by Ediwaja Jamal-ud-din of Bussorah,
a man of piety and learning. Ediwaja Jamal-ud-din brought him
to Delhi in a.d. 1232 along with his other slaves, all of whom were
purchased by Sultan Iltutmish. Thus Balban belonged to the
famous band of Turkish slaves of Iltutmish, known as “The Forty”
{Ghdhelgdn). He was originally appointed a Khasddr (King’s
personal attendant) by Iltutmish. But by dint of merit and ability,
he rose by degrees to higher positions and ranks, tfil he became
the deputy of Nasir-ud-din Mahmud and his daughter was married
to the Sultan in a.d. 1249.
Balban was confronted with a formidable and difficult task on
his accession. During the thirty years following the death of
MUSLIM POWER IE EORTHERN INDIA
289
Iltutmisli, the affairs of the State had fallen into confusion through
the incompetence of his successors. The treasury of the Delhi
Sultanate had become almost empty, and its prestige had sunk
low, while the ambition and arrogance of the Turkish nobles had
increased. In short, as Barni writes, “Fear of the governing power,
which is the basis of all good government, and the source of the
glory and splendour of aU States, had departed from the hearts
of all men, and the country had fallen into a wretched condition”.
To add to the evil of internal bankruptcy, the Delhi Sultanate
was exposed to the menace of recurring Mongol raids. Thus, a
strong dictator was the need of the hour.
An experienced administrator, Balban eagerly applied himself
to the task of eradicating the evils from which the State had been
suffering for a long time. He justly realised that a strong and
efficient army was an essential requisite for the stability of his
government. He therefore set himself to the task of reorganising
the armed forces. “The cavalry and the infantry, both old and
new, were placed under the command” of experienced and faithful
officers (maliks). He next turned his attention towards restoring
order in the Doab and the neighbourhood of Delhi, which had
been exposed, for the last thirty years of weak rule, to the predatory
raids of the Rajputs of Mewat (the district round Alwar) and
different robber bands. Life, property and commerce had become
unsafe. The Sultan drove away the Mewatis from the jungles in
the neighbourhood of DeM, and put many of them to the sword .
He also took precautionary steps against any future disturbances
by building a fort at Gopalgir and by establishing several posts
near the city of Delhi in charge of Afghan officers. In the next
year (1267), Balban suppressed the brigands in the Doab. He
personally rode to their strongholds at Kampil, Patiali and Bhojpur.
He built strong forts in those places and also repaired the fort of
Jalali. Thus order and security were restored, and sixty years
later Bami remarked that “the roads have ever since been free
from robbers”. In the same year he punished the rebels in Katehr
(now in Rohilkhand). After a few days he marched into the moun-
tains of Jud and suppressed the MU tribes there.
In pursuance of his poUcy of curbing the power of the nobles,
Balban tried to regulate the tenure of lands in the Doab enjoyed by
2,000 Shamsi horsemen since the time of Htutmish on condition of
military service. We know ftom Barni that most of the original
grantees had died or grown infirm by this time, and their descend-
ants had “taken possession of the grants as an inheritance from their
fathers, and had caused their names to be recorded in records of
290 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
the Ariz (Muster-master)”, though there was a general tendency-
on their part to evade service in the field. Balban tried to remove
this abuse by a moderate dose of reform. He resumed the old
grants but allotted subsistence allowances to the grantees according
to their age. This caused discontent among the grantees, who
represented their case to the old Pakhr-ud-din, Kotwdl of Delhi,
who persuaded the Sultan by an emotional speech to rescind the
orders for the resumption of lands. Thus feefings triumphed over
prudence, and an old abuse was allowed to remain as a sort of
drain on the resources of the State.
Whde thus trying to make his government firm and stable
within, Balban did not fail to think of proteetmg the north-west
frontier against the invasions of the Mongols. The latter, having
established their power in Ghazni and Transoxiana and captured
Baghdad after murdering the Caliph, A1 Mu'tasim, advanced into
the Punjab and Sind. In the year 1271 the Sultan marched to
Lahore and ordered the reconstruction of the fort, which had been
destroyed by the Mongols during the preceding reigns. For long
the Sultan’s cousin, Sher Khan Sunqar, an able servant of the State,
who held the fiefs of Bhatinda, Bhatnah, Samana and Sunam,
“had been a great barrier to the inroads of the Mongols”. But
the Sultan was suspicious of him, as he was one of “The Forty”
and had avoided coming to Delhi since his accession. He died about
this time, and Bami writes that “the Sultan caused him to be
poisoned”. If Bami’s statement be true, then Balban’s action
was not only bad but also impolitic. Sher Klhan had defended the
frontier with remarkable ability and had also brought under control
various defiant tribes. His death now encoimaged the Mongols to
ravage the frontier tracts. To check their depredations the Sultan
appointed his eldest son, Prince Muhammad (popularly known as
Khdn-i-Shahld, the Martyr Prince), governor of Multan. Prince
Muhammad was a man of moderate habits, endowed with courage
and ability, and a generous patron of letters. At the same time
the Sultan placed his second son, Bughra Ehan, in charge of the
territories of Samana and Sunam, instructing him to strengthen
his army to check the apprehended incursions of the Mongols.
About the year 1279 the marauders actually renewed their raids
and even crossed the Sutlej. But they were completely routed
by the combined troops of Prince Muhammad coming from Multan,
of Bughra Khan coming from Samana, and of Malik Mubarak
Bektars coming from Delhi. Thus the Mongol menace was warded
off for the time being.
■ In the same year another danger threatened Balban from the
MUSLIM POWER IN NORTHERN INDIA
291
rich province of Bengal, the distance of which often tempted its
governors to defy the authority of Delhi, especially when it grew
weak. This was the rebellion of Tughril Khan, the Sultan’s deputy
m Bengal. Tughril was an active, courageous and generous Turk
and his administration in Bengal was marked with success. But
ambition soon gained possession of his mind. The old age of the
Delhi Sultan, and the recrudescence of Mongol raids on the north-
west frontier, encouraged him to raise the standard of revolt at
the instigation of some counsellora.
The rebellion of Tughril Khan greatly perturbed Balban, who at
once sent a large army to Bengal under the command of Alptigin
Mu-i-daraz (long-haired), entitled Amir Khan. But Amir Khan
was defeated by the rebel governor and many of his troops were
won over by the latter by lavish gifts. The Sultan became
so much enraged at the defeat of Amir Khan that he ordered him
to be hanged over the gate of Delhi. Nest year (1280) another army
was sent to Bengal under Malik Targhi, but this expedition, too,
was repulsed by Tughril. Highly exasperated at this turn of affairs,
Balban “now devoted all his attention and energy to effect the
defeat of Tughril”. He decided to march in person to Lakhnauti,
the capital of Western Bengal, with a powerful army, accompanied
by his son, Bughra IQian. In the meanwhile, Tughril, on learning
of the approach of the infuriated Sultan, had left Lakhnauti and
fled into the jungles of Jajnagar. The Sultan advanced into Eastern
Bengal in pursuit of the runaway rebel and his comrades, who
were accidentally discovered by a follower of Balban named Sher
Andaz. Another of his followers, named Malik Muqaddir, soon
brought Tughril down with an arrow-shot; his head was cut off
and his body was flung into the river. His relatives and most
of his troops were captured. On returning to Lakhnauti the Sultan
inflicted exemplary punishments on the relatives and adherents
of Tughril. Before leaving Bengal he appointed his second
son, Bughra Khan, governor of the provmee, and instructed
him not to indulge in pleasure but to be careful in the work of
administration.
Soon a great calamity befell the Sultan. The Mongols invaded
the Punjab m a.d. 1285 imder their leader Tamar, and the Sultan’s
eldest son. Prince Muhammad, who had been placed in charge of
Multan, proceeded towards Lahore and Dipalpur. He was killed
in an ambush, while fighting with the Mongols, on the 9th March,
A.D. 1285. This sacrifice of life earned for him the posthumous
title of Shahid, “the Martyr”. The death of this excellent prince
gave a terrible shock to the old Sultan, then eighty years of age.
292
AJSr ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
It cast iiim into a state of deep depression and hastened his death. The
Sultan first intended to nominate Bughra Elhan as his successor,
But the latter’s unwfilmgaess to accept the responsibilities of
kingship made him nominate Kai Khusrav, his grandson. Balkan
breathed his last towards the close of the year a.d. 1287 after a
reign of about twenty-two years.
As has already been noted, the Delhi Sultanate was beset with
danger and difficulties at the time of Balban’s accession, which
could not be removed, to borrow Carlyle’s phrase, “by mere rose-
water surgery”. The Sultan, therefore, adopted a policy of stern-
ness and severity to those whom he considered to be the enemies
of the State. It must be admitted to his credit that, by his firmness
tow'^ards ambitious nobles, rebel subjects and um’uly tribes, and
by his constant vigilance against the Mongols, he saved the Sultan-
ate from impending disintegration and gave it strength and effi-
ciency. But in two cases, that is in doing away with Sher Khan
and Amir Khan, suspicion and anger triumphed over prudence
and foresight. Referring to the death of Amir Khan, Barni observes
that his “ condign punishment excited a strong feeling of opposition
among the wise men of the day, who looked upon it as a token that
the reign of Balkan was drawing to an end
Balban did his best to raise the prestige and majesty of the
Delhi Sultanate. After his accession to the throne, he adopted a
dignified mode of living. He remodelled his court after the manner
of the old Persian kings and introduced Persian etiquette and cere-
monial. Under him the Deibi court acquired celebrity for its great
magnificence, and it gave shelter to many (not less than fifteen)
exiled princes from Central Asia. The famous poet Amir Klhusrav,
sumamed the “Parrot of India”, was a contemporary of Balban.
The Sultan had a lofty sense of kingly dignity. He always appeared
in full dress even before his private attendants. He excluded men
of humble origin from important posts.
Balban considered the sovereign to be the representative of
God upon earth, but he believed that it behoved him to maintain
the dignity of his position by performing certain duties faithfully.
These were, according to hhn, to protect religion and fulfil the pro-
visions of the Shariat, to check immoral and sinful actions, to
appoint pious men to offices and to dispense justice with equality.
“All that I can do,” he once remarked, “is to crush the cruelties
of the cruel and to see that aU persons are equal before the law.
The glory of the State rests upon a rule which makes its subjects
happy and prosperous.” He had a strong sense of justice, which
he administered without any partiality. To keep himself well
INDIA
Turko -Afghan Period
English Miles
100 50 0 100 200 300
Malih Kafur's March
m
204 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
informed about the affairs of the State he appointed spies in the
fiefs of the Sultanate.
Balban’s career as a Sultan was one of struggle against internal
troubles and external danger. He had, therefore, no opportunity
to launch aggressive conquests with a view to expanding the limits
of his dominions. Though his courtiers urged him to these, he
remained content -with measures of pacification, consolidation and
protection. He did not embark upon any administrative reorganisa-
tion embi'acing the different spheres of life. In fact, he established
a dictatorship whose stability depended upon the personal strength
of the ruler.
6. End of the so-called Slave Dynasty : Kaiqubad
The truth of the observation was illustrated by the reign of his
weak successor, Mu'iz-ud-din Kaiqubad, son of Bughra Khan.
This young man of seventeen or eighteen years was placed on
the throne by the chief officers of the State in disregard of the
deceased Sultan’s nomination. During his early days Kaiqubad
was brought up under stem discipline by his grandfather. His
tutors “watched him so carefully that he never cast his eyes on
any fair damsel, and never tasted a cup of wine ”. But his wisdom
and restraint disappeared when he found himself suddenly elevated
to the throne. He “plimged himself at once into a whirlpool of
pleasure and paid no thought to the duties of his station”. The
ambitious Nizam-ud-din, son-in-law of Fakhr-ud-din, the old Kotwal
of Delhi, gathered all power into his hands. Under his influence
the old officers of the State were disgraced. Disorder and confusion
prevailed through the whole kingdom, and confusion was made
worse confounded by the contests of the nobles, representing the
Turkish party and the Khalji party, for supremacy in the State.
The Khaljis, under the leadership of Malik Jalal-ud-din Firuz,
gained the upper hand and killed Aitamar Kachhan and Aitamar
Surkha, the leaders of the Turkish party. Kaiqubad, now a help-
less physical wreck, was done to death in his palace of mirrors at
Kilokhri by a Khalji noble whose father had been executed by
his orders. Kaiqubad’s body was thrown into the Jumna. Firuz
ascended the throne in the palace of Kilokhri, on the 13th June,
1290, under the title of Jalal-ud-din Firuz Shah, after doing away
with Ka 3 mmars, an infant son of the murdered Sultan. Thus the
work of Balban was undone and his dynasty came to an end in
an ignominious manner.
MUSLIM POWER IN NORTHERN INDIA
m
7 . Nature of the Rule of the Ilbari Turks
The Ilbari Turks ruled in India for about eight decades (1206-
1290), but under them the kingdom of Delhi “was not a homo-
geneous political entity”.! The authority of the Sultans was
normally recognised in the territory corresponding to the United
Provinces of Agra and Oudh, Bihar, Gwalior, Sind and certain
parts of Central India and Rajputana, The Bengal Governors were
mostly mclined to remain independent of their control, and the
imperial hold over the Punjab was occasionally threatened by the
Mongols. The fiefs on all sides of Delhi were indeed nuclei of
Muslim influence, but there were many independent local chief-
tains and disaffected inhabitants always mclined to defy the
authority of the central government. The Sultans of the line,
whose deeds are recorded above, certainly did not refrain from acts
of seventy in their attempt to establish strong government in the
newly conquered territory. But the estimate of their character by his-
torians like Smith lacks justification. Several kings including Balban
were men noted for their strength of character. Though they were
bent upon suppressing the defiant chieftains, many of the original
inhabitants who submitted to them were employed in military as
well as civil offices. “On the whole it may be assumed,” remarks
Sir Wolseley Haig, “that the rule of the Slave Kings . . . was
as just and humane as that of the Norman Kings in England and
far more tolerant than that of Philip II in Spain and the Nether-
lands.”
1 Cambridge Hist., Vol. Ill, p. 87.
CHAPTER III
THE KHALJIS AND THE EXPANSION OE THE SULTANATE
TO THE SOUTH
I. Jalal-ud-din Firiiz
The people of Delhi did not at first welcome the new Klialji ruler,
Jalal-ud-din Firuz, as they considered him to be of Afghan stock.
But the late Major Raverty sought to prove that the Khaljis could
not be classed as Afghans or Pathans, and he assigns to them a
Turkish origin.^ The contemporary historian Zia-ud-din Barni,
however, states that Jalal-ud-din “came of a race different from
the Turks” and that by the death of Kaiqubad “the Turks lost
the Empire”. Some modern writers suggest that the Khaljis were
originally of Turkish origin but had acquired Afghan character
during their long residence in Afghanistan, and “between them
and the Turks there was no love lost”. Be that as it may, they
took advantage of the political disorders of the time to establish
their power.
Jalal-ud-din was at first not much liked by the nobles and
the populace of Delhi, and had to make Eolokhri the seat of
his government. However, as Bami writes, the “excellence of his
character, his justice, generosity and devotion, gradually removed
the aversion of the people, and hopes of grants of land assisted in
conciliating, though grudgingly and unwillingly, the affections of
his nobles”.
The new Sultan was an old man of seventy when he was elected
to the throne. “Preoccupied with preparations for the next world, ”
he proved to be too mild and tender to hold his power in those
troublous times. Disposed to rule without bloodshed or oppression,
he showed “the most impolitic tenderness towards rebels and other
criminals”. When, in the second year of his reign, Mahk Ohhajju,
a nephew of Balkan, who held the fief of Kara, rebelled against
him with the help of several nobles, he, out of imprudent generosity,
pardoned the rebels.
As a natural result of the Sultan’s peaceful disposition and
leniency, there was a recrudescence of baronial intrigues and the
^J.A,S.B„ 1875, Part I, pp. 35-7.
THE imALJlS AKD EXPANSION SOUTHWARD 297
authority of the Delhi throne ceased to be respected. This made
him unpopular even with the Eialji nobles, who aspired after power
and privileges during the rule of one of their leaders. One of them,
Mahk Ahmad Chap, who held the post of Master of Ceremonies,
told him plainly “that a King should reign and observe the rules
of government, or else be content to relinquish the throne There
was only one unfortunate departure from this generous policy,
when, by the Sultan’s order, Siddi Maula, a darvesh, was executed
on mere suspicion of treason.
Such a ruler could not pursue a vigorous policy of conquest.
Thus his expedition against Ranthambhor was a failure. The
Sultan turned away from capturing the fort there with the conviction
that it could not be accomplished “without sacrificing the lives of
many Mussalmans”. But he was more successful against a horde of
Mongols, numbering about 150,000 strong, who in A.n. 1292 invaded
India under a grandson of Halaku (Hul§.gu). Severely defeated by
the Sultan’s troops the invaders made peace. Their army was per-
mitted to return from India, but TJlghu, a descendant of Chingiz,
and many of the rank and file embraced Islam, settled near Delhi
and came to be known as “New Mussalmans”. This was an ill-
advised concession, which produced trouble in the future. The
“New Mussalmans” proved to be turbulent neighbours of the
Delhi Government and caused it much anxiety. Even such a
peace-loving king could not die a natural death on his bed. By a
strange irony of fate he was done to death by his ambitious nephew
in 1296.
2 . ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji
‘Ala-ud-din Khalji, nephew of Jalal-ud-din Firuz, was brought up
by his uncle with affection and care. Out of excessive fondness for this
fatherless nephew, Firuz made him also his son-in-law. On being
raised to the throne of Delhi, Firuz placed him in charge of the fief
of Kara in the district of Allahabad. It was here that seeds of
ambition were sown in ‘Ala-ud-din’s mind. The “crafty suggestions
of the Kara rebels”, writes Bami, “made a lodgement in his brain,
and, from the very first year of his occupation of that territory,
he began to follow up his design of proceeding to some distant
quarter and amassing money”. It might be that domestic unhappi-
ness, due to the intrigues of bis mother-in-law, Malika Jahan, and
his wife, also made him inclined to estabHsh power and influence inde-
pendent of the Delhi court. A successful raid into Malwa in 1292 and
the capture of the town of Bhilsa. for which he was rewarded with
the fief of Oudh in addition to that of Kara, whetted his ambition.
298 AK ADVANCED HISTOBY OF INDIA
At Bliilsa, ‘Ala-ud-din heard vague rumours of the fabulous
wealth of the kingdom of Devagiri, which extended over the western
Deccan and was then ruled by Ramchandradeva of the Yadava
dynasty,^ and resolved to conquer it. Concealing his intention
from his uncle, he marched to the Deccan through Central India
and the Vindhyan region at the head of a few thousand cavalry
and arrived before Devagiri. Contact of Islam with this part of India
had begun much earlier, since the eighth century at the latest.
Ramchandradeva was not prepared for such an attack, and his son,
^ahkaradeva, had gone southwards with the greater part of his
army. He was thus taken by surprise, defeated after a futile
resistance, and compelled to make peace with the invader by
promising to pay a heavy ransom. But as ‘Ala-ud-din was about
to start marching towards Kara, Sankaradeva hurried back to
Devagiri and offered battle with the invaders, in spite of his father’s
request to the contrary. His enthusiasm brought him initial suc-
cess, but he was soon defeated and a general panic ensued in his
army, which led his followers to run away in different directions
in utter confusion. Ramchandradeva solicited the help of the other
rulers of Peninsular India, but to no effect, and he was also greatly
handicapped for want of provisions. No way was left for him
but to sue for peace, which was concluded on harder terms than
before. ‘Ala-ud-din returned to Kara with enormous booty in gold,
silver, silk, pearls and precious stones. This daring raid of the
Khalji invader not only entailed a heavy economic drain on the
Deccan, but it also opened the way for the ultimate Muslim domina-
tion over the lands beyond the Vindhyas.
‘Ala-ud-din had no intention of sharing the wealth with the
Sultan of Delhi. Rather it widened the range of his ambition with
the throne of Delhi as its goal. In spite of the honest coimsels
of his officers, especially of Ahmad Chap, the most outspoken of
all, the old Sultan, Jalal-ud-din Firuz, blinded by his affection for
his nephew and son-in-law, ‘Ala-ud-din, allowed himself to be
lured into a trap laid by the latter. Urged on by a traitor at his
court, he hurried on a boat to meet his favourite nephew at Kara
without taking even the necessary precautions for self-defence,
and this mistake cost him his hfe. The adherents of ‘Ala-ud-din
proclaimed him jSultan in his camp on the 19th July, 1296, But
‘Ala-ud-din, as Bami writes, “did not escape retribution for the
blood of his patron. . . . Fate at length placed a betrayer in his
^We have an interesting note about this kingdom in J.R.A.S., Vol. II,
p. 398. Eastern Deccan was then ruled by Rudramma Devi, daughter of Raja
Ganapati of the Kakatlya dynasty.
THE IQIALJiS Am) EXPANSION SOUTHWARD 299
patli (Malik Kafur) by whom his family was destroyed . . . and
the retribution which feh upon it never had a parallel even in any
infidel land”.
It was next necessary for ‘Ala-ud-din to establish himself firmly
at Delhi, where the Queen-dowager, Malika Jahan, had in the mean-
while placed her younger son on the throne under the title of
Rukn-ud-din Ibrahim. Her elder son, Arkaii Klhan, dissatisfied with
some of her acts, had remained at Multan. ‘Ala-ud-din, on hearing
of this dissension, marched hurriedly for Delhi in the midst of heavy
rains. After a feeble resistance Ibrahim, deserted by his treacher-
ous followers, left Delhi and fled to Multan with his mother and
the faithful Ahmad Chap. ‘Ala-ud-din won over the nobles, the
officers and the populace of Delhi to his cause by a lavish distribu-
tion of the Deccan gold. On entering Delhi he was enthroned in
the Red Palace of Balban on the 3rd October, 1296. The fugitive
relatives and friends of the late Sultan were not allowed to remain
in Multan. They were captured by ‘Ala-ud-din’s brother, Ulugh
Khan, and his minister, Zafar Khan. Arkaii Khan and Ibrahim,
with their brother-in-law, Ulghu Khan the Mongol, and Ahmad
Chap, were bHnded while being carried to Delhi. AH the sons of
Arkaii were put to death ; he and his brother were confined in the
fort of Hansi ; and Malika Jahan and Ahmad Chap were kept under
close restraint at Delhi.
‘Ala-ud-din’s position was, however, still precarious. He had
to reckon with several hostile forces, like the refractoriness of the
Turks, the defiant attitude of the rulers of Rajputana, Malwa
and Gujarat, the plots of some nobles, who tried to imitate his
example, and the apprehension of the Mongol menace. But quite
different from his uncle in temperament and outlook, the new
Sultan tried to combat these odds with indomitable energy, and his
efforts were crowned with success.
The Mongol raids formed a source of constant anxiety and
alarm to the Delhi Government for a long tune. Within a few
months of ‘Ala-ud-din’s accession, a large horde of the Mongols
invaded India, but Zafar Khan repulsed them with great slaughter
near JuUundur. The Mongols appeared again in the second year
of the Sultan’s reign under their leader, Saldi. This time also
Zafar Khan vanquished them, and sent their leader with about
2,000 followers as prisoners to Delhi. But in the year 1299 Qutlugh
Khwaja marched into India with several thousand Mongols. This
time their object was not plunder hut conquest, and so they “did
not ravage the countries bordering on their march, nor did they
attack the forts”. They arrived in the vicinity of Delhi with a
300
AN ADVANCED HISTOBV OF INDIA
view to investing the city, where a great panic consequently prevailed,
Zafar Klian, “the Rustam of the age and the hero of the time”,
charged them vigorously but was killed in the tliick of the fighting.
His jealous master felt satisfied that “he had been got rid of with-
out disgrace”. Probably struck with awe at the valour of Zafar
Khan, . the Mongols soon retreated. They led another incursion
into India, and advanced as far as Amroha in'A.D. 1304 under ‘Ali
Beg and Khwaja Tash, but were beaten back with heavy losses.
The last Mongol invasion during this reign took place in 1307-1308,
when a chieftain named Iqbalmand led an army across the Indus.
But he was defeated and slain. Many of the Mongol commanders
were captured and put to death. The Mongols, dispirited by
repeated failures in all their invasions and terrified by the harsh
measures of the Delhi Sultan, did not appear again in India during
his reign, to the great relief of the people of the north-west frontier
and Delhi.
Besides chastising the Mongols, the Sultan, like Balban, adopted
some defensive measures to guard effectively the north-west frontier
of his dominion. He caused old forts to be repaired and new ones
to be erected on the route of the Mongols. For better security,
garrisons were maintained in the outposts of Samana and Dipalpur,
always ready for war, and the royal army was strengthened.
Ghazi Malik (afterwards Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq), who, as Governor
of the Punjab since 1305, was in charge of the frontier defences,
ably held the Mongols in check for about a quarter of a century.
The “New Mussalmans”, settled near Delhi, were also severely
dealt with by ‘Ala-ud-din. They were discontented and restless
because their aspirations for offices and other gains in their land
of domicile had not been fulfilled, and they actually rebelled when
‘Ala-ud-din’s army was returning from the conquest of Gujarat.
The Sultan also dismissed aU “New Mussalmans” from his service
This added to their discontent, and in despair they hatched a
conspiracy to assassinate him. But this conspiracy was soon dis-
covered and the Sultan wreaked a terrible vengeance on them by
issuing a decree for their wholesale massacre. Thus between twenty
and thirty thousand “New Mussalmans” were mercilessly slaugh-
tered in one single day.
The uniform success of 'Ala-ud-din during the early years of his
reign turned his head. He began to form “the most impossible
schemes” and nourish “the most extravagant desires ”. He wanted
to “establish a new religion and creed” and also aspired to emulate
Alexander the Great as a conqueror of the world. In these designs,
he sought the advice of Qazi ‘Ala-ul-mulk (uncle of the historian
THE KHALJIS AND EXPANSION SOUTHWARD 301
Zia Barni), formerly his lieutenant at Kara and then Kotwal of
Delhi, who at once pointed out to him the unsoundness of his
schemes. As regards the first design, Qazi ‘Ala-ul-Mulk remarked
that “the prophetic office has never appertained to Icings and never
will, so long as the world lasts, though some prophets have dis-
charged the functions of royalty”. About the second one, he
observed that a large part of Hindustan still remained unsubdued,
that the Idngdom was exposed to the raids of the Mongols, and
that there was no wazlr hke Aristotle to govern the state in the
Sultan’s absence. The Sultan was thus brought to his senses. He
abandoned his “wild projects”, but still described himself on his
coins as “the Second Alexander
The reign of ‘Ala-ud-din witnessed the rapid expansion of the
Muslim dominion over different parts of India. With it begins,
as Sir Wolseley Haig remarks, “the imperial period of the Sultan-
ate”, which lasted for nearly half a century. In 1297 ‘Ala-ud-din
sent a strong army under his brother, Ulugh Khan, and his wazir,
Nusrat Khan, to conquer the Hindu Idngdom of Gujarat, which,
though occasionally plundered, had remained unsubdued and was
then ruled by Rai Kamadeva II, a Baghela Rajput prince. The
invaders overran the whole kingdom and captured Kamala Devi,
the beautiful queen of Kamadeva II, while the Raja and his daughter,
Devala Devi, took refuge with King Ramchandradeva of Devagiri.
They also plundered -the rich ports of Gujarat and brought away
enormous booty and a young eunuch named Kafur. They returned
to Delhi with profuse wealth, Kamala Devi, who later on became
the favourite wife of ‘Ala-ud-din, and Kafur, who rose to be the
most influential noble in the State and its virtual master for some
time before and after ‘Ala-ud-din’s death.
Ranthambhor, though reduced by Qutb-ud-din and Htutmish,
had been recovered by the Rajputs, and was then held by the brave
Rajput chief Hamir Deva. He had given shelter to some of the
discontented “New Mussahnans”, which offended ‘Ala-ud-din.
In A.D. 1299, the Sultan sent an expedition for the reduction of
the fortress, under the command of his brother, Ulugh Khan, and
Nusrat Khan, who then held the fiefs of Biyana and Kara respect-
ively. They reduced Jhain and encamped before Ranthambhor,
but were soon beaten back by the Rajputs. Nusrat IChan was
killed by a stone discharged from a catapult {maghribl) in the fort
while he was superintending the construction of a mound {pdshib)
and a redoubt {gargaj). On hearing of this discomfiture of his
troops, ‘Ala-ud-din marched in person towards Ranthambhor.
^Wright, Oaialog'm of th& Coins in tho Indian Mtiseum, Vol. II, p. 8.
302
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
While enjoying the chase -with only a few attendants at Tiipat, on
his way to the fortress, he was attacked and wounded in his defence-
less condition by his nephew, Akat Khan, acting in concert with
some “New Mussalmans”. But the traitor was soon captured and
put to death with his associates. Other conspiracies to deprive
‘Ala-ud-din of his throne were also suppressed. He captured the
stronghold of Ranthambhor in July, 1301, with considerable
difSculty, after one year’s siege. Hamir Deva, and the “New
Mussahnans” who had found shelter with him, were put to death.
Amir IChusrav, who gives an interesting account of the siege of
the fortress, writes: “One night the Rai lit a fire at the top of the
hni, and threw his women and family into the flames, and, rushing
on the enemy with a few devoted adherents, they sacrificed their
lives in despair.’’^ Hamir’s minister, Ranmal, who had betrayed
his master and gone over to the side of the enemy with several
other comrades, was paid back in his own coin for his treachery
by being done to death by the order of the Sultan. ‘Al^-ud-din
started for Delhi after placing Ulugh Khan in charge of Rantham-
bhor, but the latter died five months after the Sultan’s departure.
‘Ala-ud-din also organised an expedition against Mewar, the land
of the brave Guhila Rajputs, which, being provided by Nature with
suf&cient means of defence, had so long defied external invasions.
This expedition, as in the case of Ranthambhor, was, in aU prob-
ability, the outcome of the Sultan’s ambitious desire for territorial
expansion. If tradition is to be believed, its immediate cause was
his infatuation for Rana Ratan Singh’s queen, Padmini, of exquisite
beauty. But this fact is not explicitly mentioned in any contem-
porary chronicle or inscription. The Rana was carried as a captive
to the Sultan’s camp, but was rescued by the Rajputs in a chivalrous
manner. A small band of Rajputs under their two brave leaders,
Gora and Badal, resisted the invaders at the outer gate of the fort
of Chitor, but they could not long withstand the organised strength
of the Delhi army. When further resistance seemed impossible,
they preferred death to disgrace, and performed, as Tod describes,
“that horrible rite, the jauhar, where the females are immolated
to preserve them from pollution or captivity. The funeral pyre
was lighted within the ‘great subterranean retreat’, in chambers
impervious to the light of day, and the defenders of Chitor beheld
^ Elliot, Vol. Ill, p. 75. The author of the Hammlr-
Mahakavya gives a difierent account of Hamir’s death. According to him,
the defeat of Hamir was due to the defection of his two generals, Batipala
and Blrishpapala. When on being severely wounded Hamir realised that
his end was near, he cut off his head with his own sword rather than submit
to the invaders. Ishwari Prasad, Medi&oal India, 'p. 196, footnote.
THE KHALjlS AHB EXPANSION SO'UTHWAED SOS
in procession the queens, their o-vm wives and daughters, to the
number of several thousands. The fair Padmini closed the throng
. . . They were conveyed to the cavern, and the opening closed
upon them, leaving them to find security from dishonour in the
devouring element”.
Amir Khusrav, who accompanied the Sultan’s armj’^ on the
Chitor expedition, vHtes that the fort of Chitor was captured by
‘Ala-ud-din on the 26th August, 1303, and that the latter bestowed
the government of Chitor on his eldest son, Khizr Klian, and renamed
the city Khizrabad before he returned to Delhi. Owing to the
pressure of the Rajputs, KMzr Khan had to leave Chitor about the
year 1311, and it was then entrusted by the Sultan to Maldeo,
the chief of Jalor. But after several years, Chitor was recovered by
the Rajputs under Hamir or his son and became once again the
capital of Me war.
After reducing Chitor to submission, ‘Ala-ud-din sent an army
to Malwa. Rai Mahlak Deva of Malwa and his pardkdn, Koka,
opposed it with a large force but were defeated and slam in Novem-
ber or December, 1305. ‘Ain-ul-mulk, the Sultan’.s confidential
chamberlain, was appointed Governor of Malwa. This was followed
by the Muslim conquest of Ujjain, Mandu, Dhar and Chanderi.
Thus by the end of the year a.d. 1305, practically the whole of
Northern India fell under the sway of Khalji imperialism, which
was then emboldened to embark on its career of expansion in the
Deccan.
Although there was an earlier intercourse of the west coast of
India with the Muhammadans, chiefly through commerce, the first
Muslim conquest of the Deccan was effected by the Khaljis under
‘Ala-ud-din. His southern campaigns were the outcome of his
political as well as economic motives. It was but natural for an
ambitious ruler like him to make attempts for the extension of
his influence over the south after the north had been brought under
control. The Deccan’s wealth was. also “too tempting to an enter-
prising adventurer”.
The existing political conditions in India beyond the Vindhyas
afforded ‘Ala-ud-din an opportunity to march there. It was then
divided into four well-marked kingdoms. The first was the Yadava
kingdom of Devagiri, under its wise and efficient ruler, Ram-
chandradeva (1271-1309). The tract known as Telingana in the
east, with its capital at Warangal (in the Nizam’s dominions), was
under Prataparudradeva I of the Kakatiya dynasty. The Hoysa-
las, then under their ruler, 'Vlra BaUala III (1292-1342), occupied
the country now included in the Mysore State with their capital
304 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
at Dorasamudra, modern Halebid, famous for its beautiful temples.
In the far south was the kingdom of the Papdj^as, stretching over
the territory called M'abar % the Muslim writers and including
the modem districts of Madura, Ramnad and Tinnevelly. It
was then ruled by Maravarman Kulasekhara (1268-1311), who
greatly contributed to its prosperity by encouraging commerce.
There were also some minor rulers Hke the Telegu-Choda chief,
Manma-Siddha III, ruling in the NeUore district, the Kalinga-
Ganga king, Bhanu-deva, reigning in Orissa, the Kerala king,
Ravivarman, ruling from KoUam (Qiiilon), and the Alupa chief,
Bankideva-Alupendra, ruling from Mangalore. There was no love
lost among the Hindu kingdoms of the south. During ‘Ala-ud-din’s
raid on Devagiri in 1294, Ramchandradeva received no help from
any of them. Hoysala kings at times attacked Ramchandradeva
of Devagiri. Internal dissensions among the States of the south
invited invasions from the north.
In March, 1307, ‘Ala-ud-din sent an expedition under Kafur,
now entitled Mahk Naib (lieutenant) of the kingdom, against
Ramchandradeva of Devagiri, who had withheld the payment of the
tribute due on account of the province of EUichpur, for the last
three years, and had given refuge to Rai Kamadeva 11, the fugitive
ruler of Gujarat. Assisted by Khwaja Haji (deputy anz4-rmrmlilc) ,
Kafur marched through Malwa, and advanced to Devagiri. He
laid waste the whole country, seized much booty and compelled
Ramchandradeva to sue for peace. Ramchandradeva was sent to
‘Ala-ud-din at Delhi, where the Sultan treated him kindly and
sent him back to his kingdom after six months. Ramchandradeva
continued to rule thenceforth as a vassal of the De lh i Sultanate
and regularly remitted revenue to Delhi. Rai Kama’s daughter,
Devala Devi, was captured by the invader and taken by Alp Khan,
governor of Gujarat, to Delhi, where she was married to the
Sultan’s eldest son, Khizr Klhan.
An expedition sent by ‘Ala-ud-din against Kakatiya Prata-
parudradeva in a.d. 1303 had failed. But the humiliation of the
Yadavas encouraged him to make a second attempt in 1309 to
bring the Kakatiya king under his authority and fleece him of his
wealth. The Sultan had no desire to annex the kingdom of War-
angal, the administration of which from a great distance would
prove to be a difficult task. His real object was to acquire
the vast wealth of this kingdom and make Prataparudradeva
acknowledge his authority. This is clear from his instruction to
Kafur, who commanded the invading army; “If the Rai con-
sented to surrender his treasure and jewels, elephants and horses,
THE KHALJiS AND EXPANSION SOUTHWARD 305
and also to send treasure and elephants in the following year,
Malilc Naib Kaffir was to accept these terms and not to
press the Rai too hard”. On reaching Devagiri, the Dellii army
was assisted by the now humble Ramchaiidradeva, who also
supphed it with an efficient commissariat, as it marched towards
Telingana. Prataparudradeva tried to resist the invaders by
shuttmg himself up in the strong fort of Warangal. But the fort
was besieged with such vigour that, being reduced to extremities,
the Kakatiya ruler had to open negotiations for peace in March,
1310. He surrendered to Kaffir a hundred elephants, seven thousand
horses, and large quantities of jewels and coined money and agreed
to send tribute annually to Dellii. Kaffir then returned to Dellii
through Devagiri, Dhar and Jliain with an immense booty, carried,
as Amir Kliusrav writes, “on a thousand camels groaning under
the ‘weight of treasure’”.
After these successes, ‘Ala-ud-din soon determined to bring
under his authority the kingdoms in the far south, renowned for the
enormous wealth of their temples. On the 18th November, 1310,
a large army under the command of Malik Naib and Kh-vraja
Haji marched from Dellii against the kmgdom of the Hoysalas,
and passing by way of Devagiri reached Dorasamudra. The
Hoysala king, Vira BaUala III, was taken by surprise in the first
attack on his capital. Taking into consideration the overwhelming
strength of the invaders, he submitted to them and surrendered
all his treasures. The victors further captured thirty-six elephants
and plundered a vast quantity of gold, silver, jewels and pearls
from the temples. Malik Naib despatched to Delhi aU the captured
property and also a Hoysala Prince. The Prince returned to
Dorasamudra on the 6th May, 1313, amidst the great rejoicings of the
people there. But the Hoysalas became vassals of the Delhi Sultan.
After twelve days’ stay in the city of Dorasamudra, Malik
Naib turned his attention towards the country of Ma'bar, extending
over nearly the whole of the Coromandel Coast and along the
western coast from Qmlon to Cape Comorin. The Pandyas then
ruled over this territory. A jfiatricidal w'ar between Sundara
Pandya, a legitimate son of the Pa^idya ruler, Kulasekhara, and
Vira Pandya, his illegitimate but favourite son, gave an opportunity
to Malik Naib for his meditated invasion of Ma'bar. Sundara
Pandya, enraged at his father’s partiality for Vira Pandya, who had
been nominated as his successor, murdered the king towards the end
of May, 1310, and seized the crown for himself. But he was defeated
in an engagement with his brother about the month of November
of the same year, and thus^ hard pressed, sought Muslim help.
306
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Malik Naib marched to the Deccan at the head of a large army.
On the 14th April, 1311, he reached Madura, the capital of the
Pandyas, -which he found empty, for, on hearing of his advance,
Vira Papdya had left the city “with the Ranis”. But he sacked the
city and captured an immense booty, which, according to Amir
Khusrav, consisted of five hundred and twelve elephants, five
thousand horses and five hundred maunds of jewels of various
kinds, such as diamonds, pearls, emeralds and rubies. If Amir
Klmsrav is to be believed, Malik Naib advanced as far as Rames-
waram. He returned to Delhi on the 18th October, 1311, carrying
with him vast booty consisting of 612 elephants, 20,000 horses,
96,000 maunds of gold, and some boxes of jewels and pearls. Thus
the “country of Ma'bar came under the control of the imperialists”
and remained a dependency of the Delhi Sultanate till the early
part of Muhammad Tughluq’s reign. ^ In 1312 Sankaradeva, son
of Ramchandradeva, withheld the tribute promised by his father
to the Delhi Sultan and tried to regain his independence. At this,
Malilc Naib again marched from Delhi, and defeated and killed
Sankaradeva. Thus the whole of Southern India had to acknowledge
the sway of the Delhi Sultan.
But the raids of Malik Naib, associated with the sack of cities,
the slaughter of the people, and the plunder of temples, “made
an immense impression” on the indigenous inhabitants of South
India.* They had no other course but to submit, for the time
being, to the mighty forces of the invader, but they must have
harboured a feeling of discontent in their hearts, which ultimately
found expression in the rise of Vijayanagar as its political fruit.
In his conception of sovereignty, ‘Ala-ud-din departed from the
ideas of his predecessors. He had the courage to challenge for
the first time the pre-eminence of the orthodox church in matters
of State, and declare that he could act without the guidance of
the Ulemas for the political interests of his Government. Thus
he spoke to Qazi Mughis-ud-din of Biyana, who often visited his
court and was an advocate of ecclesiastical supremacy: “To
prevent rebellion, in which thousands perish, I issue such orders
as I conceive to be for the good of the State, and the benefit of the
people. Men are heedless, disrespectful, and disobey my com-
mands; I am then compelled to be severe to bring them into
obedience. I do not know whether this is lawful or unlawful ;
whatever I think to be for the good of the State, or suitable for the
^This is fcaown from Ibn Batutah aad some coins. J.R.A.S., 1909,
pp. 669-70.
* Sewell, Hiat. Ins., etc., p. 177.
THE KHALJIS AND EXPANSION SOUTHWARD 307
emergency, that I decree. ” It would be, however, wrong to surmise
from this outlook of ‘Ala-ud-din that he disregarded the religion
of Islam. Outside India, he was known “as a great defender of
Islam”. In India, there was a difference of opinion on this point.
While the supporters of clericalism hire Bami and his followers
“emphasise his disregard of religion”, Amir Khusrav, who was a
man of culture and a shrewd observer of things, considered him
to be a supporter of Islam. ‘Ala-ud-din himself said to the Qazi:
“Although I have not studied the Science or the Book, I am a
Mussalman of a Mussulman stock.” The inscriptions on ‘Ala-ud-
din’s monuments also show that he had not lost faith in Islam.
‘Ala-ud-din acted according to his conviction, and followed a
policy of “thorough”, calculated to help the establishment of
a strong Government at the centre. The rebellion of Akat Khan,
the revolt of the Sultan’s sister’s sons, Amir ‘Umar and Mangu
Khan, in Badaun and Oudh, the conspiracy of Haji Mania and
the plots of the “New Mussulmans ”, all of which were effectively
suppressed, led him to believe that there were some defects in
the administrative system. After consulting his intimate advisers,
he attributed these to four causes: (i) Disregard of the affairs of
the State by the Sultan, (ii) the use of wine, (iii) intimacy and
alliances among the nobles, which enabled them to organise them-
selves for conspiracies, (iv) abundance of money, “which engenders
evil and strife, and brings forth pride and disloyalty”.
With a strong determination to stamp out these evUs and make
himself secure against rebellions, the Sultan framed a code of
repressive regulations. He first assailed the institution of private
property. All pensions and endowments were appropriated to the
State, and all villages held m proprietary right {milk), in free gift
{indm) and benevolent endowments {waqf} were confiscated. “The
people,” writes Barni, “were pressed and amerced, money was
exacted from them on every !l^d of pretence. Many were left
without any money, till at length it came to pass that, excepting
malihs and amirs, officials, Multanis, and bankers, no one possessed
even a trifie in cash. ” Secondly, the Sultan established an efficient
body of spies, who were enjoined to report to him everything,
even the most trivial matters like the gossip and transactions
in the markets. “The system of reporting went to such a length
that nobles dared not speak aloud even in the largest places, and
if they had anything to say they communicated by signs.” Thirdly,
the use of spirituous liquor and drugs, and dicing, were strictly
prohibited. The Sultan himself showed an example by giving up
drinking, and all his wme vessels were broken to pieces. Fourthly,
308
AK ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the Sultan prohibited social gatherings of the nobles, who could
not meet without special permission from him. This ordinance
was so strictly enforced that “feasting and hospitality fell into
total disuse. Through fear of spies, the nobles kept themselves
quiet; they gave no parties and had little communication with
each other”.
Some of the other measures adopted by the Sultan were equally
drastic. Large sections of the people had to pay to the State half
of their gross produce and heavy pasturage taxes on cattle. The
Sultan wanted to reduce them to such a state of misery as to
make it impossible for them to bear arms, to ride on horseback,
to put on fine clothes or to enjoy any other luxury of life. Indeed,
their lot w'as very hard. None of them “could hold up his head,
and in their houses no sign of gold or silver, tankas or jitals, or any
superfluity was to be seen. . . . Driven by destitution, the wives
of the klmts and maqaddams went and served for hire in the houses
of the Mussulmans”. For revenue collection, all hereditary assessors
and collectors of revenue were made subject to one law, and it
was enforced with such great rigour by Sharaf Qai, the naih
wazlr of the Sultan, and his staff, that “men looked upon revenue
officers as something worse than fever. Clerkship was a great
crime, and no man would give his daughter to a clerk”.
‘Ala-ud-din rightly realised that a strong army was an indis-
pensable requisite for the system of government he had been
trjdng to build up. But its efficient maintenance required a huge
expenditure at a time when the influx of wealth from the south
had caused a fall in the value of money and augmented the prices
of articles. The Sultan fixed the pay of a soldier at 234 tankas^
a year and 78 tankas for a man maintaining two horses. He did
not want to increase the pay of the soldiers as that would have
caused a heavy strain on the resources of the State and of the
people, who had already been taxed to the utmost limit of their
capacity. But to enable the soldiers to live on a moderate pay, he
issued some edicts regulating the prices of aU articles from the
absolute necessaries of life to things of luxury like slaves, horses,
arms, sflks and stuffs^ and adjusting the laws of supply and demand
1 The value o£ a tanha
wa.s
a little more than that of
a rupee.
® The prices of articles
were
thxis fixed;
Wheat . . per man jitals Sugar
per seer
1 J jitals
Barley . . „
4
,, Brown sugar
f »
Rice in husk . „
d
,, Butter
seers
1 »
Mash . . „
5
,> Oil of sesamum
3 „
1 »
hTakhud (pulse) . „
5
„ Salt . .
2 J mans
5 „
Moth . . „
3
„
THE KHALJIS AND EXPANSION SOUTHWARD 309
as well as possible. Tbe land revenue from the KMlsa villages
around the capital was to be realised in land, and grain was to
be stored in the royal granaries in the city of Delhi, so that in
times of scarcity the Sultan could supply the markets with his
own grain. No private hoarding of grain was to be tolerated. The
markets were controlled by two officers, the Dmdn4-Mydsat and
the Shahana-i-Mandi, and a body of spies were entrusted with
the task of reporting to the Sultan the condition of the markets.
The merchants had to get themselves registered in a State daftar
and to engage themselves to bring all goods for sale to the Sami
*Adl, an open place inside the Badaun ^te. (They had to furnish
sufficient securities for their conduct. Severe punishments were
provided against the violation of the Sultan’s regulations. To
prevent the shopkeepers from using short weights, fit w'as ordered
that the equivalent of the deficiency would be cut off from their
flesh. ) The regulations worked according to the Sultan’s desire so
long 4is he lived, and enabled him to maintain a large standing
army at a cheap cost. Barni remarks that the “unvarying price of
grain in the markets was looked upon as one of the wonders of the
time”. But he does not definitely state the effects of these devices
on the economic condition of the country as a whole.
‘Ala-ud-din reached the apex of his career by the end of the
year 1312. But the tragedy of his life was at hand, and he began
henceforth to live by the light of a star that had paled. As Barni
puts it: “Success no longer attended him. Fortune proved, as
usual, fickle, and destiny drew her poniard to destroy him.” His
excesses had undermined his health, his intellect became dwarffid
and his judgment defective. He became a mere puppet in the hands
of his favourite eunuch, Kaffir, whom he made the commander of
his army and wazlr, and indiscreetly removed the old and able
administrators. Rebellion broke out in several quarters, and palace-
intrigues supervened due to the machinations of Kaffir, who
caused the Sultan’s wife and son to be alienated from him. The
attack of dropsy, from which the Sultan had been suffering for
some time, proved fatal. He expired on the 2nd January, a.b. 1316,
at the height of his troubles and was buried in a tomb in front of
the Jami-‘Masjid, Delhi. According to some, “the infamous Malik
Kaffir helped his disease to a fatal end”.
‘Ala-ud-din was a self-willed ruler, whose ambition knew no
Thomas, Chronicles of the Pathan Kings, etc,, p. 160; Elliot, Vol. Ill,
p. 192. A jital (copper coin) was i of a silver tanka of 175 grains and corres*
ponded in value to 1|- farthing. One Delhi man was equal to 28.8 lbs. avoir-
dupois and 40 seers made a man. Thomas, Chronicles, etc., pp. 160-2.
310 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
bounds and brooked no restraint, and whose methods were un-
scrupulous. “He shed more innocent blood,” writes Barm, “than
ever Pharaoh -was guilty of.”^ The tragic end of Jalal-ud-din
Piruz, the treatment meted out to the deceased Sultan’s relatives,
the severe measures against the “New Mussulmans”, not excepting
even women and children, are clear proofs of the Sultan’s harsh
nature. Extremely suspicious and jealous, he was sometimes
ungrateful even to those from whom he had received most valuable
services. Thus on being established on the throne, he deprived
many of those nobles who had helped his cause of their wealth
and establishments, threw them into prison, and caused some of
them to be blinded and killed. The remarkable bravery of the
Sultan’s own general 2afar Khan excited his jealousy, and when he
was killed by the Mongols, his master was satisfied that he “had
been got rid of without disgrace”. Barni writes that ‘Ala-ud-din
had “no acquaintance with learning”, ^ but, according to Eerishta,
he learnt the art of reading Persian after his accession.
There flourished durmg the reign of this Sultan eminent scholars
and poets like Amir Khusrav and Hasan. The Sultan was fond
of architecture. Several forts were built by his orders, the most
important of these being the circular ‘Aldi Fort or Koshak-i-Siri,
the walls of which were made of stone, brick and lime and which
had seven gates.^ “All the mosques,” writes Amir Khusrav,
“which lay in ruins were built anew by a profuse scattering of
silver.” In 1311 ‘Ala-ud-din undertook the extension of the Quth
Mosque and the construction of a new Mindr (tower) in the court-
yard of the mosque of twice the size of the old Qutb Mindr. The
buildmg of the new Mindr could not be completed in his life-
time owing to the troubles during his last days. In 1311 he also
caused a large gate to be built for this mosque of red sand-
stone and marble, with smaller gates on four sides of the large
gate.
‘Ala-ud-din is, however, known to history for his imperialistic
activities. He was a brave and able soldier, and the military
exploits of his reign were almost uniformly crowned with success.
He carried the militaristic ideal of Balban to its logical con-
clusion. As an administrator also, he showed remarkable vigour
in the early part of his reign. To him belongs the credit of govern-
ing the State for the first time independent of the authority and
1 Elliot, VoL in, p. 156.
* Barni, Elliot, Vol. Ill, p, 183,
» This fort was built in a.d. 1303. Sher Shah pulled down the fort of Siri
and built a new city near Old Delhi. The site of the fort of Siri is now marked
by a village named Shahbad. Aear us-Sanddid, by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
THE KHALJiS AND EXPANSION SOUTH WAPvD 311
guidance of the priestly hierarchy. He was determined to strengthen
his government at any cost.
The foundation of the military monarchy that he tried to build
up was, however, laid upon sand. His severity enabled him to
strengthen it apparently, but it generated a feeling of discontent
in the minds of the suppressed baronage and the humiliated chiefs,
who naturally remained waiting for opportunities to regain their
lost position and power. The great defect of his system was that
it could not vin for itself the willing support and goodwill of the
governed, which is essential for the security of any Government.
Its continuance depended on the strong personality of the man
who had erected it. As a matter of fact, symptoms of its breakdown!
appeared during the last days of the Sultan and became fully
manifest, to the utter undoing of his w'^ork, within a short time
after his demise. A just retribution fell upon his family for his
ungrateful conduct towards his uncle, and its power and prestige
were undermhied by one in whom the Sultan had reposed profound
confidence — his own favourite, Malik Kafur.
3. Undue Influence of Kafur
As unscrupulous as his master, Kafur now tried to establish his
influence as the supreme authority in the State. On the second
day after the death of ‘Ala-ud-din, he produced a wiU of the
deceased Sultan, which, if authentic, had been secured from him
through undue pressure, disinheriting Kliizr Khan and giving
the throne to Shihab-ud-din ‘Umar, a child of his master, five or
six years old. The minor son was enthroned, Kafur being his
regent and the virtual dictator of the State. Goaded on by the
ambition of seizing the throne, Kafur perpetrated most horrible
crimes. He caused the elder sons of ‘Ala-ud-din, Khizr Khan and
Shadi Khan, to be blinded, and the queen-mother was deprived
of her wealth and imprisoned. He also kept Mubarak, the third
son of ‘Ala-ud-din, in confinement in the Hazar Sutun (the palace
of a thousand pillars) and intended to deprive him of his eyesight.
The youth, however, managed to escape. Kafur further sought
to remove aU the nobles and slaves who were supporters of the
Khaljis. But he was soon paid back in his own coin for his atrocities
by being murdered, after a “criminal rule” of thirty-five days, by
some attendants of the late Sultan ‘Ala-ud-din. The nobles then
brought Mubarak out of his confinement and made him the regent
of his minor brother. But after sixty-four days of regency, Mubarak
blinded the child in April, 1316, and ascended the throne under
the title of Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah.
312
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
4. Qutb-ud-din Mubarak and Fall of the Khaljis
The early years of the new ruler’s reign were marked by
success, and he rescinded the harsher edicts of his father. Political
prisoners were set free, some of the lands and endowments confis-
cated by the late Sultan were restored to their original grantees
and the compulsory tariff was removed. This no doubt gave
satisfaction to the people, but, as Barni writes, “all fear and awe
of royal authority disappeared Purther, the Sultan soon plunged
himself into a life of pleasure, which naturally made him indolent
to the great prejudice of the interests of the State. His example
affected the people also. “During (his reign of) four years and four
months,” writes Barni, “the Sultan attended to nothing but drink-
ing, listening to music, pleasure, and scattering gifts.” He fell
completely under the influence of a low- caste {Parivdn) convert
from Gujarat, whom he styled Khusrav Khan and made the chief
minister of his kingdom. This favourite shamelessly pandered
to the low tastes of his master with the ulterior motive of seizing
the throne for himself.
Fortunately for Hindustan, the Mongols made no attempt to
invade it, nor was there any serious disturbance in any quarter,
during this reign. There broke out only two rebellions, one in
Gujarat and the other in Devagiri (in the Deccan). The Gujarat
revolt was effectively suppressed by ‘Ain-ul-MuIk, and the Sultan’s
father-in-law, who had received from him the title of Zafar Kh§n,
was placed as governor there. The Sultan marched in person at
the head of a large army agamst Devagiri. Harapala Deva of
Devagiri fled away on the Sultan’s approach, but he was pursued,
captured, and flayed ahve. Thus the whole kingdom of the
Yadavas fell under the control of the MusHms and the Sultan
appointed Malik Yaklaki governor of Devagiri. He also deputed
Khusrav Khan to lead an expedition to Telingana, which was attended
with success. After one year’s stay at Devagiri, where the Sultan
built a great mosque, he marched back to Delhi.
These triumphs made Mubarak worse than before. Many members
of the imperial family were killed. Mubarak made a departure from
the practice of the preceding Sultans of Delhi by shaking off the
allegiance to the Khalifat and proclaimmg himself “the supreme
head of the religion of Islam, the Khalifah of the Lord of Heaven
and Earth”, and assumed the pontifical title of ‘al-Wdsiq-billdh.'^
^ Vide inscriptions on his coins in J.A.S.B., 1875, 1880, 1886; Thomas,
Chronicles, etc., pp. 179-81; Wright, Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian
Museum, Vol. II, p. 8 and pp. 43-6.
THE KHALJlS AND EXPANSION SOUTHWARD 318
The regime of this ruler did not, however, last long. Ivhusrav
planned his overthrow, but out of excessive infatuation for him
the Sultan did not listen to the warning of his friends. He soon
fell a victim to the conspiracy of Khusrav, one of whose Parwdrl
associates stabbed him to death on a night of April, A.n. 1320.
Such was the end of the dynasty of the lOialjis after it had ruled
for about thirty years.
5. Usurpation of Khusrav
Khusrav theii ascended the throne of Delhi under the title
of Nasir-ud-din Ifhusrav Shah and distributed honours and
rewards among his relatives and tribesmen, who had helped h im
in the accomplishment of his design. He squandered away the
wealth of the State in trying to conciliate those nobles who had
been forced to acquiesce in his usurpation. He inaugurated a
veritable reign of terror by massacring the friends and personal
attendants of the late Sultan and by putting the members of his
family to disgrace. According to Barni, Yahiya bin Ahmad Sarhindi
and Ibn Batutah, Khusrav favoured the Hindus, and his brief
regime of four months and a few days was marked by the ascend-
ancy of the Hindus, Whatever it might have been, the conduct
of IGiusrav was enough to offend the ‘Alai nobles, who soon found
a leader in Ghazi Malik, the faithful Warden of the Marches.
Marching from Dipalpur, Ghazi Malik, with the support of all the
nobles except ‘Ain-ul-Mulk, the governor of Multan, who bore
a personal grudge against him, defeated Khusrav at Delhi on the
5th September, 1320, KJhusrav was beheaded and his followers
were either killed or routed. Though master of the situation,
Ghazi Malik did not occupy the throne at once. Rather, he at first
made “a decent profession of reluctance”. But as no male descend-
ant of ‘Ala-ud-din was living, the nobles persuaded him to accept
the throne in September, 1320, under the title of Ghiyas-ud-din
Tughluq. It is significant to note that the Muslim nobles, with-
out manifesting any jealousy towards Ghazi Malik, who had been
equal to them in rank, now welcomed him to the throne of Delhi.
CHAPTER IV
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ AND THE BEGINNING OF DISRUPTION
I. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq
The dynasty of Ghazi Malik may be regarded as an indigenous
one. His father came to Hindustan in the time of Balban and
married a Jat girl of the Punjab. From a humble position, Ghazi
Malik gradually' rose to the highest position in the empire by
dint of his merit. We have already noted how ably he guarded
the frontiers of the Delhi Empire against Mongol invasions till
Providence placed him on the throne at an advanced age.
The choice of Ghazi Malik as the ruler of Delhi by the nobles
was amply justified. The situation on his accession was one of
difficulty, as the authority of the Delhi Sultanate had ceased to
command obedience in its outlying provinces, and its administrative
system had disintegrated during the period of confusion following
the death of ‘Ala-ud-din. But he proved himself equal to the
occasion. Unlike his predecessors, he possessed strength of char-
acter, largely due to his early training in the school of adversity.
A devout and god-fearing man, he had a mild and liberal disposition.
He “made his court more austere than it had ever been except
probably in the time of Balban”. He acted with moderation and
wisdom. Amir Ehusrav thus praises him :
“He never did anything that was not replete with wisdom and
sense.
He might be said to wear a hundred doctors’ hoods under his
crown.”
Soon after his accession, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq set himself to
the task of restoring administrative order by removing the abuses
of the preceding regime. The extravagances of Mubarak and
Khusrav had brought the finances of the State to a deplorable
condition. Ghiyas-ud-chn therefore ordered a strict enquiry to
be made into all claims and jdgirs. Unlawful grants were confis-
cated to the State. The little unpopularity that he incurred by
this measure was soon removed by his wise liberality and beneficent
314
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION BEGINS 315
measures for the welfare of his subjects. He appointed upright
goTemors in the provinces, and considerably lightened the burden
of revenue by limiting the dues of the State to one-tenth or one-
eleventh of the gross produce and providing against official rapacity
and extortion. Agriculture, the main industry of the people in
this land, received special encouragement. Canals were excavated
to irrigate the fields, gardens were planted and forts were built
to provide shelter for husbandmen against brigands. But some of
the regulations of the Sultan were not marked by the same spirit
of benevolence. We know from Bami that certain sections of
the people were to “be taxed so that they might not be blinded
with wealth, and so become discontented and rebellious; nor, on
the other hand, be so reduced to poverty and destitution as to
be unable to pursue their husbandry”.
Reforms were introduced in other branches of administration,
like justice and police, so that order and security prevailed in the
country. The Sultan devised a system of poor-rehef and patronised
religious institutions and literary men; Amir Khusrav, his poet
laureate, received from the State a pension of one thousand tanhds
per mensem. The postal system of the country was reorganised
to facilitate communications and the military department was made
efficient and orderly.
Ghiyas-ud-din was not unmindful of asserting the authority of
the Sultanate over its different provinces. He pursued the Khalji
policy of military domination and imperialism, a reaction against
which began in fact with the failure of his successor, Muhammad
bin Tughluq. This is strikingly illustrated by what he did in the
Deccan and Bengal.
In the Deccan the Kakatiya ruler Prataparudradeva II of
Warangal, who had increased his power during the period of dis-
order following the death of ‘Ala-ud-din, refused to pay the stipu-
lated tribute to the Delhi Government. So Ghiyas-ud-din sent,
in the second year of his reign, an expedition against Warangal
under his eldest son and heir-apparent, Fakhr-ud-din Muhammad
Jauna Khan. The invaders besieged the mud fort of Warangal,
which was, however, defended by the Hindus with strong determin-
ation and courage. Owing to intrigues^ and the outbreak of pestilence
1 According to Bami and Yahiya bin. Ahmad, who have been followed by
later Muslim writers like Nizam-ud-dln Ahmad, BadaunI and Ferishta, these
intrigues were due to some traitors in the army. But Ibn Batutah (Vol. Ill
pp. 208-10) writes that the Crown Prince Jauna, who intended to seize the
throne, was responsible for these. Thomas {Gfvronicles, etc., p. 108) and
Sir Wolseley Haig {J.R,A.S., 1922, pp. 231-7) accept the opinion of Ibn
Batiitah, but Dr. Ishwari Prasad {History of Qara/unah Turks, pp. 30-2) has
pointed out the unsoundnesB of latter view.
316
Aisr ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
in the army, Prince Jauna had to return to Delhi without effecting
anything. -But again, four months after Jauna’s return to Delhi,
the Sultan sent a second expedition against Warangal under the
same prince. The second attempt met mth success. After a
desperate fight the Kakatiya ruler surrendered, with his family
and nobles, to the enemy. Prince Jauna sent him to Delhi and
subjugated the whole country of the Kakatiyas, Warangal being
renamed as Sultanpur. The Kakatiya kingdom, though not
formally annexed by the Delhi Sultan, soon lost its former power
and glory.
A civil war in Bengal among the sons of Shams-ud-din Firuz
Shah, who died in A.r>. 1318, led Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq to inter-
vene in the affairs of that province. Among the five sons of Shams-
; ud-din Firuz Shah, Ghiyas-ud-din Bahadur, who had ruled inde-
j' pendently in Eastern Bengal with Sonargaon as his capital since
]' 1310, Shihab-ud-din Bughra Shah, who had succeeded his father on
j the throne of Bengal with his capital at Lakhnauti, and Nasir-ud-
din, contested for supremacy in Bengal. In 1319 Ghiyas-ud-din
: Bahadur defeated Shihab-ud-din Bughra Shah and seized the
, throne of Bengal, which was also coveted by Nasir-ud-din, who
!' thereupon appealed to the Delhi Sultan for help. The Sultan
availed himself of this opportunity to bring under his effective
control the distant province of Bengal, the allegiance of which
to the Delhi Sultanate was always loose. He marched towards
Lakhnauti in a.d. 1324, captured Ghiyas-ud-din Bahadur, who was
sent as a prisoner to Delhi, and placed Nasir-ud-din on the throne
of Western Bengal as a vassal ruler. Eastern Bengal was also
made a province of the Delhi Sultanate. On his way back to Delhi,
Ghiyas-ud-din reduced to submission the Raja of Tirhut, which
became henceforth a fief of the Delhi Sultanate.
But the days of Ghiyas-ud-din were numbered. On returning
from Bengal he died in February-March, 1325, from the collapse
of a wooden structure which his son, Jauna, had built at Afghan-
pur, at a distance of five or six miles from Tughluqabad, the
fortress-city founded by Ghiyas-ud-din near Delhi. He was interred
in the tomb which he had built for himself at Tughluqabad. There
are two accounts about the Sultan’s death. Bami attributes the
collapse of the structure to a crash caused by Kghtning striking it ; and
Yayiha bin Ahmad Sarhindi also writes that the structure gave way
“by divine preordination”. But according to Ibn Batutah, the death
of the Sultan was due to a premeditated conspiracy of his son, who
got the pavilion so constructed by the royal architect {Mir ‘Imdrd),
Ahmad, son of Ayaz, that it would collapse on being touched by
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION BEGINS 317
elephants. Some later writers like Abul Fazl, Nizam-ud-din Ahmad
and Badauni suspect such a conspiracy, and most of the modern
writers consider the evidence of Ibn Batutah’s statement to be
conclusive, as his informant, Shaikh Rukn-ud-din, w'as in the paviMon
on the occasion of the Sultan’s tragic death. Barm’s account is
evidently partial, and his reticence is due to his desire not to dis-
please Firuz Tughluq, who had a great regard for Jauna and
during whose reign he wrote his work.
2 . Muhammad bin Tughluq
Prince Jauna declared himself as the Sultan three days after
his father’s death in February-March, 1325, under the title of
Muhammad bin Tughluq. Forty days later he proceeded to Delhi
and ascended the throne without any opposition in the old palace of
the Sultans, amidst a profuse display of pageantry. Like ‘Ala-ud-
din, he lavishly distributed gold and silver coins among the
populace and titles among the nobles.
For studying the history of Muhammad bin Tughluq’s reign we
have besides the admirable history of a contemporary official, Zia-ud-
din Barni, who wrote his work in the time of the Sultan’s successor,
Firuz Shah, several other Persian works of his near contempor-
aries like the Ta’nkh-i-Flruz Shahl by Shams-i-Siraj ‘AM, the
FatuMt-i-Fnuz SMM, an autobiographical memoir of Sultan
Firuz Shah, the Munshdt-i-Mdhru of ‘Ain-ul-Mulk Multani, the
Tughluqndmah of Amir Khusrav, and the Ta’nhh-i-Mubdmh
Shahl of Yahiya bin Ahmad Sarhindi, a comparatively late work,
which contains much supplementary information. The work of
the African traveller, Ibn Batutah, is also of great importance for
the history of this period. He came to India in September, a.d, 1333,
and was hospitably received by the Delhi Sultan, who appointed
him Chief Qazi of Delhi, which office he continued to hold tiU he
was sent as the Sultan’s ambassador to China in July, a.d. 1342.
His account bears on the whole the stamp of impartiality and is
remarkable for profuseness of details. The coins of Muhammad bin
Tughluq are also of informative value.
Muhammad bin Tughluq is indeed an extraordinary personality,
and to determine his place in history is a difficult task. Was he
a genius or a lunatic? An idealist or a visionary? A bloodthirsty
tyrant or a benevolent king? A heretic or a devout Mussahnan?
There is no doubt that he was one of the most learned and accomp-
lished scholars of his time, for which he has been duly praised by
Bami and others. Endowed with a keen intellect, a wonderful
318 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
memory and a brilliant capacity of assimilating knowledge, be was
proficient in different branches of learning Hke logic, pbilosopby,
mathematics, astronomy and the physical sciences. A perfect
master of composition and style, he was a brilliant calligraphist.
He had a vast knowledge of Persian poetry and quoted Persian
verses in his letters. The science of medicine was not unknown to
him. He was also well skilled in dialectics, and scholars thought
twice before opening any discussion with him on a subject in
which he was well versed. An experienced general, he won many
victories and lost few campaigns.
In his private life the Sultan was free from the prevailmg vices
of the age, and his habits w^ere simple. Possessed of remarkable
humility and generosity, he was lavish in distributing gifts and
presents. Ibn Batutah, who has characterised him “as the most
humble of men and one who is most inclined towards doing what is
right and Just”, writes that “the most prominent of his qualities
is generosity”. Writers Hke Barni, Yahiya bin Ahmad Sarhindi, and,
on their authority, Badauni, Nizam-ud-don Ahmad, and Ferishta,
have wrongly charged the Sultan with irreligiousness and the
slaughter of pious and learned men, scribes and soldiers. Ibn Batutah
asserts that “he follows the principles of religion with devoutness
and performs the prayers himself and punishes those who neglect
them”. This is corroborated by two other contemporary writers,
Shihab-ud-din Ahmad and Badr-i-Chach, and even Ferishta has to
admit it. Muhammad bin Tughluq’s chief offence was that, probably
inspired by the example of the Khaljis, “he ignored the canon law”
as expounded by learned Doctors and based his political conduct
on his own experience of the world.
But the Sultan lacked practical Judgment and common sense,
and, rather obsessed with his theoretical knowledge, indulged in
lofty theories and visionary projects. His schemes, though sound
in theory, and sometimes showing flashes of poHtical insight,
proved to be impracticable in actual operation, and ultimately
brought disaster on his kingdom. This was due to certain grave
defects in his character. Hasty and hot-tempered, he must have
his own way and would brook no opposition. The growing sense
of the failure of his poHcy made him charge the people with
perversity and enhanced his severity. Foiled in his aims, the Sultan
lost the equiHbrium of his mind. “Embarrassment followed
embarrassment, and confusion became worse confounded.” In
course of a talk with Bami, he exclaimed: “I visit them (the
people) with chastisement upon the suspicion or presumption of
their rebellious and treacherous designs, and I punish the most
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION BEGINS 319
trifling act of contumacy with death. This I will do until I die,
or until the people act honestly, and give up rebellion and con-
tumacy. I have no such wazlr as will make rules to obviate my
shedding blood. I punish the people because the}?- have all at once
become my enemies and opponents. I have dispensed great wealth
among them, but they have not become friendly and loyal.”
I These measures of the Sultan, as compared with his brighter
* qualities, have led some later writers to describe him as “a mixture
of opposites”. But others again have pointed put that he was
not reaUy an “amazing compound of contradictions” and that the
charges of “blood-thirstiness and madness” were wrongly brought
against liim by the members of the clerical party, who always
thwarted him in his policy. The Sultan’s defects might have been
exaggerated, but it cannot be denied that he was devoid of the
keen insight of a statesman and thus could not adapt his policy
to the sentiments of the people. His daring innovations were not
j welcome, as these entailed great hardships. He was, in short,
I a poor judge of human nature, who failed to realise that administra-
f tive reforms, however beneficial these may be, cannot be easily
imposed on the people against their will and -that repression gener-
ally breeds discontent if the vital interests of the people are affected.
Thus, as Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole observes, “with the best intentions,
excellent ideas, but no balance or patience, no sense of proportion,
Muhammad Tughlak {sic) was a transcendent failure”.
Like Philip II of Spain, Muhammad bin Tughluq set himself
assiduously to looking into the details of administration from the
I beginning of his reign. He first ordered the compilation of a
j register of the land revenue on the model of the register already
j kept, and the revenue department then worked smoothly. But
I soon he tried an ill-advised financial experiment in the Doab, the
I rich and fertile plain between the Ganges and the Jumna. He
^ enhanced the rate of taxation and revived and created some
additional abwdbs (cesses). It is not possible to determine accur-
ately the actual amount of additional assessment, owing to dis-
crepancies and vagueness in the accounts of contemporary and
later Muslim -writers.^ Some modem writers suggest that the
enhancement was not “fundamentally excessive” and did not
exceed the maximum of 50 per cent that it had reached under
^ Barnl {Ta'rlkh-i-Flruz ShahM, Biblioth. Ind., p. 473) writes ten or twenty
times more, which is wrongly translated by Elliot (Vol. Ill, pp. 182-3) as
10 or 6 p.c. According to Ta'rlhhd-Muharah ShdM (p. 103), the increment
was twentyfold and to this was added ghaH (house-tax) and the chardhi
(pasture tax). Badauni (Banking, VoL I, p, 306) writes that the taxes were
doubled.
320
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
‘Ala-ud-din. They also hold that the Sultan’s object in levying
extra taxes on the people of the Doab was not “intended to be
both a punitive measure (against the refractory inhabitants of
the Doab) and a means of replenishing the treasury”, as Badauni
and, in modern times, Sir Wolseley Haig have suggested, but to
“increase his military resources and to organise the administration
on an efficient basis”. Whatever it might have been, there is no
doubt that the measure entailed great miseries on the people of
the Doab, who had already been feeling the burden of heavy taxa-
tion since the time of the Khaljis, especially because it was intro-
duced at a very inopportune moment when a terrible famine
visited the land. The State did not relax its demands in view of
the famine, but its officers exacted taxes with rigour ; and it also
took no immediate steps to mitigate the hardships of the toiling
peasantry. The Sultan’s relief measures, like advancing loans to
the agriculturists, sinking wells and “bringmg the uncultivated
lands under the plough by means of direct state management and
financial support”, came too late. Agriculture suffered terribly
and the impoverished peasantry of the Doab left their holdings
and shifted to other places. In great fury, the Sultan adopted
severe reprisals to bring back the reluctant ryots to their work,
which produced disastrous consequences for the house of Tughluq.
Muhammad bin Tughluq’s decision to transfer the capital in 1327^
from Delhi to Devagiri, renamed by him Daulatabad, was another
ill-calculated step, which ultimately caused immense suffering to
the people. This project of the Sultan was not, as some modern
writers have suggested, a wild experiment tried with the object
of wreaking vengeance on the people of Delhi, but the idea behind
it was origmaUy sound. The new capital occupied a central and
strategic situation. The kingdom then embraced within its sphere
the Doab, the plains of the Punjab and Lahore with the territories
extending from the Indus to the coast of Gujarat in the north,
the whole province of Bengal m the east, the j^gdoms of Malwa,
Mahoba, Ujjaia and Dhar in the central region, and the Deccan,
which had been recently added to it. Such a kingdom demanded
close attention from the Sultan. Barni writes: “This place held a
central situation; Delhi, Gujarat, Lakhnauti, Satgaon, Sonargaon,
Telang, Ma'bar, Dorasamudra, and Kampila were about equidistant
from thence, there being but a slight difference in the distances.”
Further, the new capital was safe from Mongol invasions, which
^ TMs date has been established by Dr. Ishwari Prasad [History of the
Qaraunah Turks, jfp. 83-3) on a comparison of contemporary accounts and
study of coins.
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION BEGINS 321
constantly threatened the old one. The Sultan also did his best
bo make the new capital a suitable abode for his officers, and the
people, by providing it with beautiful buildings, the splendour
of which has been described by Ibn Batutah, ‘Abdul Hamid
Lahori, the court historian of Shah Jahan’s reign, and the European
travellers of the seventeenth century. AU facilities were provided
for the intending immigrants. A spacious road was constructed
for their convenience, shady trees being planted on both sides of
it and a regular post being established between Delhi and Daulat-
abad. Even Barni writes that the Sultan “was bounteous in his
liberality and favours to the emigrants, both on their journey and
on their arrival”. In all this, the Sultan acted reasonably.
But when the people of Delhi, out of sentiment, demurred at
leaving their own homes which were associated with memories of
the past, the Sultan’s harsh temper got the better of his good
sense, and he ordered all the people of Delhi to proceed en masse
to Daulatabad with their belongings. We need not believe in the
unwarranted statement of Ibn Batutah that a blind man was
dragged from Delhi to Daulatabad and that a bed-ridden cripple was
projected there by a baUista. Nor should we literally accept the
hyperbolic statement of Barni that “not a cat or a dog was left
among the buildings of the city (of Delhi), in its palaces or in its
suburbs”. Such forms of expression were common among the
medieval writers of India. Complete destruction or evacuation of
the city is unthinkable. But the sufferings of the people of Delhi
were undoubtedly considerable in a long journey of 700 miles.
Worn out with fatigue, many of them died on the way, and many
who reached Daulatabad followed suit in utter despair and agony
like exiles in a strange land. Such were the disastrous results of
the Sultan’s miscalculated plan. “Daulatabad,” remarks Mr.
Stanley Lane-Poole aptly, “was a monument of misdirected
energy.”
The Sultan, having at last recognised the foUy and iniquity of
his policy, reshifted the court to Delhi and ordered a return march
of the people. But very few survived to return, and Delhi had
lost its former prosperity and grandeur, which could not be restored
until long after, though the Sultan “brought learned men and
gentlemen, tradesmen and landowners, into the city (of Delhi)
from certain towns in his territory, and made them reside there”.
Ibn Batutah found Delhi in a.d. 1^34 deserted in some places and
bearing the marks of ruin.
Muhammad bin Tughluq tried important monetary experiments.
Edward Thomas has described him as “a Prince of Moneyers”
322 m ADVANCED HISTORY 01 INDIA
and writes that “one of the earliest acts of his reign was to remodel
the coinage, to readjust its divisions to the altered values of the
precious metals, and to originate new and more exact representa-
tives of the subordinate circulation A new gold piece, called the
Difiur by Ibn Batutah, weighing 200 grams, was issued by him.
He also revived the Adali, equivalent in weight to 140 grams of
silver, in place of the old gold and silver coins weighing 175 grams.
This change was probably due to a “faU in the relative value of
gold to silver, the imperial treasury having been replenished by
large quantities of the former metal as a result of the campaigns
of the Deccan”.
But the most daring of his experiments was the issue of a token
currency in copper coins between a.d. 1329 and 1330 for which
there had been examples before him in China and Persia. Towards
the close of the thirteenth century, Kublai Khan, the Mongol
Emperor of China, introduced a paper currency in China, and Gai
Khatu, the ruler of Persia, tried it in a.d, 1294, Muhammad bin
Tughluq also issued a decree proclaiming that in aU transactions
copper tokens should pass as legal tender like gold and silver coins.
The motives of the Sultan behind this measure were to replenish
his exhausted exchequer and find increased resources for his
plans of conquest and administration. So he cannot be accused
of any device or design to defraud the people.
This “carefully organised measure”, however, failed, owing chiefly
to two causes. Firstly, it was far in advance of the time and the
people could not grasp its real significance. Secondly, the Sultan
did not make the issue of the copper coins a monopoly of the
State, and failed to take proper precautions against forgery. As
Thomas writes, “there was no special machinery to mark the
difference of the fabric of the Royal Mint and the handiwork of
the moderately skilled artisan. Unlike the precautions taken to
prevent the imitation of Chinese paper notes, there was positively
no check upon the authenticity of the copper tokens, and no limit
to the power of production of the masses at large”. The result
was that large numbers of counterfeit coins obtained circulation.
We are told by Barm that “the promulgation of this edict turned
the house of every Hindu into a mint, and the Hindus of the various
provinces coined krores and lacs of copper coins. With these they
paid their tribute, and with these they purchased horses, arms
and fine things of all kinds. The rais, the village headmen and land-
owners, grew rich and strong upon these copper coins, but the
State was impoverished. ... In those places where fear of the
Sultan’s edict prevailed, the gold tanka rose to be worth a hundred
THE HOUSE OE TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION BEGINS 323
of (the copper) tankas. Erery goldsmitli struck copper coins in
his own workshop, and the treasury was filled with these copper
coins. So low did they fall that they were not valued more than
pebbles or potsherds. The old coin, from its great scarcity, rose
four-fold and five-fold in value”. Trade and industries were in
consequence severely affected, and confusion reigned supreme. The
Sultan recognised his error and repealed his edict about four years
after the introduction of the currency. He paid for every copper coin
brought to the treasury at its face value in gold and silver coins, and
the public funds were thus sacrificed without any corresponding
benefit to the State. So many copper coins were brought to Delhi
that heaps of them were accumulated at Tughluqabad, which could
be seen a century later in the reign of Mubarak Shah II.
The Delhi Sultanate was not absolutely free from external danger
during this reign. In a.d. 1328-1329 the Chaghatai chief, Tar-
mashirm Khan, of Transoxiana invaded India. He ravaged the
plains of the Punjab and reached the outskirts of Delhi. The
change of the capital from Delhi, and probably the weak defence
of the north-west frontier by the Delhi rulers, gave him the oppor-
tunity for this ambitious design. According to Yahiya bin Ahmad
and Badauni, Muhammad bin Tughluq defeated him and drove him
out of the country, while Eerishta WTites that the Sultan bought
him off by pa 5 dng large presents in gold and jewels, which he
describes “as the price of the kingdom”. Be that as it may, “the
invasion was no more than a raid, and Tarmashmn disappeared
as suddenly as he had come”.
Like ‘Ala-ud-din, Muhammad bin Tughluq cherished extravagant
visions of universal conquest. Encouraged by some Khurasani
nobles, who had come to the Sultan’s court, being tempted by his
lavish generosity, and had their selfish motives to serve, the latter
formed, during the early years of his reign, the ambitious design
of conquering Khurasan and Irak and mobilised a huge army for
this purpose. Bami writes that 370,000 men were enrolled in the
Diwan-i-’arz or muster-master’s office and were paid by the State
for one full year. It is indeed true that Khurasan was then in a
state of disorder under its profligate monarch Abu Said, which
might he taken advantage of by any external enemy. But its
conquest was certainly an. impossible task on the part of the Sultan
of Defiii, whose authority could hardly be regarded as being estab-
lished on a secure basis throughout his own kingdom, especially
in the Deccan. There were also geographical and transport diffi-
culties of no insignificant nature. To mobilise a large army through
the passes of the Hindukush or the Himalayaa, and arrange for its
324
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OE INDIA
provisions in. distant lands, were tasks of gigantic"^ magnitude.
It is also worthy of consideration how far it was possible for the
DelJii soldiers, who had so long gained successes against the weak
and divided Indian powers, to measure their strength successfully
with the hardy hordes of Central Asia. Further, Tarmashmn Khan
the Chaghatai chief, and the Sultan of Egypt, both of whom coveted
the eastern and western frontiers of the distracted Persian Empire,
were insincere allies of the Delhi Sultan, more determined to serve
their own interests than help him in his projected invasion. Thus
the Delhi Sultan’s “scheme was impolitic in the highest degree”
from every point of view. It had to be abandoned, probably for
lack of money. Barni writes: “The coveted countries were not
acquired . . . and his treasure, which is the true source of political
power, was expended.”
Muhammad bin Tughluq never entertained the fantastic idea of
conquering Tibet and China. But Barni, a contemporary officer,
and Ibn Batutah clearly refer to his design of “capturing the
mountain of Kara-jal . . . which lies between the territories of
Hind (India) and those of China”. Evidently the expedition was
directed against some refractory tribes in the Kumaun-Garhwal
region with the object of bringing them under the control of the
Delhi Sultan. A large army was sent from DeUii in the year a.d.
1337-1338 under the command of an able general.
But after an initial success, the Delhi troops suffered terribly
owing to geographical difficulties, setting in of the rams, and lack
of provisions. Only a few of them (ten according to Barni, three
according to Ibn Batutah) survived to relate the story of the tragic
fate of the expedition. Its immediate objective was, however,
gained, as the hillmen came to terms and agreed to pay tribute
to the Delhi Sultan.
But the cumulative effect of all the fantastic projects of
Muhammad bin Tughluq proved disastrous for him. They caused
immense miseries to the people of his kingdom, who were afflicted
at the same time by the ravages of famine, and finally exhausted
their patience. Popular discontent found expression in open revolts
against the Sultan’s authority, and his whole reign was distracted
by repeated rebellions, which increased the severity of his temper,
undermined his prestige and authority, and accelerated the dis-
memberment of his vast empire.
The two early rebellions were put down with comparative ease,
and the insurgents were given exemplary punishments. Baha-ud-din
Gurshasp, sister’s son to Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq and so first cousin to
Muhammad bin Tughluq, who held the fief of Sagar, situated about
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION BEGINS 325
ten miles north of Shorapur in the Deccan, refused to recognise the
Sultan’s authority and rebelled against him in a.d. 1326 or 1327.
But he was captured by the imperialists, and sent to Delhi. He
was flayed alive there, his dead body was paraded round the
city, and his execution was proclaimed by way of warning to
others: “Thus shaU aU traitors to their king perish.” A more
serious rebellion, which broke out in the next year, was that
of Bahram Aiba, surnamed Edshlu Khan, who held the fiefs of
Uch, Sind and Multan. Muhammad bin Tughluq, who was then at
Devagiri, marched to Multan by way of Delhi and inflicted a
crushing defeat on the rebel in a fight in the plain of Abuhar.^
The Sultan was inclined to order a general massacre of the inhabit-
ants of Multan, but was restrained from doing so by the saint
Rukn-ud-din. Bahram was captured and beheaded and his head
was hung up in the gate of the city of Multan by way of warning
to persons of rebellious disposition.
But the suppression of these two rebellions did not in any way
strengthen the Sultan’s position. Rather, from a.d. 1335, his
fortunes began to wane and his authority to be openly defied by
Hindu chiefs and Muslim governors of provinces, who were even
emboldened to assert their independence. Taking advantage of the
Sultan’s engagements in Northern India, Jalal-ud-din Ahsan Shah,
governor of Ma'bar, proclaimed himself independent in a.d. 13352
and struck coins in his own name. The Sultan marched m person
against him, but on reaching Warangal, was forced by an outbreak
of cholera in his camp to retreat to Daulatabad. Thus came into
existence the independent Muslim kingdom of Madura, which
existed tiU a.d. 1377-1378, when it fell before the rising State of
Vijayanagar. This kingdom of Vijayanagar was founded according
to tradition in a.d. 1336.
In the north, Fakhr-ud-din Mubarak Shah, governor of the
province of Bengal, the loyalty of which to the Delhi Sultanate
had been always dubious, soon threw off his allegiance to it in
a.d. 1338 and struck coins in his own name. The Sultan of Delhi,
then preoccupied with other troubles, could do nothing to subdue
him, and Bengal thus became an independent province. Rebellions
followed in quick succession also in other parts of the Empice,
the most formidable one being that of ‘Ain-ul-mulk, the governor
of Oudh and Zafarabad, m a.d. 1340-41. All these were indeed
^Now a small town situated in Fazalkah iahsil, Firozepore district, on
the South Punjab Railway. For topographical details vide Major Raverty’s
article on The Mihrdn of Sind and its Triimtaries, in J.A.S.B., 1892, Vol. I.
* This date has been established by Dr. E. Hnltzsch on numismatic evidence.
Vide his article on The Coinage of the SuUdns of Madura, in J.R.A.S., 1909.
326
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
put down by the end of the year a.d. 1342, but they badly
affected the resources of the State, exhausted the energy of the
Sultan and damped his spirits.
In this extremely embarrassing situation, the Sultan sought
pontifical recognition to strengthen his waning authority by
obtaining a patent from the ‘Abbasid Khalifah of Egypt. The
desired patent came and Muhammad bin Tughluq caused his name
to be replaced by that of the Khalifah on the Khutha and the
coins. But his object was not fulfilled. The loyalty and con-
fidence of his people had been too rudely shaken to be restored
by the force of the Klialifah’s patent. In fact, no one had questioned
the Sultan’s title to the throne ; but it was his policy and measures
which were not to the liking of his subjects.
The Sultan was faced with serious difficulties in almost all parts
of his Idngdom. In Telingana, Prolaya Nayaka, and after him his
nephew, Kapaya Nayaka, organised a Hindu national movement
against Muslim rule, with the assistance of the Hoysala king, Vira
BaUala III. A similar movement was started in the region along the
Krislma. The ultimate result was the establishment of the Hindu
Kingdom of Vijayanagar and a few other Hindu principalities in the
Deccan. The Sultan’s persecution of the ‘‘Centurions” [amiran-i'
sadah) aggravated his troubles and “insurrection followed upon
insurrection”. The foreign Amirs revolted in Devagiii and the
foundation of the Bahmani kingdom was laid by Abul Muzaffar
‘ Ala-ud-din Bahman Shah, early in August, 1347. When the Sultan
proceeded to quell a disturbance in one part, another broke out in
a different quarter. While thus occupied in chasing the rebels in
Sind, he was attacked with fever near Tattah and died on 20th
March, a.d. 1351. “And so,” remarks BadaunI, “the kin g was freed
from his people and they from their king.” In fact, the whole reign
of Muhammad bin Tughluq dragged on through baffled aims to a
pathetic end, marked by the dismemberment of his vast empire of
twenty-three provinces. There can be no doubt that the Sultan
himself was largely responsible for this tragedy. Endowed with
extraordinary intellect and industry, he lacked the essential qualities
of a constructive statesman, and his ill-advised measures and stern
policy, enforced in disregard of popular will, sealed the doom of his
empire.
3. FIruz Shah, Son of Rajab
The sudden death of Muhammad bin Tughluq near Tattah threw
his leaderless army, already embarrassed by the presence of women
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. BISBUPTION BEGMS 827
and children in the camp, into great confusion and disorder. For
two days it was harassed and plundered by the rebels of Sind
and the Mongol mercenaries, who had been hired to help the Sultan’s
army against the rebel Taghi. In this extremity, the nobles urged
Firuz to ascend the throne and save the dispirited army from destruc-
tion. Firuz after some hesitation to accept the crown, in which
he was probably sincere, submitted to the choice of the nobles,
and was proclaimed king, at the age of forty-six, on the 23rd
March, 1351. He succeeded in restoring order in the army and set
out for Delhi with it. But hardly had he come out of Sind before
Kdiwaja-i-Jahan, the Deputy of the late Sultan, had proclaimed
at Delhi a boy as the son and heir of Muhammad bin Tughluq
and raised him to the throne. The situation was indeed a critical
one for Firuz, who, on reacliing Multan, held consultations with
the nobles and the Muslim jurists. The former refused to admit
the existence of any son of Muhammad bin Tughluq and the latter
considered KJiwaja-i-Jahan’s candidate disqualified on the ground
of minority. The question was not considered from the legal point
of view. It was irrelevant to do so, for in Muslim law sovereignty
was not considered to be a matter of “inherited right”. As the cause
of the boy king was hopeless, Khwaja-i-Jahan soon submitted to
Firuz, who pardoned him in consideration of his past services
and ordered him to go to the fief of Samana to spend his last days
there in retirement. But on the way he was beheaded by a follower
of Sher Klhan, the commandant of Simam and Samana, at the
instigation of his master and other nobles and chiefs of the army.
Firuz showed weakness in allowing the old officer, of whose
innocence he was convinced, to fall a victim to the vengeance of the
nobles.
The question as to whether Firuz’s accession was regular
or not is a disputed one. Firuz was Muhammad’s first cousin,
the son of Ghiyas-ud-din’s younger brother Rajab by his Bhatti
wife, who was the daughter of Rana Mall, the chief of Abuhar.
He was trained in the art of government by Ghiyas-ud-din
Tughluq and Muhammad bin Tughluq, and the latter, according to
the contemporary chronicler, Bami, had left a testament nominating
him as his heir-apparent. But the authenticity of this testament
has been questioned by Sir Wolseley Haig, who is of opinion that
the child whom Khwaja-i-Jahan raised to the throne was not
“a supposititious son” of Muhammad bin Tughluq but was an issue
of his blood. This view is not shared by some scholars. Whatever
it might have been, there is no doubt that the nobles and the jurists
selected Fii-uz partly on the ground of necessity. His succession.
328
m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
according to some, “asserted once more with gi’eat force the right
of election that had been gradually receding in the background
without, however, denying the right of the son to rule. The case
also emphasised fitness against merely close relationship to the
sovereign”.
The task before Firuz was indeed a difficult one, — that of raising
the Dellii Sultanate from the state of decrepitude and demorahsation
into which it had fallen since the closing years of his predecessor’s
reign. But the new Sultan was ill-fitted for it. He was weak,
v'acillating and incapable of sustained efforts, and lacked the
essential qualities of good generalship. He made no serious attempts
to recover the lost provhices of the Empire, and his military
enterprises were mostly unsuccessful. In critical moments during
his campaigns, he withdrew from them when almost on the point
of victory, to avoid shedding the blood of his co-religionists. “His
generalship in his two campaigns to Bengal and his eventual
reduction of the Thatta, seems,” remarks Thomas, “to have
been of the lowest order; and the way that he allowed himself
to be deluded into the deserts of Cutch, or the defiles of Jajnagar,
seems to savour of positive fatuity.”
In the east Haji Iliyas, the independent ruler of Bengal, who
had styled himself Shams-ud-din Ihyas Shah, was engaged in
extending the frontiers of his kingdom in various directions and
“ravaged” those of the Delhi kingdom. Firuz thereupon marched
from Delhi, at the head of 70,000 horse, in November a.d. 1353 to
repel him. On hearing of his advance, Iliyas retreated into the
fort of Ikdala, situated probably at a distance of ten or twelve
miles from Pandua.^ But he was attacked there by the Delhi
troops and defeated. Firuz, however, did not reap the full advantage
of his hard-earned victory, because without annexing Bengal,
which was urged by his commander, Tartar Khan, he came back
to Delhi on 1st September, 1354. There are two different versions
regarding the cause of his undignified retreat. According to
Shams-i-SiraJ ‘Afif, the official historian of Firuz’s reign, the Sultan
retreated, being moved by the shrieks and wailings of the women
in the besieged fort. But some later writers have attributed it
to his apprehension of disasters at the commencement of the rainy
season. Whatever might have been the cause of his retreat, one
has to agree with Thomas’ statement that “the invasion only
resulted in the confession of weakness”.
1 The exact site of this fort has not yet been definitely fixed. For detailed
accounts of it, vide Calcutta Eeview, 1874; J.A.S.B., 1874; and Tabaqat-i-
Bib. Ind., p, 591 footnote.
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION BEGINS 329
Firuz made another attempt to reduce Bengal to submission in the
course of a few years. He found a pretext for it when Zalar Klian,
son-in-law of Fakhr-ud-din Mubarak Shah of Eastern Bengal, fled
from Sonargaon to his court via the sea-route and complained to
him of the highhandedness of the Bengal ruler. The death of the
brave and able ruler, Shams-ud-din Iliyas, encouraged Firuz to
organise an expedition against Bengal. Brushing aside all previous
treaties and assurances of friendship, he marched, at the head
of a large army, against Sikandar Shah, the son and successor of
Shams-ud-din Iliyas, in a.d. 1359. On his way he halted for six
months at Zafarabad on the Gumti and founded in its neighbourhood
the city of Jaunpur, m memory of his cousin, Fakhr-ud-din Jauna
(Muhammad bin Tughluq). At the end of the rainy season, he resumed
his march towards Bengal. As he sent no response to the friendly
negotiations of Sikandar Shah, the latter, following his father’s
example, retreated into the mud fortress of Ikdala. The Delhi
troops besieged this fortress, but its reduction did not prove to be
child’s play. The Bengal troops bravely defended their strong-
hold, “until the rains drew near and the floods came to help their
cause” against the besiegers. A peace was soon concluded on
favourable terms for Sikandar. Thus, the second Bengal expedition
of the Delhi Sultan was as abortive as the first one. It merely
exhibited once more his weak and vacfllating nature.
On his way back to Delhi, the Sultan halted for some time at
Jaunpur, and then marched against Jajnagar (modem Orissa).
The Rai of this place fled, on the approach of the Delhi troops,
towards Telingana, and soon tendered his submission by sur-
rendering some elephants and promising to send to Delhi a number
of elephants annually as tribute. Firuz returned to Delhi, under-
going great difficulties and privations, after an absence of tw^o years
and a half.
The reduction of the fortress of Nagarkot, which though conquered
by Muhammad bin Tughluq in a.d. 1337 had slipped out of Delhi
control during the closing years of the Sultan’s reign, engaged the
attention of Firuz shortly after his return to Delhi. On reaching
Nagarkot, he besieged the fortress there for six months, when
its Rai submitted to him. Kruz’s Nagarkot campaign is interesting
because of the fact that he caused 300 volumes of Sanskrit books
on various subjects, preserved in the temple of Jwalamukiu, to be
rendered into Persian verse under the title of Dald'il-i-Firuz ShdM,
by a court-poet named A‘azz-ud-din Khalid Khani.
In 1361-62 Firuz resumed the task of conquering Sind, which had
been abandoned on the death of Muhammad bin Tughluq about eleven
330
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
years back. He marched towards Tattah, the capital of the Jams
of Sind, mth 90,000 cavalry, many infantry, 480 elephants, and
5,000 boats. The then ruler of Sind, Jam Babaniya, decided to
meet him and formed a battle army with 20,000 cavalry and 400,000
infantry. The Delhi army suffered greatly, owing to the out-
break of famine and an epizootic disease, which carried off about three-
quarters of it. Intending to gather fresh reinforcements, the Sultan
retreated to Gujarat. But being misled by some treacherous guides,
he drifted away into the Rann of Cutch, and for six months nothing
could be discovered regarding the fate of his army. Additional
troops being, however, sent from Delhi bj^- his able minister, Khan-i-
Jahan Maqbul, the Sultan again attacked the Sindians in 1363 and
forced them to sue for peace. The Sindians agreed to pay an annual
tribute of several lacs of tankas to the Sultan and acknowledged
allegiance to his authority. But his expeditions to Sind, like
his Bengal campaigns, revealed his lack of military ability and
tactical skill.
There were no Mongol inroads during the reign of Firuz. We
are told by Yahiya that the “ ffontiers of the kingdom were secured
by placing them under great armies and the well-wishers of the
Emperor”.
But no attempt was made by Firuz to bring the Deccan- "under
the control of the Delhi Sultanate. When his officers asked him
to undertake an expedition to Daulatabad, he, as Shams-i-Siraj
‘Aiif puts it, “looked distressed and his eyes were suffused with
tears, and approving them arguments, he said that ... he was
resolved never more to make war upon men of the Muhammadan
faith”,
Firuz was a reUgious bigot and persecuted the Hindus. He
entertained a great regard for the Khalifah of Egypt. For the
first time in the history of Muslim India he styled himself as his
deputy ; during the first six years of his reign he twice received
a patent of rulership and robes of honour from him; and on his
coins his own name was associated with that of the TCbalif ab,
He tried to conduct the affairs of the State according to the theo-
cratic principles of his faith. He encouraged his subjects, belonging
to other persuasions, “to embrace the religion” in which he him-
self found solace, and framed regulations which deviated from the
religious policy that had hitherto been pursued by his predecessors.
Probably with a view to conciliating the nobles and the officials,
Firuz revived the jogrfr system, which had been abolished by ‘Ala-
ud-din, and farmed out the whole kingdom among them besides
granting them increased salaries and allowances. Though these
THE HOUSE OP TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION BEGINS 331
measures apparently strengthened the position of the new Suitan,
they ultimately served to engender a tendency to decentralisation,
which undermined the authority of the central government.
But with all the above-mentioned defects, Piruz has a record
of some benevolent measures to his credit, and his long reign of
about thirty-seven years was a period of comparative prosperity
and happiness for the people. He abolished many vexatious and
unjust cesses, which had been levied upon the people during the
previous reigns, and devised taxation according to the spirit of
the Quranic Law. He allowed the imposition of four kinds of
taxes sajLctioned by the Quran — ^the hhdrdj or tenth fi-om cultivated
lands, the zahdt or alms, the jizya or poll-tax on the non-Muslims
and other heretics, and the Tchams or one-fifth of the spoil and of the
produce of mines. In consultation with the canonists, he also
levied an irrigation tax (sharb) at the rate of 10 per cent of the
produce of the fields. The spoils of war were to be shared by the
State and the soldiers, as prescribed by the Quran, the former
getting one-fifth of the spoil and the latter four-fifths. The merchants
were relieved from the payment of some irregular and oppressive
octroi duties, which obstructed fi’ee circulation of merchandise from
one part of the country to another. The State officers were strictly
warned against demanding anything more than the prescribed dues,
and were punished for unjust exactions. The results of these
measures were indeed beneficial for trade and agriculture. Shams-
i-SfrS.j ‘Afif, though a panegyrist of the Sultan, with whose court
he was frequently associated, writes with much truth that, as a
result of these regulations, the ryots grew rich and were satisfied.
“Their homes were replete with grain, property, horses and furniture ;
everyone had plenty of gold and silver; no woman was without
her ornaments and no house without good beds and divans. Wealth
abounded and comforts were general. The State did not suffer
from financial bankruptcy during this reign. The revenues of the
Doab amounted to eighty lacs of tankas and those of the territories
of Delhi to six crores and eighty-five lacs of tankas.^’ Prices of the
articles of common consumption also became low.^
The construction of a system of irrigation canals contributed
greatly towards the improvement of agriculture. Two streams are
mentioned by Shams-i-Siraj ‘Afif to have been excavated under
the orders of Firuz — one from the Sutlej and the other from the
^The prices of articles have been thus stated by Shams-i-Siraj ‘Afif:
Wheat . . 1 man 8 jitals Dal . . . 10 seers 1 jitals
Barley . . „ 4 ,, Ghee . . 1 seer 2^ „
Grain . . ,, 4 Sugar . . ,, 3| „
332
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Jumna. But YaHya, who, as an inhabitant of Sirhind, had a
better knowledge of the canal system, writes of four canals being
constructed durmg this reign : (a) one from the Sutlej to the Ghaghar,
(b) a second opened in the vicinity of the Mandavi and Sirmur
hills, and joined by seven creeks, was extended as far as Hansi,
and thence to Arasani, where the foundation of the fort of Hissar
Firuza was laid, (c) the third flowing from the Ghaghar by the
fort of Sfrsuti went up to the village of Hirani-Khera, (d) and the
fourth being excavated from the Jumna was extended to Firuzabad
and then passed further beyond it. Firuz employed skilled engineers
to superintend the canals, and especially to examine and report
on them during the rainy season. Another beneficial step on his
part was the reclamation of waste lands, the income accruing
from which was spent for religious and educational purposes.
Firuz’s building and gardening activities indirectly benefited the
people. He had a great passion for building new cities and renaming
old ones. He himself says: “Among the many gifts which God
bestowed upon me. His humble servant, was a desire to erect
public buildings. So I built many mosques and colleges and monas-
teries, that the learned and the elders, the devout and the holy,
might worship God in these edifices, and aid the kind builder with
their prayers.” He founded the town of Jaunpur, Fatehabad,
Hissar, Firuzpur near Badaun, and Firuzabad, at a distance of
ten miles from his capital. During his Bengal campaigns, he
renamed Ikdala “Azadpur^’ and Pandua “ Flriizdbdd'\ He con-
structed or restored a number of mosques, palaces, sardis, reser-
voirs, hospitals, tombs, baths, monumental pillars and bridges.
The chief architect of the State was Malik Ghazi Sahana, who
was helped by ‘Abdul Huq. The Sultan’s interest in gardening
led him to lay out 1,200 new gardens near Delhi and restore thirty
old gardens of ‘Ala-ud-din. He also removed two inscribed monoliths
of A§oka to Delhi — one from a village near Khizrabad on the
upper Jumna and the other from Meerut.
While conforming to the principles of the Quranic law in the
administration of justice, Kruz tried to make the judicial system
more humane than before. We have in his own words: “In the
reigns of former kings . . . many varieties of torture were employed.
Amputation of hands and feet, ears and noses; tearing out the
eyes, pouring molten lead into the throat, crushing the bones of
the hands and feet with mallets, burning the body with fire, driving
iron nails into the hands, feet, and bosom, cutting the sinews,
sawing men asunder ; these and many similar tortures were practised.
The great and merciful God made me. His servant, hope and seek
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION- BEGINS 333
for His mercy by devoting myself to prevent the unlawful killing
of Mussalmans, and the infliction of any kind of torture upon
them or upon any men.” Some benevolent measures were also
adopted by him for the general welfare of the people, who, according
to all contemporary writers, held him in great respect. He tried
to solve the unemployment problem by starting an employment
bm’eau, and providing employment for as many as possible after
a thorough enquiry into each man’s merit and capacity. He further
established a charity bureau {Diwan-i-Kliairdt), through wdiich
pecuniary help was ^stributed for the marriage of girls of needy
Muslims, chiefly of the middle class, and for the benefit of widows
and orphans. He founded a charitable hospital {Ddr-ul-Shafd),
where medicines and diet were supplied by efficient physicians at
the cost of the State.
Firuz did not issue absolutely new varieties of coins. The coins
prevalent during his reign had already been in chculation in the
time of Muhammad bin Tughluq. Even the Shashgliani or six-jital
piece, which is especially attributed to him by ‘Afif, has been
referred to by Ibn Batutah. But credit must be conceded to him
for havmg introduced two fractions of mixed copper and silver
comage — ^half and quarter jitals, described as adhd (half) and hikh
respectively. These mixed pieces facilitated the transactions of
the com m on people and gave the coinage considerable metallic
strength. But much of their utility was spoiled by fraud and
peculation in the working of the mint.
The army of the State was organised on a feudal basis. The
regular soldiers of the army received grants of lands, sufficient
for their comfortable living, and the irregulars (ghairwajh) were
paid direct from the royal treasury. Those who did not get their
salaries in either of these ways, were supplied with transferable
assignments on the revenue. The last method of payment proved
to be a source of great abuse. The assignments were purchased
in the capital by some middle-men at one-third of their value,
and they sold them to the soldiers in the districts at one-half.
Thus a class of people made clandestine gains, without any labour
on their part, at the expense of the soldiers. The State army
consisted of eighty or ninety thousand cavalry, which could be
reinforced by the retainers of the nobles. But it is doubtful if the
army was really efficient. Its strength must have been greatly
undermined by the Sultan’s unwise generosity towards the soldiers.
He passed a new regulation to the effect that when a soldier became
incapable of service in the field through old age, his son, or son-
in-law, or slave, should step into his place. The recognition of this
334
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
hereditary claim in military services, irrespective of any considera-
tion of fitness, was imdoubtedly a pernicious practice.
The reign of Eiruz was marked by an unprecedented rise in the
number of slaves,^ for whom the State maintained a separate
establishment. The fief-holders in different parts of the kingdom
made presents of slaves to the Sultan, for which corresponding
deductions were made from the taxes payable by them to the
Government. Thus the institution of slavery entailed a heavy
loss on the central exchequer. ^
Though generally opposed to gorgeous display, Eiruz, like his
predecessors, maintained a magnificent and luxurious coxnt, which
was, as Shams-i-Siraj ‘Afif says, especially decorated during the
Id and Shabrdt festivals. There were also thfrty-six royal estab-
lishments, each having a separate staff of ofiScers to look after its
affairs. The expenses for the maintenance of the court and the house-
hold establishments of the Sultan must have been considerable.
Eiruz ’s minister, Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul, exercised a potent
influence in the affairs of the State. He was originally a Hindu
of Telingana but subsequently embraced Islam and had an
official career under Muhammad bin Tughluq before he rose to this
eminent position in the reign of Eiruz. He died in a.d. 1370 and
was succeeded in his office and emoluments by his son, Juna Shfih,
who also received his title. On the death of Zafar Khan, the
governor of Gujarat, in the next year, his son, Darya Khan, succeeded
him in his office. Later the Sultan received a severe shock from
the death of his eldest son, Eath Khan, on the 23rd July, 1374.
This gravely affected both his mind and body.
As was the case with most of the Sultans of Delhi, the last days
of Eiruz were far from peaceful. His judgment failed as he advanced
in age, and the efficiency of the government declined. He com-
mitted a blunder in trying to share authority with his eldest sur-
viving son, Muhammad Khan, an incompetent youth, who gave
himself up to pleasures instead of looking after the administration
of the State. A civil war ensued even during the lifetime of the
Sultan, and Muhammad Khan fled towards the Sirmur hills. Eiruz
then conferred the royal title, and the position held by Muhammad
Khan, on his grandson, Tughluq Khan, son of the deceased Eath
Khan, before he died on the 20th September, 1388.
Contemporary Indian writers are unanimous in admiring the
virtues of Eiruz Shah. In their opinion, no king, since the
time of Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, had been “so just and kind, so
^ According to Shams-i-Siraj ‘Aflf the number of slaves in the capital and
the provinces rose to 180,000. Elliot, Vol. Ill, p. 341.
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. DISRUPTION BEGINS 335
courteous and God-fearing, or such a builder” as Firuz iras. Firuz
indeed possessed excellent qualities of heart, such as affection
and benevolence ; and his reign was marked by peace and prosperity.
But his indiserimmate generosity and concessions contributed in
no small degree to the dismemberment of the Delhi Sultanate in
the long run. His revival of the jdglr system also produced a
tendency towards decentralisation to the prejudice of the integrity
of the State.
4. The Successors of Firuz Shah, Son of Rajab
The immediate successor of Firuz was his grandson, Tughluq
Shah, who assumed the title of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq Shah II.
He soon fell a victim to a conspiracy of some officers and nobles
on the 19th February, a.d. 1389. The nobles at Dellii then acclaimed
his cousin, Abu Baqr, as the Sultan. At the same time the parti-
sans of Firuz’s son, Nasir-ud-din Muhammad, proclaimed him king
at Samana on the 24th April, 1389. Abu Baqr was forced to sur-
render to his rivals, and was deposed, in December 1390. Largely
owing to the strain of his struggle against various difficulties, the
health of Nasir-ud-din Muhammad declined and he died in January
1394. Then came the brief reign of his son, Humayun, who died on
the 8th March following. The next and the last ruler of the Tughluq
dynasty was Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, the youngest son of Muhammad.
His rival, Nusrat Shah, a son of Fath Khan, the eldest son of Firuz,
made an attempt to gain the throne at the instigation of some nobles,
but it proved futile and he was treacherously put to death.
All the successors of Firuz were weaklings and utterly incom-
petent to save the Delhi Sultanate from disruption, the symptoms
of which had', already appeared. They were mere puppets in the
hands of some unscrupulous nobles, whose selfish intrigues largely
fomented the civil wars among the rival claimants to the throne
of Delhi. These told heavily upon the prestige and resources of
the State, with the result that its authority began to be defied
almost everywhere by the Muslim governors and Hindu chiefs.
The eunuch Malik Sarvar, who had persuaded Nasir-ud-din Mahmud
to bestow upon him the title of Malik-ush-Bharq, or Lord of the East,
founded the independent kingdom of Jaunpur; the Khokars
revolted in the north; the provinces of Gujarat, Malwa, and Khan-
desh became independent States ; Muslim principalities were
established in Biyana and Kalpi and a Hindu principality in
Gwalior ; the chief of Mewat transferred his nominal allegiance
from one prince to another at his own sweet will ; and the Hindus
of the Doah were almost constantly in revolt.
336
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
5. Invasion of Timur
Such was the distracted and chaotic condition of the kingdom
of Delhi when Amir Timur, one of the most terrible military leaders
known to history, invaded India. Amir Timur, son of Amir Turghay,
chief of the Gurkan branch of the Barlas Turks, was born at Kesh
in Transosiana in a.d. 1336. He ascended the throne of Samarqand
in 1369 and then launched on a career of aggressive conquests
in Persia, Afghanistan and Mesopotamia. The wealth of India
naturally excited the temptation to invade this land, for which
the disintegration of the Delhi kingdom afforded him a suitable
opportunity. He used his championship of the faith as a pretext
to win the support of the nobles and warriors, who were not in
favour of his meditated invasion of this distant land.
Early in 1398 Pir Muhammad, a grandson of Timur, besieged
Multan and captured it after six months. Timur left Samarqand
in April, 1398, at the head of a large army, and having crossed the
Indus, the Jhelum and the Ravi in September, appeared before
Talamba, situated about seventy miles to the north-east of Multan,
on the 13th October of the same year. He sacked Talamba and
massacred or enslaved its inhabitants. After capturing several
places on his way and massacring many of their inhabitants, he
advanced to the outskirts of Delhi by the end of the first week of
December, and butchered there about 100,000 adult male captives in
cold blood. Sultan Mahmud and MaUu Iqbal endeavoured to oppose
him there on the 17th December with a large army consisting of
10,000 cavalry, 40,000 infantry and 120 elephants, clad in armour.
But they were hopelessly defeated and took to their heels, MaUu
fleeing to Baran and Mahmud to Gujarat.
On the next day Timur entered the city of Delhi, which was
given up to pillage and rapine for several days. Many of the
inhabitants of this unfortunate city were either brutally massacred
by the ferocious Turki soldiers or made captives, and the artisans
among them were sent to Samarqand to build there the famous
Friday Mosque which Timur himself had designed. Thus a tragic
fate overtook the capital city of the Sultans of Delhi.
Timur had no desire to stay in India. After halting at Delhi
for fifteen days, he returned through Firuzabad {1st January,
1399), stormed Meerut (9th January), on the way and advancing
further north defeated two Hindu armies in the neighbourhood
of Hardwar in January. Marching along the Siwalik Hills, he
captured Kangra (16th January) and sacked Jammu, the
inhabitants of those places being slaughtered in large numbers.
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ. DISEUPTIOH BEGINS 337
He appointed Kdiizr EJian Sayyid to the government of Multan,
Lahore and Uipalpur, and recrossed the Indus on the 19th March,
“after inflictmg on India more misery than had ever before been
inflicted by any conqueror in a single invasion”.
Nature also proved cruel to the people of Delhi at this critical
time and added to their miseries caused by the ravages of bloody
wars and devastations. “At this time,” writes Badauni, “such a
famine and pestilence fell upon Delhi that the city was utterly
ruined, and those of the inhabitants who were left died, while for
two months not a bird moved a wing in Delhi.” Timur, in short,
completed the dissolution of the Tughluq kingdom, the vitality of
which had already been sapped by internal cankers. Bengal
had long been independent; Khwaja Jahan had been ruling over
an independent kingdom comprising KanauJ, Oudh, Kara, Dalmau,
Sandila, Bahraich, Bihar and Jaunpur ; in Gujarat, Muzafifar Shah
owed no allegiance to anybody ; in Malwa, Dilawar IChan exercised
royal authority; the Punjab and Upper Sind were held by Khizr
Khan as Timur’s viceroy; and Ghalib Khan had established his
power in Samana, Shams Khan Auhadi in Bayana, and Muhammad
Elhan in Kalpi and Mahoba. To make confusion worse confounded,
the decay of political authority in Delhi emboldened the unscru-
pulous nobles and adventurers to indulge more and more m base
intrigues. Some of them helped Nusrat Shah, who had been so
long lurking in the Doab, to take possession of Delhi in 1399,
but he was defeated and expelled from that city by MaUu
Iqbal. On returning to Delhi in 1401, Mallu Iqbal extended an
invitation to Sultan Mahmud, who had found shelter at Dhar
after experiencing many bitter humiliations in Gujarat, to return
to Delhi. He thought that the “prestige of the fugitive Mahmud
Shah would be useful to him”. Sultan Mahmud returned to Delhi
only to remain as a puppet in the hands of MaUu Iqbal till the
latter’s death in a fight with Khizr Khan, the governor of Multan,
Dipalpur and Upper Sind, on the 12th November, 1405. Being a weak
king, Mahmud could not make proper use of his restored position.
He died at Kaithal in February, 1413, after a nominal sovereignty
of about t-wenty years, and with him the dynasty founded by
Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq came to an ignominious end.
CHAPTER V
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SHLTANATE
I. Delhi : The Sayyids and the Lodis
A. The so-called Sayyids
After the death of Sultan Mahmud, the nobles of Delhi acknowl-
edged Daulat Khan Lodi, the most powerful of their number, as
the ruler of Delhi. But he was destined to hold power only for a
few months. In March, a.d. 1414, Ediizr KKan, governor of Multan
and its dependencies on behalf of Timur, marched against him and
took possession of Delhi by the end of May of the same year.
Daulat Khan was sent as a prisoner to Hissar Eiruza. Some historians
represent Khizr Khan as a descendant of the Prophet, and the
dynasty founded by him has accordingly been styled the Sayyid
Dynasty. But the arguments in favour of this claim seem to be
very doubtful, though Khizr’s ancestors might have originally
hailed from Arabia. Kliizr did not assume the insignia of royalty
but professed to rule as a viceroy of Timur’s fourth son and suc-
cessor, Shah Kukh, to whom he is said to have sent tribute. His
tenure of power for seven years was not marked by any striking
event. The extent of the old Delhi kingdom had then been reduced
to a small principality, and the authority of its ruler was limited
to a few districts round Delhi. Even in those parts, it was frequently
challenged by the Hindu zammdars of Etawah, Katehr, Kanauj,
Patiali and Kampila. Khizr Khan and his loyal minister, Taj-ul-
mulk, who was also an intrepid fighter, struggled hard against
these chronic disorders till the latter died on the 13th January,
1421, and the former on the 20th May, 1421. Eerishta extols Khizr
Khan as “a just, a generous and a benevolent prince”, but he
was not a strong ruler. Owing to the efforts Khizr Khan made,
“there were, of course, the ordinary concessions to expediency
. . . submission (by the insurgents) for the moment in the presence
of a superior force, insincere professions of allegiance, temporising
payments of tribute, or desertion of fields and strongholds easily
regained; but there was clearly no material advance in public
security or in the supremacy of the Central Government”.
338
DISINTEGBATION OF THE DELHI SULTlNATE 339
Mubarak Shah, whom his father, Khizr KEan, had nomiiiated
as his heir on his death-bed, ascended the throne of Delhi on the
very day of the latter’s death, with the consent of the Delhi nobles.
It was during his reign that Yahiya bin Ahmad Sarhindi WTote his
Ta^rlkh-i-Muharah ShaM, which is a valuable source-book for
the history of this period. But his reign is as uneventful and
dreary as that of his father. There is nothing of importance
to record except some punitive expeditions to suppress disorders,
which compelled the Sultan to accompany his armies. He w^as able
to subdue the rebellions at Bhatinda and in the Doab and recover
balances of tribute from a limited area. But the brave Khokars
grew more and more powerful and harassed him more than once.
Their chief, Jasrat, confidently aspired to the establishment of
their supremacy on the ruins of the Delhi kingdom. The Hindu
nobles enhanced their influence in the Delhi court itself. On the
19th February, 1434, the Sultan fell victim to a conspiracy, organ-
ised by some Muslim as well as Hindu nobles imder the leadership
of the discontented wazlr Sarvar-ul-mulk, when he proceeded to
superintend the construction of a newly planned town, called
Mubarakabad, on the Jumna.
The nobles of Delhi then raised Muhammad, a grandson of
Khizr EJian and the heir-designate of the late murdered Sultan,
to the throne of Delhi. But he also became “the victim of factions
and the sport of circumstances”. Even when he had the oppor-
tunity to display his capacity for rule after the death of the
unscrupulous wazir Sarvar-ul-mulk, he abused it in such a manner
as to forfeit the confidence of those who had delivered him from
the hands of his enemies. Buhlul KJian Lodi, the governor of
Lahore and Sirhind, who had come to help the Sultan when
Mahmud Shah Khalji of Malw'a had advanced as far as the capital,
soon made an attempt to capture Delhi. Though it failed for the
time being, the condition of the Sayyids gradually passed from
bad to worse. As Mzam-ud-din Ahmad writes, “the affairs of the
State grew day by day more and more confused, and it so happened
that there were nobles at twenty krohs from Delhi, who threw off
their allegiance (to the tottering Empire) and engaged themselves
in preparations for resistance to it”. After the death of Muhammad
Shah in a.d. 1445, ^ the nobles declared his son to be the ruler
of the shattered kingdom, which now consisted only of the city
of Delhi and the neighbouring villages, under the title of ‘Ala-ud-din
‘ Alam Shah, The new ruler was more feeble and inefficient than
his father. He made over the throne of Delhi to Buhlul Lodi in
^ There are difierences of opiiiion regarding this date.
340 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1451 and retired in an inglorious manner to Ms favourite place,
Badaun, where he spent the rest of his life, absorbed in pleasure,
probably without any regret for his surrender of the throne, till
hia death.
B. The Lodis
Buhlill Khan belonged to the Lodi tribe of Afghans. He was
a nephew of Sultan Shah Lodi, who had been appointed governor
of Sirhind with the title of Islam ILhan after the death of MaUu
Iqbal. On the death of his uncle, Buhlul became the governor
of Lahore and Sirhind. When ‘Ala-ud-din ‘Alam Shah voluntarily
abdicated the throne of Delhi, he seized it on the 19th April, 1451,
with the support of the minister Hamid Khan. Thus, for the Jfirst
time in the history of India, an Afghan ruler was seated on the
throne of DelM.
BuhlCil was called upon to rule over a mere fragment of the
Delhi kingdom, which again was then in a Mghly distracted
condition. But he was made of a different stuff from that of his
immediate predecessors. Born of a fighting clan, he was active,
warlike, and ambitious, and was determined to restore the strength
of the Sultanate. He got rid of the influence of the old minister
Hamid Khan by cleverly throwing him into prison with the help
of his Afghan followers. He also frustrated an attempt on the part
of Mahmud Shah Sharqi of Jauni)ur to get possession of Delhi,
and reduced to submission some provincial fief-holders and cMeftains,
who had enjoyed independence for several years. Thus Ahmad
Khan of Mewat, Dariya Khan of Sambhal, ‘Isa Elhan of Koil,
Mubarak Khan of Suket, Raja Pratap Singh of Mainpuri and
Bhongaon, Qutb Khan of Rewari, and the chiefs of Etawah, Chand-
war and other districts of the Doab, were compelled to acknowledge
the authority of the Sultan, who, however, treated them with
leniency so that they might be reconciled to his rule. His more
significant achievement was the successful war against the neighbour-
ing kingdom of Jaunpur, the independence of wMch was extinguished.
He appointed his eldest surviving son, Barbak Shah, viceroy of
J aunpur in 1486. While returning from Gwalior after chastising its
Raja, Kirat Singh, the Sultan fell ill ; and in the midst of intrigues
for succession to the throne among the partisans of his sons, Barbak
Shah and Nizam Shah, and grandson, A‘zam-i-Humayun, he breathed
his last by the middle of July 1489, near the town of Jalali.
As a ruler, Buhlul was incomparably superior to those who had
preceded him on the throne of Delhi since the time of Firuz of the
house of Tughluq. Possessed of courage, energy and tact, he
DISINTEGEATION OP THE DELHI SULTlHATE 341
restored the prestige of the Muslim power in Hindustan and infused
some vigour into the government of his kingdom. Averse to display
of royal splendour, he was kind to the poor, and though not *a
learned man himself, was a patron of scholars. He enjoyed the
love and confidence of his near relatives and fellow tribesmen, who
were allowed to share with him his power and prosperity.
After Buhlul’s death, his second son, Nizam IChan, was pro-
claimed king at Jalali, imder the title of Sultan Sikandar Shah,
on the 17th July, 1489. His succession was disputed, as some of
the nobles suggested the name of Barbak Shah ; but their proposal
came to nothing as Barbak was then at a distant place. Endowed
with considerable energy and vigour, Sikandar amply justified the
choice of the minority among the nobles. He made earnest efforts to
increase the strength of the kingdom by removing the disorders
and confusion into which it had been thrown during the preceding
reigns, due largely to the refractoriness of the provincial governors,
chieftains, and zamindars. He took care also to check the accounts
of the leading Afghan jdglrddrs, much against their will. Marching
to Tirhut and Bihar, he asserted his authority as far as the confines
of Bengal ; appointed Dariya Khan to the government of Bihar ;
compelled the Raja of Tirhut to pay him tribute ; and concluded a
treaty with ‘Ala-ud-din Husain Shah of Bengal, by which both
agreed not to encroach on each other’s dominion. The chiefs of
Dholpur, Chanderi, and some other places, also tendered sub-
mission to him . With the object of controlling the chiefs of Etawah,
Biyana, Koil, Gwalior and Dholpur in an effective manner, he
founded a new town in 1504 on the site where the modern city of
Agra stands. Striving till his last days to enforce obedience from
the hostile chiefs, the Sultan breathed his last at Agra on the 21st
November, a.d. 1517.
Sikandar was undoubtedly the ablest of the three rulers of his
dynasty. He has been highly praised by contemporary as well
as some later writers for his excellent qualities of head and heart.
A firm, vigilant, and upright ruler, he entertained kind feelings
in his heart for the poor and the needy, patronised learned men,
and himself wrote some Persian verses. He dispensed justice
with strict impartiality and personally heard the complaints of
even the poorest of his subjects. The efficiency of his government
chiefly contributed to the prevalence of peace and prosperity in
his kingdom, and the prices of the articles of prime necessity
became excessively low. He was, however, not free from religious
intolerance, which led him to commit some impolitic acts.
After the death of Sikandar, his eldest son, Ibrahim, was elevated
342 AH ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
to the throne at Agra on the 21st November, 1517, A faction of
the nobility advocated a partition of the kingdom and set up
Ibrahim’s younger brother, Jalal Khan, on the throne of Jaunpur.
But Ibrahim frustrated their attempt, whereupon Jalal fled from
Jaunpur but was captured on the way and assassinated by the
Sultan’s orders. The new Sultan possessed military skill, but
lacked good sense and moderation, and this ultimately brought
about his ruin. With a vie w to securing strength and efl&cienoy, he
unwisely embarked upon a policy of repression towards the powerful
nobles of the Lohani, Formuli and Lodi tribes, who constituted the
official class of the State. By his stem measures he alienated
the sympathies of the Afghan nobility and drove them to disloyalty,
which manifested itself m absolute defiance of his authority.
This embittered the Sultan more and more and increased the
severity of his measures towards the nobles. But the latter lost
their patience ; and soon those of Bihar declared their independence
under Dariya Khan Lohani. The discontent of the nobles was
brought to a head by Ibrahim’s unsympathetic treatment of
Dilwar Khan, son of Daulat Khan Lodi, the semi-independent
governor of Lahore. Daulat Khan Lodi and ‘Alam Khan, an uncle
of Sultan Ibrahim and a pretender to the throne of Delhi, invited
Babur, the Timurid ruler of Kabul, to invade India. Thus revenge
and ambition, persecutions and disaffection, brought about the
final collapse of the decadent Delhi Sultanate and paved the way
for the establishment of a new Turkish rule in India.
Indeed, the fall of the Delhi Sultanate was inevitable under the
conditions which had their birth in the last days of Muhammad
bin Tughluq. The indiscretions of that Sultan brought on a process of
disintegration, which was accelerated by the weakness and impolitic
measures of his immediate successor, Firuz Shah, such as the
revival of the jdgir system, the extension of the institution of
slavery, the imposition ofjizya on the non-Muslims and persecution
of the heretical Muslim sects. This process could not be checked
by the weak Sayyids and unstatesmanlike Lodis. In spite of
some military successes to their credit, the Lodis failed to introduce
any wholesome and strong element in the administrative structure,
and committed a fatal blunder by making an attempt to suppress
the military and official nobility by a policy of repression. An
external calamity, which might very well be regarded as a symptom
of the growing decline of the Delhi Sultanate, hastened its end.
While internal dissensions had been eating into its vitality, the
invasion of Timur destroyed its coherence and increased the selfish
intrigues of the nobility, who, like the feudal baronage of later
DISINTEGRATION OP THE DELHI SLXTANATE 343
medieval Europe, plunged the whole kingdom into disorder and
confusion which it was beyond the capacity of the weak rulers of
Delhi to remove by prudent measures. Further, the Tughliiqs,
and their successors, did nothing to introduce such reforms as
could lead to the growth of a unified State in a country like India,
where, during the Middle Ages, the sense of social solidarity or of
territorial and political unity had hardly grown. Thus the military
autarchy of the Turks and the Afghans could enforce obedience
among the governors and peoples of the different provinces only
so long as it could retain its vigour. As soon as the central authority
grew weak, the centrifugal tendencies, so common in the history
of India, made headway, and a number of independent kingdoms
arose on the ruins of the Delhi Sultanate. Their history may now be
studied m brief.
2. Bengal
The control of the Delhi Sultans over Bengal was always dubious,
and it was one of the earliest provinces to assert its independence.
Its distance from Delhi, and its profuse wealth, often tempted
its governors to rebel against the central authority, which, as has
already been noted, caused much trouble to Iltutmish and Balban.
Under the descendants of Balban it was virtually independent of
the Delhi Government, whose control was again asserted only
in the time of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, who defeated Ghiyas-ud-din
Bahadur Shah and divided the province into three independent
administrative divisions with their capitals at Lakhnauti, SStgaon,
and Sonargaon respectively. Soon after his accession, Muhammad.bin
Tughluq appointed Qadr Edian to the government of Lakhnauti,
‘ Izz-ud-din A‘zam-ul-mulk to that of Satgaon, and restored Ghiyas-
ud-din Bahadur Shah to the government of Sonargaon but
associated with him his own foster-brother, Tartar Edian, better
known as Bahram Khan. This partition of Bengal did not, however,
serve to remove the chronic troubles in that province. Ghiyas-r
ud-din Bahadur soon revolted and issued coins from the mints at
Sonargaon and Ghiyaspur. But he was soon defeated and kiiied,
and Bahram Khan became the sole governor at Sonargaon.
Bahram Khan died in a.d. 1336, whereupon his armour-bearer,
Fakhr-ud-din, immediately proclaimed himself ruler of Sonargaon
under the title of Fakhr-ud-din Mubarak Shah. Shortly ‘Ala-ud-
din ‘All Shah (a.d. 1339-1345) made himself independent in
Northern Bengal, and removed his capital from Lakhnauti to Pandua.
It has been asserted on the evidence of some coins that Fakhr-ud-
din Mubarak Shah died a natural death after an unbroken reign
344 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of ten yearsi and was succeeded on the throne of Sonargaon by
Ikhtiyar-ud-din Ghazi Shah, who was most probably his son.
Ultimately Haji IKyas, foster-brother of ‘Ala-ud-din ‘Ali Shah,
made himself the independent ruler of the enthe province of
Bengal, about a.d. 1345, under the title of Shams-ud-din Iliyas
Shah. Soon after his accession he extended his power in
different directions. It appears that after annexing the eastern
kingdom of Sonargaon in a.d. 1352 he exacted tribute from the
kingdoms of Orissa and Tirhut and went as far as Benares. Thus
his activities proved to be a menace to the Delhi kingdom on its
eastern frontier, and it was during his reign that Firuz of the house
of Tiighluqmade an attempt to recover the lost province of Bengal,
which, however, ended in failure. Iliyas died at Pandua in a.d.
1357. His reign was marked by peace and prosperity, which
“are attested by the inauguration of a national and typical coinage,
and by the growth of a taste for the arts of peace, especially
architecture”.
Iliyas was succeeded by his son, Sikandar Shah, early in whose
reign the Delhi Sultan made a second attempt to recover Bengal
but had to return disappointed. After a prosperous reign of about
thirty-six years, Sikandar died, most probably in October,
1393, in the course of a fight with his son, Ghiyas-ud-cfin A‘zam,
at Goalpara near Pandua. That his reign was prosperous is well
attested by his building of the magnificent mosque at Adina and
by the large number, variety, and richness of the designs of his
coins. The next ruler, Ghiyas-ud-din A'zam, was a correspondent
of the famous poet Hafiz. He was an able prince, having a profound
regard for law. He received an embassy from Yung-lo, rival of the
Emperor Hui-ti of China, in a.d. 1408, and in a.d. 1409 sent one
in return. Ghiyas-ud-din A'zam Shah died in a.d. 1410 after a
reign of about seventeen years and was succeeded by his son,
Saif-ud-din Hamza Shah. But about this time, Raja Ganesh,
a Brahmin zamindar of Bhaturia and Dinajpur, rose to power
and Hamza ruled as a nominal king for one year and a few months.
According to the Muslim historians, Ganesh ruled Bengal as an
independent king and abdicated in favour of his son Jadu, who
subsequently embraced Islam and assumed the title of Jalal-ud-din
Independent Sultans of Bengal,^. 17. The Muslim chroniclers
give different accounts about Fakhr-ud-din’s death. The author of Riydz
writes that he was killed by ‘Ala-ud-din ‘All Shahj Badauni states that
Muhammad bin Tughluq went to Sonargaon, took Faldir-ud-dln to Delhi and
killed him; and Shams-i-Siraj ‘Afif notes that Fakhr-ud-din was killed bv
Haji Iliyas, ’
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTlNATE 345
Muhammad Shah. A large number of his coins have been discovered,
but not a single coin bearing the name of Raja Ganesh has hitherto
come to light. It has, therefore, been suggested by some that
probably Ganesh never assumed fuU sovereignty but ruled as a
virtual dictator in the name of some descendants of Iliyas Shah,
who were mere puppets in his hands. These nominal rulers were
Shihab-ud-din Bayazid Shah, who succeeded to the throne some
time between a.d. 1411 and a.d. 1413, and ‘ Ala-ud-din Firuz Shah,
son and successor of Bayazid Shah, some of whose coins have come
down to us. Dr. Bhattasah has identified Raja Ganesh with
Danujamardana Deva, some of whose coins, struck in the widely
distant mints of Pandua, Suvarnagrama and Chittagong, and bearing
Sanskrit legends in Bengali characters, have been discovered. Some
again are of opinion that the two were different persons.
The rule of the dynasty of Ganesh did not last long. Jalal-ud-din
Muhammad died in a.d. 1431 and was succeeded by his son
Shams-ud-din Ahmad, who reigned until a.d. 1442. The tjranny
of this monarch made him extremely unpopular, and he fell a prey
to a conspiracy organised against him by two ofidcers of his govern-
ment, Sha(h Khan and Nasir Khan. Nasir Khan and Shadi Khan
soon became jealous of each other, as both of them aspired to
the throne of Bengal, and the former put his rival to death.
But he was destined to exercise sovereignty only for a few days,
as the nobles, who had been attached to Shams-ud-din Ahmad,
soon opposed his authority and slew him. They then placed
Nasir-ud-din, a grandson of Haji Iliyas, on the throne, who assumed
the title of Nasir-ud-din ‘Abul Muzaffar Mahmud Shah, as appears
on his coins. Thus was restored the rule of the Iliyas Shahi
dynasty.
As is proved by some coins, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud reigned peace-
fully for about seventeen years. He is credited with the construction
of some buildings at Gaur and a mosque at Satgaon. On his death
in A.D. 1460, his son, Rukn-ud-din Barbak Shah, ascended the
throne of Bengal. He was the first ruler in Hindustan to maintain
a large number of Abyssinian slaves, some of whom were raised
to high positions. According to Ghulam Husain Salim, Barbak
‘‘was a sagacious and law-abiding sovereign”. He died in a.d. 1474,
and was succeeded by his son, Shams-ud-din Yusuf Shah, who
is described in his inscriptions as Shams-ud-din Abul Muzaffar
Yusuf Shah. He was a virtuous, learned and pious ruler and
reigned till 1481. It has been asserted by some that the Muslims
conquered Sylhet during his reign. After his death, the nobles
raised his son, Sikandar II, to the throne. But the new ruler, being
346 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
found to be of defective intellect, was deposed almost imme-
diately in favour of Jalal-ud-din Fath Sbah, a son of Nasir-ud-din
Mahmud. Path Shah was prudent enough to realise the danger
that lay in the growing influence of the Abyssinians, but his attempt
to check it cost him his life. The discontented Abyssinians formed
a conspiracy against him under the leadership of a eunuch, who
had him murdered in A.n. 1486 and usurped the throne of Bengal
under the title of Barbak Shah, Sultan Shahzada. But Barbak
was murdered in the course of a few months by Indii Khan, who,
though an Abyssinian, was loyal to Path Shah and was a military
commander of proved ability. Pressed by the widow of Path Shah,
and the courtiers of Gaur, Indii Klian, after displaying some decent
reluctance, ascended the throne of Bengal under the title of
Saif-ud-din Firuz. If the author of the Riydz is to be relied
on, the confidence reposed in him as an able administrator and
commander was justified by his measures, but he was indiscrimin-
ately charitable. He died in a.d. 1489, when the nobles placed on
the throne a surviving son of Fath Shah, under the title of Nasir-
ud-din Mahmud Shah II. But this ruler was done away with
in A.D. 1490 by an ambitious Abyssinian, known as Sidi Badr,
who seized the throne under the title of Shams-ud-din Abu Nasar
Muzaffar Shah. This Abyssinian’s reign of three years and a few
months was marked by tyranny and disorder, which caused
widespread discontent among the soldiers and the officers, including
his wise minister, ‘Ala-ud-din Husain, who was an Arab by descent.
They besieged him in Gaur for four months, in the course of which
he died. The nobles of Bengal then raised ‘Ala-ud-din Husain
Shah to the throne (1493), in recognition of his merit and ability.
The accession of ‘Ala-ud-din Husain Shah marks the commence-
ment of the rule of a new dynasty, which endured about half a
century and the members of which have various useful measures
to their credit. We have numerous inscriptions of Husain Shah,
and his coins, as well as those of his son Nusrat Shah, are varied
and abundant. An enlightened and wise man, Husain Shah was
one of the most popular rulers that ascended the throne of Bengal.
With a view to restoring order in the internal administration of his
kingdom, he suppressed the power of the palace guards, who had,
during the preceding reigns, established a position similar to that
of the Praetorian Guards in Rome. He also expelled the Abyssinians
from his kingdom, as their increased influence had become a serious
menace to the throne. In a.d. 1494 he hospitably received Husam
Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur, who, being driven from his kingdom by
Sikandar Lodi of Delhi, had fled towards Bengal. The fugitive
BISINTEGEATION OP THE DELHI SULTlHATE 347
monarcii was allowed to live at Colgong (in Bihar near Bhagalpiir) ^
till he died there in a.d. 1500. Having established order near Ms
capital, Husain Shah tried to recover the lost territorial possessions
of Bengal. He extended the limits of his kingdom as far as the
borders of Orissa to the south, recovered Magadha from the control
of the Sharqis of Jaunpur, invaded the Ahom kingdom of Assam,
and captured Kamatapur in Koch Bihar in 1498. Assam was soon
recovered by its old king. Husain Shah then applied himself to
ensuring the security of the frontiers of his kingdom, and built
mosques and alms-houses in different parts of it, making suitable
endowments for their maintenance. He died in 1618 and w^as
succeeded by his eldest son, Nasib Khan, who assumed the title
of Nasir-ud-din Nusrat Shah. Unlike many other MusMm rulers
in India, Nusrat Shah proved generous towards his brothers and
doubled their inheritance. He invaded Tfrhut, slew its king and
placed there ‘Ala-ud-din and Makhdum-i-‘Alam, his own brothers-
in-law, to look after its administration. He was a patron of art,
architecture and literature. He caused two famous mosques, the
Bara Bond Masjid (Large Golden Mosque) and Qadam Rasul (Foot
of the Prophet), to be constructed at Gaur; and a Bengali version
of the MahdbMrata ■WB.& made under his orders. He was eventually
assassinated by his palace eunuchs in 1633 and was succeeded by
his son, ‘Ala-ud-din Piruz Shah, who, after a reign of not more
than three months, was killed by his uncle, Ghiyas-ud-din Mahmud
Shah. Ghiyas-ud-din Mahmud Shah was the last king of the
Husain ShaM dynasty, whom Sher Khan Sur expelled from
Bengal.
3. Independent Sultanates in the Provinces of Northern and Western
India
A. Jaunpur
The city of Jaimpur was founded by Piruz of the house of Tughluq
to perpetuate the memory of his cousin and patron, Muhammad
Jauna. We have noticed before how, during the period of confusion
foEowing the invasion of Hmur, Khwaja Jahan threw off his
allegiance to the DelM Sultanate and founded a dynasty of inde-
pendent rulers at Jaunpur, known as the Sharqi dynasty after his
title, “ MaUJc"Ush-37iarg^\ He died in 1399, leaving his throne to his
adopted son, Malik Qaranful, who assumed the title of Mubarak Shah
Sharqi. Mubarak Shah died, after a short reign, in 1402, and was
succeeded by Ms younger brother, Ibrahim Shah Sharqi. Ibrahim
There are several Muslim tombs at Colgong, one of which is regarded as
the tomb of Husain Shab Sharqi.
348
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
ruled for about thirty-four years and was the ablest ruler of the
Sharqi dynasty. Being himself a man of culture, he patronised art
and literature, as a result of which Jaunpur became an important
centre of Muslim learning. This city was also adorned by the
construction of beautiful buildings, marked by Hindu influence,
and having mosques without minarets of the usual type. The famous
Atdla Masjid w^hich stands now as a brilliant specimen of the
Jaunpur style of architecture, was completed in a.d. 1408. Ibrahim
died in 1436 and was succeeded by his son, Mahmud Shah. The
new king annexed the greater part of the district of Chunar, but
his expedition against Kalpi proved unsuccessful. On making an
attempt to occupy Delhi, he was defeated by Buhlul Lodi, who
compelled him to return to Jaunpur. Mahmud died in a.d. 1457,
when his son, Bhikhan, ascended the throne under the title of
Muhammad Shah. But the unscrupulous conduct of this king
highly incensed the nobles and his own relatives, who had hi-m
murdered and raised his brother, Husain Shah, to the throne.
Soon after his accession, Husain Shah concluded in 1468 a four
years’ truce with Buhlul Lodi of Delhi. He utilised this period in
suppressing the independent zamindars of Tirhut, and in conducting
a plundering expedition into Orissa, the Raja of which purchased
peace by paying a vast treasure. He also led an army in 1466
to capture the fortress of Gwahor, but could not reduce it and
retired when its Raja, Man Singh, paid him a heavy indemnity.
After these initial successes, fortune turned against Husain Shah
in his renewed war with Buhlul Lodi, who expelled him to Bihar
and annexed the kingdom of Jaunpur to Delhi. Buhlul appointed
his son, Barbak, governor of Jaunpur, permitting him to use the
royal title and coin money. Thus the independence of Jaunpur
came to an end. The period of Sharqi rule at Jaunpur, extending
for about eighty-five years, was marked by prosperity, development
of architecture, and an outburst of a high type of culture, which
earned for the city, during Ibrahim’s reign, the title of “the Shiraz
of India”.
B. Mdlwa
Annexed by ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji in a.d. 1305, Malwa continued to
be governed by Muslim chiefs, under the authority of Delhi, till it
became independent, like other provinces, durmg the period of dis-
order after the invasion of Timur. Dilawar Khan Ghuri, who had
been appointed governor of Malwa probably by Firuz of the house
of Tughluq, made himself independent of the Delhi Sultanate for aU
practical purposes in 1401, though he did not formally renounce
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTANATE 349
Ms allegiance to it or assume the “style of royalty”. In 1406 he
was succeeded by his ambitious son, Alp Khan, wLo ascended the
throne under the title of Hushang Shah. The new ruler was a man
of restless spirit, and took a delight in adventurous enterprises
and wars, in which he remained constantly engaged throughout
his reign. In 1422 he left Ms capital for Orissa in the guise of a
merchant and made a surprise attack on the unsuspecting Baja
of that kingdom, who had to bribe him to withdraw by giving biTu
seventy-five elephants. On Ms way back to Malwa, Hushang
captured Kherla and carried off its Raja as a prisoner. He had to
fight against the Sultans of Dellii, Jaunpur, and Gujarat, and had
once to measure his strength with Ahmad Shah Bahmani, who had
been offended by his capture of Kherla, the Raja of which place
had been formerly a vassal of the Bahmani kingdom. But most
of his campaigns resulted in defeats and disasters for him. He
died on the 6th July, 1435, when his eldest son, Ghazni lOian, was
proclaimed king of Malwa, under the title of Muhammad Shah. But
the new ruler was absolutely unmindful of the affairs of the State.
His minister, Mahmud Khan, usurped the throne in May, 1436.
Thus was founded the dynasty of the Khalji Sultans of Malwa.
Mahmud frustrated the opposition of a faction of the nobles, and
of Ahmad Shah I of Gujarat, who had espoused the cause of
Mas'ud Khan, a son of Muhammad Shah of Malwa,
Mahmud Khalji was a brave warrior, who fought against Ahmad
Shah I of Gujarat, Muhammad Shah of Delhi, Muhammad Shah III
Bhamani and Rana Kumbha of Mewar. He failed in his contests
with the Muslim Sultans. His war with the Rana of Mewar seems
to have been indecisive. Strangely enough, both sides claimed
victory, and while the Rana of Mewar built the “Tower of Victory”
at Chitor, the Sultan of Malwa erected a seven-storeyed column at
Mandu to commemorate his triumph. Mahmud Khalji was im-
doubtedly the ablest of the Muslim rulers of Malwa. He extended
the limits of tMs kingdom up to the Satpura Range in the south,
the frontier of Gujarat in the west, Bimdelkhand in the east, and
Mewar and Harauti in the north. His fame spread outside India.
The Khalifah of Egypt recognised his position and he received a
mission from Sultan Abu-Sa‘id. He was a just and active adminis-
trator. Ferishta thus praises his qualities: “Sultan Mahmud was
polite, brave, just and learned, and during his reign, his subjects,
Muhammadans as well as Hindus, were happy and maintained a
friendly intercourse with each other. Scarcely a year passed that
he did not take the field, so that his tent became his home, and
his resting-place the field of battle. His leisure hours were devoted
350 AN ADVANCEB HISTOEY OF INDIA
to hearing the histories and memoirs of the courts of different
kings of the earth read.” He died at Mandu, at the age of sixty-
eight, on the 1st June, 1469, after a reign of about thirty-four
years.
Mahmud’s eldest son, Ghiyas-ud-din, ascended the throne of
Malwa two days after his father’s death. He was a lover of peace
and a devout Muslim, “particular in his daily prayers ”, and abstained
from all intoxicants and prohibited articles of food. But his
last days were rendered unhappy by quarrels between his two sons,
‘Abdul Qadir Nasir-ud-din and Shuja‘at Khan ‘Ala-ud-din. The
former at last seized the throne in a.d. 1500. Nasir-ud-din
greatly abused his power till he died in a.d. 1510. His second son
then ascended the throne under the title of Mahmud II. To get
rid of the influence of the Muslim nobles, Mahmud II appointed
Medini Rai, the powerful Rajput chief of Chanderi, to the office
of minister. Medini Rai soon acquired supreme influence in the
State and appointed Hindus to offices of trust and responsibility.
This excited the jealousy of the nobles of Malwa, who removed
the Rajput minister with the help of Sultan Muzaffar Shah II
of Gujarat. But Medini Rai was able to inflict a defeat on
Mahmud II himself with the help of Rana Sanga of Chitor. The
Sultan of Malwa was captured by the victorious Rajputs. Rana
Sanga, however, treated him with chivalrous generosity, charac-
teristic of the Rajput race, and restored his vanquished foe to his
kingdom. But the authority of the kingdom of Malwa had been
by this time greatly reduced, and the days of its independence were
numbered. The Sultan, Mahmud II, incurred the hostility of Rana
Ratal! Singh, successor of Rana Sanga, by raiding his territories ;
and the Rana, as an act of reprisal, invaded Malwa. He also
excited the wrath of Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat by giving shelter
to Chand Khan, the latter’s younger brother and a rival for his throne.
Bahadur Shah thereupon captured Mandu on the 17th March,
1531, and the independence of Malwa was thus extinguished. It
continued to remain under Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, till it was
later on occupied for a short period by the Mughul ruler, Humayun.
About 1535 Mallu Khan, formerly an officer of the Khalji Sultans
of Malwa, established independent sovereignty in Malwa under the
title of Qadir Shah, but he was deposed by Sher Shah, the Afghan
ruler of Delhi, in 1542. After being governed by viceroys of the
Afghan government, Malwa was conquered by Mughul generals
from Baz Bahadur in a.d. 1561-1562.
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTANATE 351
C. Gujarat
The immense wealth of the province of Gujarat, due particularly
to active commerce through the rich ports of Cambay, Surat and
Broach, often drew upon her external invasions. Amiexed to the
Delhi Sultanate by ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji in a.d. 1297, it was
ruled for a long time by Muslim governors appointed by the
Delhi Sultans. But in 1401 Zafar Khan (son of a Rajput
convert), who had been appointed governor of the province in
1391 by Muhammad Shah, the youngest son of Firuz of the house
of Tughluq, formally assumed independence. In 1403 Zafar
Khan’s son, Tatar Khan, acting in conspiracy vdth some discon-
tented nobles, rose against his father, imprisoned him at Asawal
and proclaimed himself king under the title of Nasir-iid-diu Muham-
mad Shah. He even marched towards Delhi with a view to establish-
ing his authority there, but was put to death by his uncle and
regent, Shams Khan. This enabled Zafar Klian to recover his
throne and to assume the title of Sultan Muzaffar Shah. Muzaffar
Shah waged a successful war against Hushang Shah, Sultan of
Malwa, and captured Dhar. After his death in June, 1411, Ahmad
Shah, his grandson and heir-designate, ascended the throne. Alimad
has been justly regarded as the real founder of the independence
of Gujarat. Endowed with considerable courage and energy, he
engaged himself throughout his reign of about thirty years in
extending the limits of his kingdom, which had been confined,
during the reigns of his two predecessors, to a smaU territory
near Asawal. Success always attended his campaigns against the
Sultan of Malwa, and the chiefs of Asirgarh, Rajputana and other
neighbouring territories. He also devoted his attention to improving
the civil administration of his kingdom and dispensed justice
impartially. In the first year of his reign, he built the beautiful
city of Ahmadabad, on the site of the old town of Asawal, and
removed his capital to that place, which to this day bears witness
to his taste and munificence. His only defect was his religious
intolerance. He died on the 16th August, 1442, and was succeeded
by his eldest son, Muhammad Shah, who reigned till his death on
the 10th February, a.d. 1451. Two weak rulers, Muhammad
Shah’s son, Qutb-ud-din Ahmad, and Muhammad’s brother Daud,
followed him. Through his evil ways, Daud alienated the sympathy
of the nobles within a few days of his accession. They deposed
him, and raised his nephew, Abul Fath Khan, a grandson of
Ahmad Shah, to the throne, under the title of MaWud, commonly
known as Begarha.
352
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Mahmud Begarha was by far the most eminent Sultan of his
dynasty. The leading Muslim historian of his country observes
that “he added glory and lustre to the kingdom of Gujarat, and
was the best of all the Gujarat kings, including ail who preceded,
and aU who succeeded him; and whether for abounding justice
and generositj'' ... for the diffusion of the laws of Islam and of
Mussulmans ; for soundness in judgment, alike iu boyhood, in man-
hood, and in old age; for power, for valour, and victory, he was
a pattern of excellence”. Ascending the throne at a comparatively
young age, he at once took the management of the affairs of his
kingdom into his own hands, and overpowered his hostile courtiers,
who had formed a conspiracy to raise his brother, Hasan Elhan,
to the throne. He ruled vigorously, without the influence of any
minister or of the harem, for about fifty- three years ; and being a
brave warrior, he gained success in all his campaigns. He saved
Nizam Shah Bahmani from aggression on the part of Mahmud
Khalji of Malwa, defeated the Sumra and Sodha chiefs of Cutch,
suppressed the pirates of Jagat (Dvaraka), and reduced the strong
forts of Junagarh and Champaner, the latter being named by him
Muhammadabad. As a result of his conquests, the kingdom of
Gujarat reached its extreme limits, extending “from the frontiers
of Mandu to the frontiers of Sind, by Junagarh ; to the Siwalik
Parbat by Jalor and Nagaur ; to Nasik Trimbak by Baglana ; from
Burhanpur to Berar and Malkapur of the Deccan ; to Karkun and
the river Narbada on the side of Burhanpur ; on the side of Idar as
far as Chitor and Kumbhalgarh, and on the side of the sea as far
as the bounds of Chaul”. Towards the close of his reign, he tried,
in alliance with Qansauh-al-Ghauri, Sultan of Egypt, to check the
rising power of the Portuguese in the Indian Seas, who had within
a decade, since the discovery of the Cape Route by Vasco da Gama
in 1498, almost monopolised the lucrative spice trade from the
Red Sea and Egypt at the expense of the interests of Muslim traders
and the important sea-ports of Western India, like Cambay and
Chaul. The Egyptian fleet, under the command of Amir Husain
the Kurd, governor of Jedda, and the Indian contingent, under
the command of MaHk Ayaz, a Turk who had found employment
in the court of Gujarat, defeated a Portuguese squadron commanded
by Dom Louren9o, son of the Portuguese viceroy, Francesco de
Abneida, near Chaul, south of Bombay, in 1608. But the Portu-
guese inflicted a crushing defeat on the allied Muslim fleet, near
Diu, in 1509, and recovered their naval ascendancy on the sea-
coast. Mahmud granted them a site for a factory at Diu.
After the death of Mahmud Begarha on the 23rd November,
DISINTEGRATION OE THE DELHI SULTlNATE 363
1511, the throne passed to his son Muzaffar II, who waged snccessfal
wars against the Rajpnts and restored Mahmud Khalji of Malwa
to his throne. Muzaffar’s death on the 7th April, 1526, was followed
by two short and insignificant reigns of his sons, Sikaiidar and
Nasir Khan Mahmud II, tiU in the month of July of the same year
his more daring son, Bahadur, got possession of the throne.
Brave and warlike like his grandfather, Bahadur was a famous
ruler in the history of medieval India. He not only defeated
Mahmud II of Malwa and annexed his kingdom in 1531 but
also overran the territories of the Rana of Mewar, the old enemy
of his house, and stormed Chitor in a.d. 1534. Eortune, however,
went against him in his wars with Humayun, in the course of which
he was deprived not only of the newly-conquered province of Malwa
but also of the greater part of his own kingdom. But on the with-
drawal of the Delhi troops, Bahadur regained his kingdom and
turned his attention towards expelling the Portuguese, whose
assistance he had sought in vain against the Mughuls. Failing to
persuade the Portuguese governor, Nunho da Cunha, to come to
him, he himself proceeded to visit him on board his ship in February,
1537, but was treacherously drowned by the Portuguese, and all
his companions were murdered. After the death of Bahadur,
anarchy and confusion reigned supreme in Gujarat under his weak
successors, who were mere puppets in the hands of rival baronial
parties ; so it was easily annexed to the Mughul Empire by Akbar
in A.D. 1572.
D. Kashmir
In the year a.d. 1315 Shah Mirza, a Muslim adventurer from
Swat, entered the service of the Hindu Prince of Kashmir, who
died shortly afterwards. Shah Mirza seized the throne of Kashmir
in A.D. 1339 or 1346 under the title of Shams-ud-din Shah and caused
coins to be struck and the Khutba to be read in his name. He
used his newly-acquired power wisely, and died in a.d. 1349.^
His sons, Jamshid, ‘Ala-ud-din, Shihab-ud-din, and Qutb-ud-din,
then reigned successively for about forty-six years. After Qutb-
ud-din’s death in a.d. 1394, his son Sikandar ascended the throne
of Kashmir.
Reigning at the time of Timur’s invasion of India, Sikandar
exchanged envoys with him, though the two never met each other.
He was generous towards the men of his own faith, and many
^ The chronology of the Muhammadan Sultans of Kashmir is rather
bewildering, and the dates of their reigns have to be regarded aa being
approximate.
354
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
learned Muslim scholars flocked to his court from Persia, Arabia
and Mesopotamia, but his general attitude was not liberal. He
died, after a reign of twenty- two years and nine months, in a.d.
1416. His eldest son, ‘Ali Shah, then reigned for a few years,
after which he was overpowered by his brother, Shahi Khan,
who ascended the throne in June, a.d. 1420, under the title of
Zain-ul- ‘Abidin.
Zain-ul- ‘Abidin was a benevolent, liberal and enlightened ruler.
He did much to diminish theft and highway robbery in his kingdom
by enforcing the principle of the responsibility of the village com-
munities for local crimes, regulated the prices of commodities,
lightened the burden of taxation on the people, and rehabilitated
the currency, which had been greatly debased during the reigns of
his predecessors. His public works immensely benefited his subjects.
He was a man of liberal ideas, and showed remarkable toleration
towards the followers of other faiths. He recalled the Brahmaiias,
who had left the kingdom during his father’s reign, admitted
learned Hindus to his society, abolished the jizya and granted
perfect religious freedom to all. He possessed a good knowledge
of Persian, Hindi, and Tibetan, besides his ovm language, and
patronised literature, painting and music. Under his initiative, the
Mahdbhdrata and the Bdjataranginl were translated from Sanskrit
into Persian, and several Arabic and Persian books were trans-
lated into the Hindi language. Thus, for aU these qualities, he has
been justly described as “the Akbar of Kashmir”, though he differed
from him in a few traits of personal character. He died in November
or December, 1470, and was succeeded by his son Haidar Shah.
The history of the later Sultans of Kashmir is uninteresting and
unimportant. After Zain-ul- ‘Abidin’s death, anarchy “ensued
under the rule of nominal kings who were placed on the throne
as a mark for the machinations of the different parties who were
seeking pre-eminence for purposes of self-aggrandisement and
plunder”. Towards the end of a.d. 1540, Mirza Haidar, a relative
of Humayun, conquered Kashmir. He governed it, theoretically,
on behalf of Humayun, but in practice as an independent ruler,
till 1551, when he was overthrovm by the Kashmir nobles, who
resumed their intrigues and quarrels. About a.d. 1555 the Chakks
seized the throne of Kashmir, but with no relief to the troubled
kingdom, which was absorbed into the Mughul Empire in the
time of Akbar.
DISINTEGEATION OF THE DELHI SULTlNATE 355
4. Independent Sultanates in Southern India, including Khandesh
A. Khandesh
Khandesh was a province of Muhammad bin Tughhiq’s empire
in the vallej^ of the Tapti river. Firuz Shah entrusted its govern-
ment to one of his personal attendants, MaUk Eaja Faruqi, whose
ancestors had been respected nobles of the Delhi court in the
reigns of ‘Ala-ud-din lOialji and Muhammad bin Tughluq. In
the period of confusion foUowing the death of Firuz Shah, Malik
Raja, following the example of his neighbour, Dilawar Khan of
Malwa, declared his independence of the Delhi Sultanate. He was
defeated by Muzaffar Shah I of Gujarat in several battles. Being a
man of peaceful disposition, he treated his subjects, Muhammadans
as well as Hindus, vith kindness and consideration. He died on
the 29th April, 1399, and his son, Malik Nasir, soon made hunself
absolute master of lOiandesh by overpowering his brother Hasan.
The new Sultan captured the fortress of Asirgarh from its Hindu
chieftain, but Ahmad Sluih, the Sultan of Gujarat, defeated him
when he attacked Nandurbar and compelled him to swear fealty
to him. His war against his son-in-law, ‘Ala-ud-din Ahmad of the
Bahmani dynasty, also ended in disaster for him and he died in
the year 1437-1438. Then after the two uneventful reigns of his son,
‘AdilKhan I (1438-41), and grandson, Mubarak Khan I (1441-1457),
the throne of Khandesh was occupied by Mubarak Khan’s son,
‘Adil Khan II, who was an able and vigorous ruler and tried hard
to restore administrative order in his kingdom, the authority of
which w'as extended by him over Gondwana. On his death without
any issue in 1501, the throne passed to his brother Daud, who,
after an inglorious reign of about seven years, died in 1508, and
was succeeded by his son, Ghazni Khan. Ghazni Khan was poisoned
within ten days of his accession, and Khandesh was plunged into
disorder due to the faction fights of two rival claimants to its
throne, one being supported by Ahmad Nizam Shah of Ahmad-
nagar, and the other by Mahmud Begarha of Gujarat, till the latter
succeeded in raising his candidate to the throne with the title
of ‘Adil Khan HI. The reign of ‘Adil Khan HI was not marked by
any event of importance. He died on the 25th August, 1520, and
his weak successors had not the courage or ability to save the
kingdom from the aggressions of its external enemies. Like Gujarat,
Khandesh was annexed by Akbar to his empire in 1601.
356
AIT ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
B. The Bdhmanl Kingdom
Of all the independent Muslim kingdoms that arose on the
ruins of the Delhi Sultanate, the Bahmani kingdom of the Deccan
proved to be the most powerful. It came into existence during the
reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq as a challenge to his authority.
The nobles of the Deccan, driven to rebellion by the eccentric
policy of the Delhi Sultan, seized the fort of Daulatabad and
proclaimed one of themselves, Isma'il Mukh the Afghan, as king of the
Deccan under the title of Nasir-ud-din Shah. Isma'il Mukh, being
an old and ease-loving man, proved unfit for the office. Soon
he voluntarily made room for a more worthy leader, Hasan, entitled
Zafar Elhan, who was declared king by the nobles on the 3rd
August, 1347, under the title of Abul-Muzaffar ‘Ala-ud-din Bahman
Shah. The story related by Eerishta about Hasan’s origin, to the
effect that he was origmaUy a menial in the service of a Brahmapa
astrologer of Delhi, Gangu, who enjoyed the favour of Muhammad bin
Tughluq, and later on rose to prominence owing to the patronage
of his Hindu master, finds no corroboration in the accounts of the
later Muslim chroniclers and is also not supported by the evidence
of coins and inscriptions. Hasan, in fact, claimed descent from the
famous Persian hero Bahman, son of Isfandiyar, and the dynasty
that he founded thus came to be known as the Bahmani dynasty.
Soon after his accession, ‘Ala-ud-din Hasan selected Gulbarga
as his capital and renamed it as Ahsanabad. But the Hindu rulers
of the south, who had not failed to profit by the political
disorders in the Deccan at the time of ‘Ala-ud-dm Hasan’s rise,
were not disposed to submit to his authority. He therefore
launched on a career of conquest, which was marked by
success. When he died on the 11th Eebruary, 1358, he left a
dominion extending from the Wainganga river in the north to
the Krishna river in the south and from Daulatabad in the
west to Bhongir, now in the Nizam’s dominions, in the east. Eor
the administration of his kingdom, he divided it into four tarafs
or provinces, Gulbarga, Daulatabad, Berar and Bidar. Each
province was placed in charge of a governor, who maintained an
army, and made appointments in aU civil and military posts under
him. The efficiency of administration in the provinces checked the
outbreak of rebellions. The author of BurTidn-i-Ma'dsir has thus
praised this Sultan : “Sultan ‘Ala-ud-din I Hasan Shah was a just
king and the cherisher of his people and pious. During his reign
his subjects and the army used to pass their time in perfect ease
and content ; and he did much towards propagating the true faith. ”
DISINTSaRATION OF THE DELHI SULTANATE 357
The next Sultan was Muhammad Shah I, the eldest son of
Hasan, who had nominated him as hia heir on his death-bed.
Soon after his accession, Muhammad Shah organised the different
branches of his government, like the ministry, the household
troops and the provincial administration. But throughout his
reign, he was chiefly engaged in waging wars against the rulers
of Warangal and Vijayanagar. Those rulers offered a stubborn
resistance, but both were overpowered by the troops of Gulbarga,
and had to conclude peace, after immense losses, on humiliating
terms.
Muhammad Shah’s mode of life was not unimpeachable. The
author of BurMn-i-Ma'dsir distinctly states that the Sultan
“showed signs of an irreligious manner of living, which threw him
on the bed of helplessness”.
After the death of Muhammad Shah I in a.d. 1377, his son,
Mujahid Shah, ascended the throne and marched in person against
Vijayanagar. But he could not capture that city and soon had to
return to his capital after making peace with its Baya. He fell a
victim to a conspiracy organised by one of his near relatives
named Daud Khan,^ who usurped the throne. The usurper was
paid back in his own coin by being murdered in May, 1378,
by an assassin at the instigation of Mujahid’s foster-sister, Ruh
Parwar Agha. The nobles and military officers then raised to the
throne Muhammad Shah, son of Mahmud Khan, the fourth son
of ‘Ala-ud-din Hasan Bahmani.
Unlike his predecessors, Muhammad Shah II was a lover of
peace and devoted to learning ; and his reign was not disturbed by
foreign wars. He built mosques, established free schools for orphans,
and invited learned men from aU parts of Asia to his court. But
his last days were embittered by the intrigues of his sons, who
were eager to get the throne. After his death in April, a.d. 1397,
followed the inglorious and troubled reigns of his two sons, Ghiyas-
ud-din and Shams-ud-din Daud, lasting for only a few months,
till the throne of Gulbarga was seized in November, 1397, by
Firuz, a grandson of ‘Ala-ud-din Hasan Bahmani, who assumed
the title of Taj-ud-din Firuz Shah,
We are told by the author of Burhdn-i-Ma^dsir that Firuz Shah
“was an impetuous and a mighty monarch, and expended all
his ability and energy in eradicating and destroying tyramiy and
heresy, and he took much pleasuare in the society of the Shehhs,
learned men and hermits”. But after a few years’ rule, he became
^ Daud was uncle of Mujahid according to Ferishta but his cousin according
to the author of Burhdn-i-Ma’dair,
358
AN ADVANCED HISTOBY OF INDIA
addicted to the common vices of his time, which even Ferishta
has noted. He was conversant with various languages and could
talk, freely with his wives of diverse nationalities in their own
tongues. He followed the traditional policy of his dynasty in
waging wars against the Rayas of Vijayanagar and some other
Hindu rulers of the Deccan. He gained success in his two expedi-
tions against Vijayanagar in 1398 and 1406, exacted heavy indemnity
from its Raya and even compelled him to surrender a princess of
Vijayanagar for his harem. But his third attack in 1420 resulted
in his defeat at Pangul, to the north of the Krishna, and his
retreat from the field after his commander-in-chief, Mir Fazl-uUah
Inju, had been killed. The Vijayanagar troops soon occupied the
southern and eastern districts of the Bahmani kingdom. This
defeat told heavily on the Sultan’s mind and body, and he left
the administration m the hands of his slaves, Hushyar ‘Ain-ul-mulk
and Nizam Bidar-ul-mulk. He was ultimately forced to abdicate
the throne in favour of his brother Ahmad, who, according to the
author of Burlidn-i-Ma’dsir, did away with Firuz Shah in September,
1422, though some writers believe, on the authority of Ferishta,
that Firuz Shah died a natural death.
To avenge the losses sustained by the Bahmani troops in his
brother’s reign, Ahmad Shah carried on a terrible war against
Vijayanagar. The siege of Vijayanagar by the Bahmani troops
reduced it to great distress and compelled its Raya to conclude
peace by pajdng a heavy indemnity. This was conveyed to Ahmad’s
camp, on elephants, by the Raya’s son, who was received there
honourably; and the invaders then returned to their country.
In 1424 or 1425 Ahmad Shah’s general, Khan-i-‘Azam, attacked the
Hindu kingdom of Warangal and succeeded in capturing its fortress,
with immense treasures, and in killing its ruler. The independence
of Warangal was thus extinguished. Ahmad Shah also waged war
against Malwa. The Sultan of Malwa, Hushang Shah, was defeated
with great losses in men and money. Ahmad’s war with the
Sultan of Gujarat, Ahmad Shah I, ended in failure, and peace
was at last concluded through the intervention of theologians and
learned men of both sides. The Hindu chiefs of the Konkan also
felt the weight of Bahmani arms during his reign, but this pressure
was removed after his death from ifiness in February, 1435.
Ahmad Shah transferred the capital of his kingdom from Gulbarga
to Bidar, which was beautifully situated and had a salubrious
climate. Though not endowed with much learning, he bestowed'
favours on some Muslim scholars. The poet, Shaikh Azari of Isfarayin
in Khurasan, who came to his court, received a huge amount of
DISINTEGRATION OE THE DELHI SULTlNATE 859
money for composing two verses in praise of Ms palace at Bldar ;
and Maulana Sliarf-ud-din Mazandarani w^as also rewarded with
12,000 tankas for inscribing in beautiful handwriting two verses
on the door of that palace.
In the meanwhile, baronial intrigues for position and inSuence,
often resulting in pitched battles and massacres, had begun to
affect the homogeneity of the Bahmani kingdom. There were
perpetual feuds between the Beccani nobles with their allies,
the Africans and the Mmvallads (issue of African fiithers and
Indian mothers) on the one side, and, on the other, the foreign
nobles, composed of the Turks, the Arabs, the Persians and the
Mughuls. Many of the latter had been elevated to high offices
in the State, for their hardy and active habits, in preference to the
children of the sod, who grew jealous of them. This jealousy was
accentuated by religious differences, for while most of the Deccanis
were Sunnis, the majority of the rival party consisted of Shiahs.
Thus the history of the later Bahmanids is a dreary tale of
conspiracies and strife, which sucked the life-blood of the kingdom
till it ffiiaUy disintegrated.
Amad was succeeded peacefully by his eldest son under the
title of Ala-iid-din II. Soon after his accession, ‘Ala-ud-din II
suppressed a rebellion headed by his brother Muhammad, who
was, however, pardoned and given the government of the Raichur
Doab, where he remained faithful during the rest of his life. The
Hindu chiefs of the Konkan were next reduced to submission, and
the Raja of Sangameshwar gave his beautiful daughter in marriage
to the Bahmani Sultan. This was not hked by the Sultan’s Muslim
wife Mahka-i-Jahan. At her request her father, Nasir Khan,
the ruler of Khandesh, invaded Berar, but was defeated by
Malik-ul-Tujjar Khalaf Hasan, governor of Daulatabad and
leader of the foreign nobles. In 1443 ‘Aa-ud-din waged war
against Vijayanagar, the Raya of wMch had to conclude peace
by promising regular payment of tribute in future. Eerishta
writes that at this time the Raya of Vijayanagar employed Muslim
soldiers in his army, admitted some Muslims into his service, and
even erected a mosque at the capital city for their worship. Like
other Sultans of the dynasty, ‘Aa-ud-din was a zealous champion
of Islam and was benevolent towards the followers of his own
faith. We know from Eerishta and the author of Burhdn4-Ma’dsir
that he “founded masjids, public schools and charitable institutions,
among which was a hospital of perfect elegance and purity of
style, which he built in his capital, Bidar, and made two beautiful
villages there as a pious endowment, in order that the revenue
360 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of these villages should be solely devoted to supplying medicines
and drinks ... so much did he attend to carrying out the orders
and prohibitions of the divine law that even the name of vfine
and all intoxicating liquors was abrogated in his jurisdiction. ...”
‘Ala-ud-din died peacefully in April, 1457, and was succeeded
by his eldest son, Humayun, who was so cruel as to get the epithet
of “ Zdlim” or “the T3rrant”. Examples of his cruelties have been
cited by the author of Burhdn-i-Ma’dsir. Humayun died a natural
death, according to some writers, in October, 1461, but the more
reliable authorities write that he was murdered by some of his
servants when he was in a state of hitoxication. His death freed
his people “from the talons of his tortures” and the general sense
of relief was thus expressed by the contemporary poet Nazir:
“Humayun Shah has passed away from the world,
God jHmighty, what a blessing was the death of Humayun !
On the date of his death the world was full of delight,
So, ‘delight of the world’ gave the date of his death.”
According to the chroniclers Humayun’s minor son, Nizam Shah,
was next raised to the throne. The queen-mother, Makhdumah
Jahan, tried to manage the administration of the State with the
assistance of Khwaja Jahan and Khwaja Mahmud Gawan. But
the rulers of Orissa and Telingana were emboldened, during the
rule of the boy king, to attack his kingdom. They were driven back
with heavy losses. But soon a more formidable danger appeared for
the Bahmanis when Mahmud lOialji I of Malwa led an invasion into
their territories and besieged Bidar, which was saved only when
Mahmud Begarha, the Sultan of Gujarat, sent a favourable response
to the Bahmani Sultan’s appeal for help. Nizam Shah died very
suddenly, on the 30th July, 1463, and his brother, aged only nine,
ascended the throne under the title of Muhammad III.
Soon after Muhammad’s accession, the old minister Khwaja
Jahan, who aimed at a monopoly of power in the State, was put to
death through the influence of the queen-mother, and the vacant
office was entrusted to Mahmud Gawan, who received the title of
Khwaja Jahan. Though possessed of wide powers, Mahmud Gawan
never abused his authority. By virtue of his conspicuous ability,
he served the Bahmani State with unstinted loyalty ; and, by
skilful diplomacy and successful military operations, he brought
the dominions of the Bahmanis “to an extent never achieved by
former sovereigns”.
In 1469 Mahmud Gawan marched with an army to subdue the
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTlNATE 361
Hindu Rajas of the Konkan, and when he succeeded in capturing
several forts, the Raja of Sangameshwar, overpowered with fear,
surrendered the fortress of Ivhelna to his agents. “This unrivalled
minister,” writes the author of Burhdn-i-Ma'dsir, “seized many
forts and towns and captured immense booty, and valuable goods,
such as horses, elephants, maidens, and female slaves, as well
as precious jew^els and pearls, fell into the minister’s hands”. He
also captured Goa, one of the best ports of the Vijayanagar Empire.
In the meanwhile, Nizam-ul-mulk Barhi, a commander of the
Bahmani kingdom, had seized the forts of Rajamundry and
Kondavir. In the year 1474 the Deccan was devastated by a
terrible famine due to the failure of rain for two successive years,
and many succumbed to its rigours. When rain at last fell in
the third year, scarcely any farmers remained in the country to
cultivate the land.
But the military enterprises of the Sultan continued unabated.
In February, 1478, Muhammad invaded and devastated Orissa,
the Raja of which induced him to withdraw by presenting to him
some elephants and other valuable gifts.
The most successful military exploit of his reign was directed,
in the course of a war with Vijayanagar, against Kanchi or Con-
jeeveram (12th March, 1481), a seat of some old temples, which
“were the wonder of the age, filled with countless concealed
treasures and jewels, and valuable pearls, besides imuimerable
slave-girls”. The besieged soldiers offered a brave resistance but
were ultimately vanquished by the Bahmani troops, who captured
an immense booty.
The military record of Muhammad Shah Ill’s reign is indeed
one of triumph. But his own voluptuousness, and the selfish
intrigues of the nobles of his court, stood in the path of his
progress in other respects, and ultimately caused his ruin. Being
addicted to hard drinking, the Sultan became mentally unbalanced
as years rolled on, and took a suicidal step by passing the death
sentence on Mahmud Gawan on 5th April, 1481, at the instigation
of his enemies, the Deccani nobles, who, being jealous of his power
and success, produced a forged letter to persuade the Sultan to
believe in the minister’s treasonable correspondence with the
Raya of Vijayanagar. Thus Mahmud Gawan, who had served the
Bahmani kingdom as minister m three successive reigns with
ejBficiency and honesty, for which he was entitled to the gratitude
of his master, fell a prey to a conspiracy organised by a rival
baronial clique, blind to the true interests of the State. With the
unjust execution of this old minister “departed,” remarks
362 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Meadows Taylor rightly, “all the cohesion and power of the Bahmani
kingdom”. In many respects, Mahmud Gawan’s character was
far superior to that of his contemporaries. Leading a simple and
pure life, he was fond of learning and the society of the learned,
which led him to maintain a magnificent college and a vast library
at Bidar; and his disinterested services as a public officer Justly
entitle him to our praise. Muhammad III discovered his own
folly rather too late, and, seized with grief and remorse, he expired
within a year on the 22nd March, a.d. 1482,
The Bahmani kingdom was henceforth thrown into utter
confusion, leading to its inevitable coUapse. Mahmud Shah, the
younger son and successor of Muhammad III, had neither the
strength of personal character, nor the guidance of an able minister,
to enable him to maintain the integrity of his kingdom. The feud
between the Deccanis and the foreigners continued with unabated
fury and rancour. The provincial governors availed themselves
of the prevailing confusion to declare their independence. The
nominal authority of Mahmud came to be confined within a small
area round the capital, and he and his four successors remained
mere puppets in the hands of Qasim Barid-ul-MamaHk, a clever
noble of Turkish origin, and after his death in 1504, in those of his
son ‘Amir ‘All Barid, “the fox of the Deccan”. The last ruler,
Kalimullah Shah, secretly tried to secure the help of Babur to
restore the lost fortunes of his dynasty, but was sadly disappointed.
With his death in 1527 the Bahmani djnasty came to an end
after about one hundred and eighty years’ rule.
The history of the Bahmani dynasty in the Deccan on the whole
offers no pleasant reading. Most of its Sultans employed themselves
chiefly in terrible wars, and its internal politics were severely dis-
tracted by court intrigues and civil strife. Among the eighteen
kings of this dynasty, five were murdered, two died of intemperance,
and three were deposed, two of them being blinded. The Bahmani
Sultans should, however, be credited with patronage of learning
and education according to their lights, erection of fortresses and
buildings, and construction of irrigation works in the eastern
provinces, which benefited the peasantry while securing more
revenues to the State.
We get a glimpse of the condition of the common people in the
Bahmani kingdom from certain observations made by the Russian
traveller, Althanasius Nikitin, who travelled in this kingdom
during the years 1470 to 1474 in the reign of Muhammad Shah III.
He writes: “The Sultan is a little man, twenty years old, in the
power of the nobles. , , . The Sultan goes out V'ith 300,000 men
DISINTEGEATION OF THE DELHI SULTlNATE 363
of his own troops. The land is overstocked with people ; but those
in the country are very miserable, whilst the nobles are extremely
opulent and delight in luxury. They are wont to be carried on
their silver beds, preceded by some 20 chargers caparisoned in gold,
and foUow'ed by 300 men on horseback and by 500 on foot, and
by hornmen, ten torch-bearers, and ten musicians.
“The Sultan goes out hunting with his mother and his lady,
and a train of 10,000 men on horseback, 50,000 on foot ; 200 elephants
adorned in gilded armour, and in front 100 horsemen, 100 dancers,
and 300 common horses in golden clothing; 100 monkeys and
100 concubines, all foreign.”
Thus the testimony of a foreign traveller tells us that the lot
of the common people was hard as compared with the luxurious
standard of living of the nobility. But there is no other positive
evidence to enable us to form an accurate picture of the condition
of the mass of the people during the whole of the Bahmani period.
The accounts of the Muslim chroniclers are full of details regarding
military campaigns and wars against infidels, without any refer-
ence to the history of the people.
C. The Five Sultanates of the Deccan
Five separate Sultanates arose in the Deccan, one after another,
on the break-up of the Bahmani kingdom. These were known,
after the titles of their founders, as the Imad Shahi dynasty of
Berar, the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Ahmadnagar, the ‘Adil Shahi
dynasty of Bijapur, the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golkunda and the
Barid Shahi dynasty of Bidar. The first to secede was Berar,
where FathuUah Imad Shah, a Hindu convert, declared his independ-
ence in A.D. 1484 and founded the Imad Shahi d3masty. Berar
was absorbed by Ahmadnagar in a.d. 1574.
Yusuf ‘Adil Khan, Governor of Bijapur, asserted his independence
in A.D. 1489-1490. He was known during his early days as a
Georgian slave, who was purchased by MahmM Gawan, and rose
to prominence by dint of his merit and ability. Ferishta, however,
relying on some private information, writes that he was the son of
Sultan Murad II of Turkey, who died in a.d. 1451, that he fled from
his country, first to Persia, and then to India at the age of seven-
teen, to save himself from assassination, ordered by his elder
brother, Muhammad II, who had succeeded his father on the throne,
and that he sold himself as a slave to the minister of the Bahmani
Sultan. Yusuf ‘Adil Shah was not a bigot. EeUgion was no bar
to securing offices in his government, and he had a preference for
364
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the Shiah creed, probably due to his sojourn in Persia. Free from
vices in his private life, he was mindful of his duties as a ruler.
Ferishta tells us that although Yusuf ‘Adil Shah “mingled pleasure
with business, yet he never allowed the former to interfere with
the latter. He always warned his ministers to act with justice
and integrity, and in his own person showed them an example of
attention to those virtues. He invited to his court many learned
men and valiant ofi&cers from Persia, Turkestan, and Rum, and
also several eminent artists, who lived happy under the shadow
of his bounty. In his reign the citadel of Bijapur was made of stone”.
The reigns of Yusuf ‘Adil Shah’s four immediate successors, Isma'il
‘ Adil Shah, son of Yusuf (1510-1534), MaUu, son of Isma'd (1534),
Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah I, brother of MaUu (1534-1557), and ‘Ali
‘Add Shah, son of Ibrahim (1557-1579), were full of intrigues
and wars. But the djmasty produced another remarkable ruler in
Ibrahim ‘Add Shah II, nephew and successor of ‘Ali ‘Add Shah,
who governed the kingdom with universal toleration and wisdom
tdl he died in a.d. 1626. In the opinion of Meadows Taylor, who
wrote with some experience of Bijapur and its local traditions,
“he was the greatest of aU the ‘Add Shahi dynasty, and in most
respects, except its founder, the most able and popular”. The
Bijapur kingdom survived tdl its annexation by Aurangzeb in a.d.
1686.
The founder of the Ahmadnagar kingdom was Mahk Ahmad,
son of Nizam-ul-mulk Bahri, who sprang from the hereditary Hindu
revenue officials of Pathri, north of the Godavari, took a leading
part in the conspiracy against Mahmud Gawan, and became prime
minister after his death. Malik Ahmad was appointed governor
of Junnar, but in 1490 he declared himself independent. Some time
later he transferred the seat of his government to a place of better
strategic position and thus founded the city of Ahmadnagar. After
several years’ attempts, he captured Daulatabad in a.d. 1499,
which helped him to consolidate his dominion. He died in a.d. 1508
and was succeeded by his son, Burhan Nizam Shah, who, during
his reign of forty-five years, waged wars with the neighbouring
States and about a.d. 1550 allied himself with the Raya of Vijaya-
nagar against Bijapur. His successor, Husain Nizam Shah, joined
the Muslim confederacy against Vijayanagar in 1565. After his
death in that year, he was succeeded by Ms son, Murtaza Nizam
Shah I, a pleasure-loving youth, unfit to compete successfully with
his adversaries. There is nothing of importance and interest in the
subsequent Mstory of Ahmadnagar except the heroic resistance
offered by Chand Bibi to Akbar’s son, Prince Murad, in 1576, and
DISINTEGEATION OP THE DELHI SULTANATE 365
the military as well as administrative skill of Malilc ‘Ambar.
The kingdom was overrun by the Mughuls in 1600, but it was
not finally amiexed to their Empire until 1633 in the reign of
Shah Jahan.
The Muslim kmgdom of Golkmida grew up on the ruins of the
old Hmdu kingdom of Warangal, Avhich was conquered by the
Bahmanis in a.d. 1424. The founder of the Qutb Shahi dynasty
was Quli Shah, a Turki officer of the Bahmani kmgdom during the
reign of Mahmud Shah Bahmani. He was appointed governor of
Telingana by Mahmud Gawan and remained loyal to his master
till, as a protest against the power and insolence of the Barkis, he
declared his independence in a.d. 1512 or 1518. He had a long and
prosperous reign till he was murdered at the age of ninety in 1543
by his son Jamshid, who reigned for seven years. Jamshid’s brother
and successor, Ibrahim, fought against Vijayanagar in 1565 in
alliance with the other Muslim Sultanates. He was a good ruler
and freely admitted the Hindus to high offices in the State. After
his death in 1611, the history of Golkunda was largely entangled
with that of the Mughul Empire till it was annexed to it by
Aurangzeb in 1687.
When the distant provinces of the Bahmani kingdom declared
their independence, the remnant of it survived only in name
under the ascendancy of the Barkis. In 1526 or 1527 Amir
‘Ali Barid formally dispensed with the rule of the puppet
Bahmani Sultans and founded the Barid Shahi dynasty of Bidar,
which lasted tiU its territory was absorbed by Bijapur in a.d.
1618-1619.
The five offshoots of the Bahmani kingdom had some good
rulers, notably in Bijapur and Golkunda. The history of these
Sultanates is largely a record of almost continuous quarrel with
one another and with Vijayanagar. Each aspired to the supremacy
of the Deccan, which was consequently turned into a scene of
internal warfare, similar to what went on between the Chalukyas
and the Pallavas in earlier days, or between Mysore, the Marathas
and the Nizam in the eighteenth century. The disruption of the
Bahmani kingdom, and the dissensions among the five Sultanates
that rose on its ruins, seriously hampered the progress of Islam,
political as well as religious, in the south, where the spirit of
Hindu revival, that had manifested itself since the days of the
Tughluqs, culminated in the rise and growth of the Vijayanagar
Empire.
r-‘
i'-i-
11 '
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
5 . The Hindu Kingdoms — ^The Vijayanagar Empire
A. Political History
The early history of Vijayanagar is still shrouded in obscurity.
Sewell, after referring to several traditional accounts about the
origin of the great imperial city, remarks that “perhaps the most
reasonable account would be culled from the general drift of the
Hindu legends combined with the certainties of historical fact”.
He accepts the tradition according to which five sons of Sangama,
of whom Harihara and Bukka were the most eminent, laid the
foundation of the city and kingdom of Vijayanagar, on the southern
bank of the Tungabhadra facmg the fortress of Anegundi on the
northern bank. They got inspiration for their enterprise from the
celebrated Brahmapasage and scholar of the day, Madhava Vid-
yarapya, and his brother Sayana, the famous commentator on the
Vedas. This tradition is regarded by some as a later fabrication
which found currency in the sixteenth century. In the opinion of Rev.
Father Heras, the foundation of the city of Anegundi, which formed
the cradle of the Vijayanagar Empire, was laid by the Hoysala king
Vira Ballala III, and Harihara, a near relative of the Hoysala ruling
family, was a frontier officer with his headquarters there. According
to another writer, “the fortification of the city that afterwards
became Vijayanagar must be regarded as the deliberate act of the
great Hoysala ruler, Vira BaUala IH. It was founded soon after
the destruction of Kampili by the army of Muhammad Tughluq,
and immediately following the invasion of the Hoysala capital,
Dorasamudra”. The theory of Hoysala origin has been recently
challenged by a writer who, in discussing the question from different
sources, has argued that Harihara and Bukka founded the city and
that they “shaped the course of their conduct” on the advice of
Madhava Vidyarapya, who is described in an inscription of Harihara
II as “the supreme light incarnate”. According to some authorities,
the five brothers were fugitives from the Telugu country included
in the Kakatiya kingdom of Warangal, the capital of which was
captured by the Muhammadans in 1424, In the midst of these
conflicting opinions, this much can be said with certainty, that
Harihara and Bukka and theur three brothers made earnest efforts
to organise resistance against the advance of the invaders from the
north. The significance of the Vijayanagar Empire in the history
of India is that for well nigh three centuries it stood for the older
religion and culture of the country and saved these from being
engulfed by the rush of new ideas and forces. It also indirectly
BISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTANATE 367
prevented tlie extension of the iiiflueiiee of the Balunani Iviirid-oiv;
and its offshoots in the north, where the power of the Delin' Haitanal e
had been alread_y considerably weakened, by kec'jjing them enn-
stantly engaged in the south. In short, “it was Vijayiinagar ’wldeli
held the key to the political situation of the time”, chamctei-ised
by the decline of the Turko-Afghan Sultanate and the ris<i of
important indigenous powers.
The first d^masty of Vijayanagar is named after Sangaimi.
In the time of Harihara I and Bukka I, the Vijayanagar kingdom
brought under its influence many principalities and divisions,
including, in the opinion of some, most of the Hoysala territory. But
it has been pointed out by some writers that Harihara I and Bukka I
did not assume full imperial titles. In 1374 Bukka I sent an embassy
to China and he died in a.d. 1378-1379. He was succeeded by his
son, Harihara II, who undoubtedly assumed the imperial titles of
Maharajadhiraja, Bajaparamesvara, etc. Sewell in his earlier work^
states on the authority of some Muhammadan historians that
Harihara’s reign was a period of “unbroken peace”. But it is proved by
certain inscriptions that there were conflicts between the Vijayanagar
Empne and the Muslims during his reign. As a matter of fact, the
history of the Vijayanagar Empire, like that of the Bahmani king-
dom, is an unbroken record of bloody wars with different powers.
In the cold weather of 1398, Bukka II, son of Harihara II, con-
ducted a raid northwards to the Bahmani territory, with his
father’s permission, with a view to seizing the Baichur Doab, situated
between the Krislma and the Tungabhadra, which formed the
bone of contention between the Vijayanagar Empire and the Bah-
maiii kingdom. He was opposed and defeated by Eiruz Shah
Bahmani and a peace was concluded by the middle of 1399, Eiruz
exacting a heavy indemnity. But as several inscriptions show, the
reign of Harihara II saw the extension of Vijayanagar authority over
the whole of Southern India, including Mysore, Kanara, Chingleput,
Trichinopoly and Conjeeveram (Ivafichi). Harihara II was a wor-
shipper of ^iva under the form of Virupaksa, but was tolerant of
other religions. He died in August 1406, after which the succession
to the throne was disputed for some time among his sons. Deva Raya
I, however, secured the throne for himself on the 5th November,
1406. He met with some reverses in his wars with the Bahmam
Sultans and died in the year A.D. 1422. His son, Vijaya-Bukka or
Vira Vijaya, reigned for only a few months, then Deva Raya II,
son of Vijaya-Bukka, ascended the throne. Though Deva Raya II’s
wars with the Bahmanis ended in defeat and loss, his reign
Forgotten Empire, p, 51.
368
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
was marked by reorganisation of the administration. To compete
with the Bahmanis, Mussalmans were admitted by him into the
army; and, to control and regulate trade, he appointed his right-
hand man, Lakkanna or Lakshmana, to the “lordship of the
southern sea”, that is, to the charge of overseas commerce. Nicolo
Conti, an Italian traveller, and ‘Abdur-Razzaq, an envoy from
Persia, visited Vijayanagar in 1420 and 1443 respectively; and
they have left glowing descriptions of the city and the Empire of
Vijayanagar. In fact, the Empire now extended over the whole of
South India, reaching the shores of Ceylon, and attained the zenith
of its prosperity during the rule of the first dynasty.
Deva Raya II died in a..d. 1446 and was succeeded by his eldest
surviving son, Mallikarjuna, who repelled a combined attack on
his capital by the Bahmani Sultan and the Raja of the Hindu
kingdom of Orissa and was able to keep his kingdom intact during
his rule, which lasted till about a.d. 1465. It was during this
reign that the Saluva chief, Narasimha of Chandragiri, whose
ancestors had served the Vijayanagar kingdom faithfully as its
feudatories, rose into prominence and resisted the aggressions of
the Bahmani kingdom and the kingdom of Orissa. But Mallikir-
juna’s successor, Vhupaksha II, proved to be an incompetent ruler.
Confusion and disorder naturally followed, taking advantage of
which some of the provinces revolted, the Bahmani Sultan advanced
into the Doab between the Knshpa and the Tungabhadra, and
Raja Purusottama Gajapati of Orissa advanced as far south as
Thuvannamalai.
To save the kingdom from these dangers, Narasimha Saluva
deposed his worthless master and seized the throne for himself in
about A.D. 1486. Thus the Sangama dynasty was overthrown
by what has been called the “First Usurpation” and Vijayanagar
passed under the rule of the Saluva dynasty. Narasimha Saluva
enjoyed the confidence of the people. With the interests of the
Empire at heart, he recovered most of the revolted provinces
during his six years’ rule, though the Raichur Doab remained under
the control of the Bahmanis and Udayagiri under that of the Raja
of Orissa.
Narasimha Saluva had the prudence to charge his trusted
general, Narasa Nayaka, who claimed descent from a dynasty
which ruled over the Tuluva country, with the responsibility for the
administration of the kingdom after him, though he desired that
his sons should succeed him, Epigraphic evidence disproves the
statement of the Muhammadan historians, and of Nuniz, that
Narasa Nayaka murdered the two sons of his master and usurped
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTANATE 369
the throne for himself. In reality he remained loyal to the dynasty of
his master. He placed the latter’s younger son, Immadi Narasimha,
on the throne, when the elder died of womids in a battle, though
he ably managed the affairs of the State as its de facto ruler. It
was only when he himself died in a.d. 1505 that his son, Vira
Narasimha, deposed the last Saluva ruler and seized the throne
for himself. This “Second Usurpation” led to the direct rule of
the Tuluva dynasty over the Vijayanagar Empire. Vira Narasimha
is described on some copper plates and also by Num'z as a pious
king who distributed gifts at sacred places.
Vira Narasimha was succeeded by his younger brother, Krishiiadeva
Raya, by far the greatest ruler of Vijayanagar, and one of the most
famous kings in the history of India. A gallant and active warrior,
he was always successful in the wars that he waged almost
throughout his reign. He first turned his attention towards
suppressing the feudatories in the central portion of his empire
before trying to meet his great rivals in the north. Leaving his
headquarters towards the end of 1510, he marched against the
refractory chief of Ummattur in Southern Mysore. He was defeated
and the fortress of Sivasamudram w^as captured (1511-1512)*
Other neighbouring chiefs were also reduced to obedience. In 1512
Krishpadeva Raya moved towards the Bijapur frontier and took
possession of Raichur. Under the advice of his able and experienced
minister and general, Saluva Thnma, he did not now invade the
Muhammadan territories but turned against Gajapati Prataparudra
of Orissa in 1513, with a view to recovering the territories that his
predecessors had captured from Vijayanagar during the reigns of the
last rulers of the first djniasty. Early in 1514 he captured the
fortress of Udayagiri and made prisoners of an uncle and an aunt
of the Raja of Orissa, who were, however, treated with honour.
By the first half of the next year he had captured the strong fortress
of Kondavidu and other fortresses of lesser importance in the
neighbourhood, m spite of the fact that the Raja of Orissa had
received assistance from the Sultans of Golkunda and Bidar. He
also took as captives the Gajapati prince, Virabhadra, and some
other Orissa nobles. The prince was appointed by him governor
of a province, and this fact, remarks Eirishna Shastri, “testifies to
the high statesmanship of Krishnaraya”. In his third campaign
against the King of Orissa, Krishpadeva Raya encamped at Bezwada,
laid siege to KondapaUi and captured it. The wife and a son (other
than Prince Virabhadra) of the Raja of Orissa and some Orissa
nobles and generals feU into his hands on this occasion also. He
then advanced north-eastwards as far as Shnhachalam m the
370 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Vizagapatam district and forced his Orissan contemporary to come
to terms. The last great military achievement of Krishpadeva Raya
was his victory over Isma'il ‘Adil Shah near Raichur on the 19th
March, 1520, when the latter attempted to recover the Raichur
Doab. He is said to have overrun the Bijapur territory and to have
razed to the ground the fortress of Gulbarga. In short, the military
conquests of Krishnadeva Raya enabled him to humble the pride
of his northern foes and to extend the limits of his Empire up to the
South Kohkan in the west, Vizagapatam in the east and the extreme
border of the peninsula in the south, whUe some islands and coasts
of the Indian Ocean were within its sphere of influence. During
the last few years of his hfe he devoted his attention to the
organisation of the Empire ,m aU respects and to works of peaceful
administration.
Krishnadeva Raya maintained friendly relations with the Portu-
guese and granted them some concessions, smce, writes Sewell,
“he benefited largely by the import of horses and other requisites”.
In 1510 the Portuguese governor, Albuquerque, solicited his per-
mission to build a fort at Bhatkal, which was granted after the
Portuguese had captured Goa from the MusMms. The Portuguese
traveller, Paes, praises him in eloquent terms: “He is the most
learned and perfect king that could possibly be, cheerful of dis-
position and very merry ; he is one that seeks to honour foreigners
and receives them kindly; asking all about their affafrs whatever
their condition may be. He is a great ruler and a man of much
justice, but subject to certain fits of rage • . , he is by rank a
greater lord than any, by reason of what he possesses in armies
and territories, but it seems that he has in fact nothing compared
to what a man like him ought to have, so gallant and perfect is
he in all thmgs.”
The reign of Krishnadeva Raya not only marked the climax
in the territorial expansion of the Vijayanagar Empire, but wus
also remarkable for the encouragement and development of art and
letters. Himself an accompHshed scholar, the Raya was a generous
patron of learning. He was “in no way less famous”, writes
Efrishna Shastri, “for his religious zeal and catholicity. He res-
pected all sects of the Hindu religion alike, though his personal
leanings were in favour of Vaishnavism. . . . Krishnaraya’s kind-
ness to the fallen enemy, his acts of mercy and charity towards
the residents of captured cities, his great military prowess which
endeared him alike to his feudatory chiefs and to his subjects,
the royal reception and kindness that he invariably bestowed upon
foreign embassies, his imposing personal appearance, his genial
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTlNATE 371
look and polite conversation which distinguished a pure and
dignified life, his love for literature and for religion, and his soli-
citude for the welfare of his people, and above aU, the most fabulous
wealth that he conferred as endowments on temples and Brah-
mapas, mark him out indeed as the greatest of the South Indian
monarchs who sheds a lustre on the pages of history.” In fact,
the Vijayanagar Empire rose, during his reign, to the zenith of its
glory and prosperity, when the old Turko-Afghan Sultanate was
almost a shrivelled and attenuated carcase and was soon to be
swept away by a &esh Turkish invasion.
But dangers lurked for the Vijayanagar Empire in the ambition
of her powerful neighbours in the north and in the attitude of her
viceroys, two of whom, the viceroy of Madura and the viceroy
who was in charge of the central block of the kingdom, rebelled
even during the last days (1528 or 1529) of Krishpadeva Raya.
The former was brought back to submission before the death of
Krishpadeva Raya, but the latter had to be “dealt with only
at the beginning of his successor’s reign”.
Krishpadeva Raya died in a.d. 1529 or 1530 and was succeeded
by his half-brother, Achyuta Raya, who, as epigraphic and literary
evidences show, was not “altogether the craven that he is repre-
sented by Nuniz to have been”. He chastised the rebel viceroy
of Madura and reduced to obedience the Raja of Travancore,
who had given shelter to the former. But he soon committed the
blunder of relaxing his personal hold on the administration, which
fell under the control of his two brothers-in-law, both named
Tirumala. This irritated the other viceroys, who formed a rival
party under the leadership of three brothers, Rama, Tirumala
and Venkata, of the Aravidu dynasty, connected by marriage
with the reigning Tuluva dynasty. The kingdom was consequently
plunged into troubles which continued throughout the whole course
of its imperial history and did not cease till it entirely disappeared.
After the death of Achyuta Raya in a.d. 1541 or 1542, his son,
Venkatadri or Venkata I, ascended the throne, but his reign did
not last for more than six months and the crown then passed to
Sadasiva, a nephew of Achyuta. Sadasiva Raya was a mere puppet
in the hands of his minister, Rama Raya, of the Aravidu dynasty,
who was the de facto ruler of the State. Rama Raya was
endowed with ability and was determined to restore the power of
the Vijayanagar Empire, which had sunk low after the death of
Krishpadeva Raya. One important feature of Rama Raya’s policy
was his active interference m the quarrels among the Deccan
Sultanates, in alliance first with one and then with another. His
372
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
enterprises were, indeed, successful for the time being. But these
made hi-m over-confident and haughty and ultimately proved to
be a cause of disaster for the Empire. In 1543 Eama Eaya formed
an alliance with Ahmadnagar and Golkunda with a view to attack-
ing Bijapur. But his object was baffled by the diplomacy of the
Bijapur minister, Asad KJian, who concluded peace separately with
Burhan Nizam Shah and Eama Eaya, and thus broke up the
coalition. A change of alliance took place in 1558, when Bijapur,
Golkunda and Vijayanagar joined against Ahmadnagar and invaded
it. On this occasion the army of Vijayanagar alienated the people
of Ahmadnagar.
The haughty conduct of the Vijayanagar army kindled the
long-standing, though smouldering, hostility of the Sultanates
of the Deccan against Vijayanagar, and all, with the exception of
that of Berar, joined in a coalition against it, which was cemented
by matrimonial alliances. The allied Deccan Sultans fought
against Vijayanagar on the 23rd January, 1565, at a site marked
by the two villages of Eaksas and Tagdi. This battle resulted
in the defeat of the huge Vijayanagar army with immense losses.
“The victors,” writes the author of Burhdn-i-Ma’dsir, “captured
jewels, ornaments, furniture, camels, tents, camp-equipage, drums,
standards, maidservants, menservants, and arms and armour of
aU sorts in such quantity that the whole army was enriched.”
“The plunder was so great,” notes Ferishta, “that every private
man in the allied army became rich in gold, jewels, tents,
arms, horses and slaves, the kings permitting every person to
retain what he acquired, reserving the elephants only for their
own use.” Husain Nizam Shah killed Eama Eaya with his
own hand and exclaimed: “Now I am avenged of theel Let
God do what He will to me.” The magnificent city of Vijayanagar
w^as sacked and deprived of its splendour by the invading army
in a manner which has been described by Sewell as follows:
“The third day saw the beginning of the end. The victorious
Mussalmans had halted on the field of battle for rest, and refresh-
ment, but now they had reached the capital, and from that time
forward for a space of five months Vijayanagar knew no rest. The
enemy had come to destroy and they carried out their object
relentlessly. . . . Nothing seemed to escape them. They broke up
the pavilions standing on the huge platform from which the kings
used to watch the festivals, and overthrew aU the carved work.
They lit huge fires m the magnificently decorated buddings forming
the temple of Vitthalasvami near the river, and smashed its
exquisite stone sculptures. With fire and sword, with crowbars
DISINTEGRATION OE THE DELHI SULTlNATE 373
and axes, they carried on day after day their work of destruction.
Never perhaps in the history of the world has such havoc been
wrought, and wrought so suddenly, on so splendid a city ; teeming
with a wealthy and industrious population in the fuU plenitude
of prosperity one day, and on the next seized, pillaged, and reduced
to ruins, amid scenes of savage massacre and horrors beggaring
description.”
The so-called battle of Talikota is indeed one of the decisive
battles in the history of India. It destroyed the chance of Hindu
supremacy in the south, which was left open to the invasions of
the rulers of a new Turkish dynasty, till the rise of the Maratha
power in the seventeenth century. Undoubtedly the battle did
vital damage to the Vijayanagar Empire, hut recent researches
have proved that it did not disappear altogether as a result of it.
“Talikota,” remarks a modem writer aptly, “was the climacteric,
but not the grand climacteric of the Vijayanagar Empire.” In
fact, the Empire continued to exist till the early part of the seven-
teenth century under the rulers of the Aravidu dynasty, “before
it got weakened and dismembered — ^weakened by the constant
invasions from the north and dismembered by the dissatisfaction
and rebellion of the viceroys within”.
The victorious Sultanates did not ultimately gain much as a result
of this battle. Their alliance was soon dissolved and there was a
recrudescence of mutual jealousy. This afforded the Vijayanagar
Empire the opportunity for recuperation under Rama Raya’s brother,
Tirumala. He returned to Vijayanagar after the Muslims had left
it, but after a short stay there went to Penugonda, and restored
the prestige and power of the Empire to such an extent as to be
able to interfere in the affairs of the MusHm kingdoms. Towards
the end of his reign, in about a.d. 1570, he dispensed with the
phantom of the nominal ruler, Sadasiva, and usurped the throne
for the Aravidu dynasty to which he belonged. His son and
successor, Ranga II, continued after him his policy of increasing
the efficiency of the Empire. Ranga II was succeeded about
A.D. 1586 by his brother, Venkata II, who had his headquarters
at Chandragiri and died after a glorious reign in a.d. 1614. He
may be regarded as the last great ruler of Vijayanagar, who kept
the Empire intact with the exception that in a.d. 1612 Raja Oedyar
founded, with his permission, the kingdom of Mysore, on the
extinction of the viceroyalty of Srirangapatan. His death was
the signal for the dismemberment of the Empire. It was followed by
a war of succession, and the consequent rise of disintegratmg forces.
These could not be checked by Ranga III, the last important ruler
374
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of Vijayanagar, in spite of his best attempts, owing to the selfish atti-
tude of the rebel vassals of the Empir-e and the ambition of the
Muslim States of Bijapur and Golkunda. Thus the Hindu feudatories
of the Vijayanagar Empire proved to be her enemies in the long run.
Their “insane pride, blind selfishness, disloyalty and mutual
dissensions” largely facilitated the conquest of the Hindu Deccan
by the Muslim States of Bijapur and Golkunda. Further, subordinate
viceroys, like the Chiefs of Seringapatam and Bednur (Keladi,
Ikl^eri), and the Naiks of Madura and Tanjore, carved out inde-
pendent kingdoms for themselves.
B. Splendour and Wealth of Vijayanagar
Foreign travellers who visited India during the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries have left glowing accounts of the Empire of
Vijayanagar. The city of Vijayanagar was encompassed by ma.ssive
fortifications and was of enormous size. The Italian traveller,
Nicolo Conti, who visited it about a.d. 1420 writes: “The circum-
ference of the city is sixty miles ; its walls are carried up to the
moimtains and enclose the valleys at their foot, so that its extent
is thereby increased. In this city there are estimated to be ninety
thousand men fit to bear arms. . . . The King is more powerful
than all the other kings of India.” Abdur Razzaq, who came to
India from Persia and went to Vijayanagar in a.d. 1442-1443,
observes; “The country is so well populated that it is impossible
in a reasonable space to convey an idea of it. In the King’s treasury
there are chambers with excavations in them, filled with molten
gold, forming one mass. All the inhabitants of the country, whether
high or low, even down to the artificers of the bazar, wear jewels
and gilt ornaments in their ears and around their necks, arms,
wrists and fingers.” Domingos Paes, a Portuguese, who has recorded
a detailed description of Vijayanagar, writes: “Its King has much
treasure and many soldiers and many elephants, for there are
numbers of these in this country. ... In this city you wili find
men belonging to every nation and people, because of the great
trade which it has and the many precious stones there, principally
diamonds. . . . This is the best provided city in the world, and is
stocked with provisions such as rice, wheat, grains, Indian corn,
and a certain amount of barley and beans, moong, pulses, horse-
grain and many other seeds which grow in this country, which are
the food of the people, and tliere is a large store of these and very
cheap. ... The streets and markets are full of laden oxen without
count. . . .” Edoardo Barbosa, who was present in India in
DISINTEGRATION OP THE DELHI SULTlNATE 375
A.D. 1516, describes Vijayanagar as “of great extent, highly populous
and the seat of an active commerce in country diamonds, rubies
from Pegu, silks of China and Alexandria, and cinnabar, camphor,
musk, pepper and sandal from Malabar”.
G. Economic Condition of the Vijayanagar Empire
It is clear from foreign accounts, and also other sources, that
unbounded prosperity prevailed in the Vijayanagar Empire. Agricul-
ture flourished in different parts of the realm and the State
pursued a wise irrigation policy. The principal industries related
to textiles, mining and metallurgy, and the most important of the
minor industries was perfumery. Craftsmen’s and merchants’ guilds
played an important part in the economic life of the kingdom. ‘Ahdur
Razzaq writes: “The tradesmen of each separate guild or craft
have their shops close to one another.” Paes also observes: “There
were temples in every street, for these appertain to institutions
like the confraternities you know of in our parts, of all the craftsmen
and merchants.”
The most remarkable feature in the economic condition of the
kingdom was commerce, inland, coasting and overseas. The most
important port on the Malabar coast was Calicut, and, according
to ‘Abdur Razzaq, the Empire “possessed 300 seaports”. It had
commercial relations with the islands in the Indian Ocean, the
Malay Archipelago, Burma, China, Arabia, Persia, South Africa,
Abyssinia and Portugal. The principal articles of export were cloth,
rice, iron, saltpetre, sugar and spices, and the imports into the
Empire were horses, elephants, pearls, copper, coral, mercury, China
siUrs and velvet. The cheap means of transport for inland trade
were Jcdvadis, head-loads, pack-horses, pack-buUocks, carts and
asses. Ships were in use for coasting and overseas trade. According
to Barbosa, South India got its ships built in the Maidive Islands.
Epigraphic evidence proves that the rulers of Vijayanagar maintained
fleets and the people there were acquainted with the art of ship-
building before the advent of the Portuguese. We have, however,
no definite knowledge as to how the Vijayanagar Empire “dealt
with the important question of ocean transport”.
The coinage of the Vijayanagar Empire was of various types, both
in gold and copper, and there was one specimen of a silver coin.
The coins bore on them emblems of different gods and animals
varying according to the religious faith of the rulers. The prices
of articles were low. The accounts of the foreign travellers tell
us that the upper classes of the people had a high standard of living ;
376 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
but we know from inscriptions that the common people groaned
under the weight of heavy taxation, collected with rigour by the
local governors, who were, however, sometimes restrained by the
supreme rulers.
D. Social Life in the Vijayanagar Empire
Accounts of foreign travellers, inscriptions, and literature, contain
copious references regarding the different aspects of the social
life of the people in the Vijayanagar Empire, of which we can study
here only the more striking ones. Women in general occupied
a high position in society, and instances of the active part they
took in the political, social and literary life of the country are not
rare. Besides being trained in wrestling, handling swords and
shields, music and other fine arts, some of them at any rate
received a fair amount of literary education. Nuniz writes: “He
(the King of Vijayanagar) has also women who wrestle, and
others who are astrologers and soothsayers; and he has women
who write all the accounts of expenses that are incurred inside
the gates, and others whose duty it is to write all the affairs of
the kingdom and compare their books with those of the writers
outside; he has women also for music, who play instruments and
sing. Even the wives of the King are well-versed in music. . . .
It is said that he has judges, as well as bailiffs and watchmen who
every night guard the palace, and these are women.” Plurality
of wives was a recognised practice, especially among the wealthy
classes, and child marriage was the usual custom. The evil practice
of exacting exorbitant dowries was greatly prevalent among
those who were well placed in life. The State occasionally interfered
in social affairs to settle disputes among various communities.
The rite of Sati, or women burning themselves on the funeral pyres
of their husbands, was very common in Vijayanagar, and the
Brahmapas freely sanctioned it. Being held in high esteem, by
the rulers, the Brahmanas exercised a predominant influence not
merely in social and religious matters but also in the political
affairs of the State. Nuniz describes them as “honest men, given
to merchandise, very acute and of much talent, very good
at accounts, lean men and well formed, but little fit for hard
work”.
There were no strict restrictions in matters of diet. Besides
fruits, vegetables and oil, meat of all kinds, excepting that of
oxen or cows, for which the people had great veneration, was
taken by the general population ; but the Brahmanas never killed
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTlNATE 377
or ate any “live thing”. Nnmz gives the following description
about the diet of the Vijayanagar Kings:
“These Kings of Bisnaga eat all sorts of things, but not the
flesh of oxen or cows, which they never kill because they worship
them. They eat mutton, pork, venison, partridges, hares, doves,
quail, and all kinds of birds ; even sparrows and rats, and cats, and
lizards, aU of which are sold in the market of the city of Bisnaga.
“Everything has to be sold alive so that each may know what
he buys — ^this at least so far as concerns game — and there are
fish from the rivers in large quantities.”
If the statements of Paes and Nuniz be true, this was, remarks
Dr. Smith, “a curious dietary for princes and people, who in the
time of Krishnadeva Raya and Acbyuta Raya were zealous Hindus
with a special devotion to certain forms of Vishnu”. Most probably
rats, cats and lizards were eaten by the lower section of the people,
who formed the non- Aryan element in the Vij ayanagar population.
The foreign travellers refer to numerous blood sacrifices in
the kingdom. According to Paes, the King used to witness the
sacrifice of 24 buffaloes and 150 sheep, the animals being decapitated
by a single blow of a large sickle. On the last day of the famous
“nine days festival” 250 buffaloes and 4,500 sheep were slaughtered.
E. Art and Literature
The Vijayanagar Empire has to its credit brilliant cultural and
artistic achievements. The Emperors were patrons of all languages —
Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada, and under their fostering
care some of the finest pieces of literature were produced. Sayana,
the famous commentator of the Vedas, and his brother, Madhava,
flourished during the early days of Vijayanagar rule and were
deeply attached to the State. The reign of Krishqadeva Raya
was of special importance in this branch of activity as in all others.
It marked “the dawn of a new era in the literary history of South
India. Himself a scholar, a musician and poet, he loved to gather
around him poets, philosophers, and religious teachers whom he
honoured with munificent gifts of land and money”. He wrote
his magnum opus, AmuJctamdlpadd, in Telugu, in the introduction
to which he refers to five Sanskrit works written by him. This
book is not merely of religious interest but also of great historical
importance for the reign of Krishnadeva Raya. In his court
“flourished the ' Astadiggajas\, *the eight elephants’ (famous
poets), who supported the world of (Telugu) literature”. His poet
laureate, Peddana, enjoyed a wide reputation and held a high
378 AJST ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
position among Telugu writers. Even the rulers of the Aravidu
dynasty patronised poets and religious teachers, and Telugu
literature flemished under them with “reinforced vigour”. There
were also authors among the petty chiefs and relatives of the
emperors. Works on music, dancing, drama, grammar, logic,
philosophy, etc., received encouragement from the emperors and
their ministers. In short, the Vijayanagar Empire was a “sjmthesis
of South Indian culture”.
Along with the growth of culture we have a remarkable develop-
ment of art and architecture. The ruins of the old capital of this
Empire proclaim to the world that there evolved, in the days of its
glory, a distinct style of architecture, sculpture and painting by
native artists. The famous Hazara temple, built during the reign
of Krishpadeva Raya, is, remarks Longhurst, “one of the most
perfect specimens of Hindu temple architecture in existence”. The
Vitthalasvami temple is also a fine example of Vijayanagar style.
In the opinion of Fergusson, it “shows the extreme limit in florid
magnificence to which the style advanced”. The art of painting
attained a high degree of excellence, and the art of music rapidly
developed. Some new works on the subject of music were produced.
Krishnadeva Raya and the Regent, Rama Raya, were proficient
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTlNATE 379
in music. Theatres provided amusement for the people of the
kingdom,
Bpigraphic and literary evidence clearly shows that the rulers
of Vijayanagar were of pious disposition and devoted to Dharma.
But they were not fanatics. Their attitude towards the prevaOing
four sects, Saiva, Bauddha, Vaishnava and Jaina, and even alien
creeds, Christian, Jewish and Moorish, was liberal. Barbosa writes :
“The King allows such freedom that every man may come and
go and live according to his own creed without suffering any
annoyance, and without enquiry, whether he is a Christian, Jew,
Moor or Hindu.”
F. Administration of the Vijayanagar Empire
The Vijayanagar Empire gradually developed a centralised
administration with aU its branches carefuUy organised, No doubt,
for the task which they set before themselves, its rulers had to
maintain a strong army and also to undertake military expeditions,
but it does not seem to be correct to describe their State as an
essentially military one based on force and condemn it as an
organisation which “contained no principle of development;
. . . represented no ideal of human progress and therefore could
not be lasting”, as a modern writer has done. As a matter of fact,
with the expansion of the Empire, its rulers organised the administra-
tion with such efficiency as served to remove the disorders that had
prevailed during the periods of war and facilitate the pursuit of
peaceful activities in various fields.
As in other medieval governments, the King was the fountain-
head of aU power in the Vijayanagar State. He was the supreme
authority in civil, military as well as judicial affairs, and also
often intervened to settle social disputes. But he was not an
irresponsible despot, neglecting the interests of the kingdom and
ignoring the rights and wishes of the people. The Vijayanagar
kings knew how to secure the good- will of the people; and by
their liberal policy they “conduced towards bringing peace and
plenty into the kingdom”. “A crowned King,” writes Krishnadeva
Raya « in his Amulctamdlyadd, “should always rule with an eye
towards D^ama.” He further says that “a King should rule
collecting round him people skilled in statecraft, should investigate
the mines yielding precious metals in his kingdom and extract
the same, should levy taxes from his people moderately, should
counteract the acts of his enemies by crushing them with force,
should be friendly, should protect one and aU of his subjects,
380
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
should put an end to the mixing up of the castes among them,
should always try to increase the merit of the Brahmanas, should
strengthen his fortress and lessen the growth of the undesirable
things and should be ever mindful of the purification of his
cities ...”
The TCing was assisted in the task of administration by a council
of ministers, appointed by him. Though the Brahmapas held high
offices in the administration and had considerable influence, the
ministers were recruited not only from their ranks but also from
those of the Kshatriyas and the Vai^yas. The office of a minister
was “sometimes hereditary and sometimes rested on selection”.
Both ‘Abdur Razzaq and Nuniz refer to the existence of a sort
of secretariat. Besides the mimsters, the other officers of the
State were the chief treasurer; the custodians of the jewels; an
officer who was to look after the commercial interests of the State ;
the prefect of the police, who was responsible for the prevention
of crime and maintenance of order in the city; the chief master
of the horse; and subordinate officials Hke the bhdts, who sang
the praise of the kings, the betel-heaxevs or personal attendants of
the King, the calendar-makers, the engravers and the composer
of inscriptions.
A magnifiLcent court was maintained by the kings of Vijayanagar
in the capital city at a huge cost of money. It was attended by
nobles, priests, litterateurs, astrologers and musicians, and festivals
were celebrated with great pomp and grandeur.
The Empire was divided for administrative purposes into several
provinces {rdjya, mandala, chdvadi), which had again subdivisions
like venthe,^ nddu,^ sima, village and sthala^ in the Karnataka
portion, and koUam,^ parru, nadu and village in the Tamil portion.
It is very difficult to state the exact number of provinces in the
Empire. Some writers relying on Paes write that the Empire was
divided into 200 provinces. But the foreign traveller evidently
“confounds the tributary kings with the provincial viceroys, and
these again with the minor nobles who were merely officials in the
govermnent”. According to H. Krishna Shastri, the Empire was
divided into six principal provinces. Each province was under a
viceroy, ndyaka or Tidih,^ who might be a member of the royal house,
1 A territorial division higher than a nadu.
a A territorial division higher than a village.
3 A portion of land comprising several fields.
« A territorial division higher than a parru, which again was higher than
a nadu.
s The designation of Naik was also given to the collectors of customs and
military commanders.
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SULTiNATE 382
or an influential noble of the State, or some descendant of the old
ruling families. Each viceroy exercised civil, military and judicial
powers within his jurisdiction, but he was required to submit regular
accounts of the income and expenditure of his charge to the central
government and render it military aid in times of need. Further, he
was liable to severe punishment by the King if he proved to be a
traitor or oppressed the people, and his estate could be confiscated
to the State if he made default in sending one -third of his ineome
to the latter. Though the ndiks were generally severe in raising
revenue from the people, they were not unmindful of beneficial
work like the encouragement of agriculture, the plantation of new
villages, protection of religion and erection of temples and other
buildings. But they were greatly responsible for the disorders
which prevailed in Southern India during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, when the power of Vijayanagar disappeared
for ever.
The Vijayanagar rulers inherited and continued to maintain a
healthy and vigorous system of local administration, with the
village as the lowest unit. Each vfllage was a self-sufficient unit.
The village assembly, like the Panchdyat of Northern India, con-
ducted the administration of the area under its charge — executive,
judicial and police — through its hereditary officers like the senateova
or the village accountant, the talara or the village watchman or
commandant, the begdra or the superintendent of forced labour, and
others. These village officers were paid either by grants of land or a
portion of agricultural produce. The heads of commercial groups
or corporations seem “to have formed an integral part of the
village assemblies”. The Kong maintained a link with the vfllage
administration through his officer called the Mahd/myakdchd/rya,
who exercised a general supervision over it.
Land revenue, known as sist, was the principal source of income
of the Vijayanagar State. It had an efficient system of land revenue
administration, under a department called the afhavane. Lands
were classified under three heads for the purpose of assessment —
wet land, dry land, and orchards and woods ; and the assessments
to be paid by the tenants were clearly indicated. To meet the
heavy burdens of the State, and solve the problem of obtaining
men and money to withstand its enemies, the Vijayanagar Emperors
gave up the traditional rate of assessment at one-sixth of the
produce and increased it to some extent. It is difficult to accept
the statement of Nuniz that the “husbandmen had to pay one-
tenth of their produce”. The Vijayanagar rulers adopted the
“principle of differential taxation”, that is, levied taxes according
382 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
to the relative fertility of the lands. Besides the land tax, the ryots
had to pay other kinds of taxes like grazing tax, marriage tax, etc.
Other sources of income of the State were the revenue from customs
duties; toUs on roads; revenue from gardening and plantations;
and taxes levied on dealers in goods of common consumption,
manufacturers and craftsmen, potters, washermen, shoemakers,
barbers, mendicants, temples and prostitutes. Taxes were paid
both in cash and kind, as during the days of the Cholas.
There is no doubt that the incidence of taxation was heavy and
the provincial governors and revenue officials often practised
oppression on the people. But at the same time there are instances
to show that the Government redressed the grievances of the people
on complaints being made to it and sometimes reduced or remitted
taxes, and that the people could appeal directly to the King in
time of need. The Empire could certainly not last for about three
centuries on a systematic policy of extortion and oppression.
The King was the supreme judge, but there were regular courts
and special judicial officers for the administration of justice.
Sometimes, disputes were settled by the State officials with the
co-operation of the local bodies. The only law of the land was
not “the law of the Brahmapas which is that of the priests”, as
Nuniz would ask us to believe, but was based on traditional
regulations and customs, strengthened by the constitutional usage of
the country, and its observance was strictly enforced. Severe
punishment was inflicted on guilty persons. These penalties were
chiefly of four kinds — ^fines, confiscation of property, ordeals and
death. Death or mutilation was the punishment for crimes l ik e
theft, adultery and treason. Sometimes the criminals were “cast
down before the feet of an elephant, that they may be killed by
its knees, trunk and tusks”. Official oppression in the sphere of
justice was not absent, but the State occasionally granted remedies
against it, and it was also “sometimes successfully checked by
the united opposition of corporate bodies”.
Like the Hoysalas, the rulers of Vijayanagar had a oarefuUy
organised military department, called Kanddchdra, under the
control of the DandandyaJca or Danndyaha (Commander-in-Ghief),
who was assisted by a staff of minor officials. The State maintained
a large and efficient army, the numerical strength of which was not,
however, uniform aU through. The regular troops of the King
were, in times of need, reinforced by auxiliary forces of the feudatories
and nobles. The several component parts of the army were the
infantry, recruited from people of different classes and creeds,
occasionally including even Muslims ; the cavalry, strengthened by
DISINTEGEATION OF THE DELHI SULTANATE 383
the recruitment of good horses from Ormuz through the Portuguese,
owing to a dearth of these animals in the Empire ; elephants ; camels ;
and artillery, the use of which by the Hindus as early as a.d.
1368 is proved by the evidence of foreign accounts as well as of
inscriptions. The discipline and fighting strength of the Vij ayanagar
army were, however, inferior to those of the armies of the Muslim
States of the Deccan.
With aU that has been said above, the Vij ayanagar Empire
suffered from certain defects. Firstly, the provincial governors
enjoyed a good deal of independence, which contributed in no
small degree to the weakening of the central authority and
ultimately to the disintegration of the Empire. Secondly, the
Empire failed to develop a sustained commercial activity in
spite of various facilities. “This failure,” remarks Dr. Aiyangar
justly, “proved a vital defect in the imperial career of Vijayanagar,
and made a permanent Hindu Empire impossible.” Thirdly, in
consideration of temporary gains, the Emperors allowed the
Portuguese to settle on the west coast and thus “principles of
profit” overrode “the greater question of the stability of their
Empire”.
The Kingdom of Orissa
Orissa was consolidated into a powerful kingdom by Anantavarman
Ohoda Ganga during his long reign of more than seventy years {cir,
1076-1148). It appears from several inscriptions that the kingdom
then extended from the mouth of the Ganges to the mouth of the
Godavari in the south. Choda Ganga’.s achievements in the domain
of peace were also remarkable. He was a patron of religion, and
of Sanskrit as well as Telugu literature. The great temple of
Jagannath at Puri stands as a brilliant monument to “the artistic
vigour and prosperity of Orissa during his reign”. The successors
of Choda Ganga effectively checked the invasions of the Muslims
and maintained the prosperity of their kingdom. The most famous
of them was Narasimha T (1238-1264), who, besides achieving
a remarkable success against the Muslims of Bengal, probably
completed the construction of the temple of Jagannath at Puri
and built the great temple of the Sun-God at Koparak in the
Puri district. After the death of Narasimha, the fortunes of the
dynasty began to decline, and it was supplanted in about a.d. 1434-
1435 by a solar dynasty, which ruled in Orissa for more than a
century.
The founder of the new dynasty, Kapilendra, was endowed with
considerable ability and vigour, and restored the prestige of the
OHABIOT WHEEL, EONIbAH
DISINTEGRATION OE THE DELHI SIJLTlNATE 385
kingdom, of Orissa, whieli Lad sunk low during the reigns of the
later Gangas. He suppressed the powerful rebels in Ms own
country, fought successfully with the Bahmanis of Bidar and
the rulers of Vijayanagar, succeeded in extending his dominions
from the Ganges to the Kaveri, and even marched with a victorious
army to the vicinity of Bidar in the heart of the Bahmani kingdom.
It is stated in the Gopmathpur inscription that he took possession
of Udayagiri, the seat of a Vijayanagar viceroyalty, and Conjeeveram.
The beginning of the reign of the next ruler, Purushottama (a.d.
1470-1497), was marked by certain disorders during which the
kingdom of Orissa lost its southern half from the Godavari down-
wards. Saluva Narasimha captured the country to the south
of the Krishna and the Bahmanis seized the Godavari-Krishpa
Doab. But towards the end of his reign Purushottama recovered
the Doab and regained a part of the Andhra country as far as
the modern Guntur district. It cannot be said with certainty
if he recovered any of the Tamil districts of the empire of
KapUendra.
Purushottama’s son and successor, Prataparudra (1497-1540), a
contemporary and disciple of Chaitanya, inherited a kingdom
extending from the Hugli and Midnapur districts of Bengal to the
Guntur district of Madras, and including also a part of the high-
lands of Telingana. But it was not destined to maintain tMs extent
for long owing to the aggressions of Krishpadeva Raya of Vijaya-
nagar and of the growing Qutb Shahi kingdom of Golkunda on
the eastern coast. As a result of three campaigns, Prataparudra
had to cede to his more powerful Vijayanagar contemporary that
portion of his kingdom which lay to the south of the Godavari.
The Sultan QuH Qutb Shah of Golkunda invaded the kingdom of
Orissa in 1522.
Some believe that tMs political decline of Orissa was a sequel
to the loss of martial spirit by her rulers and people due to the
effect of Vaishpavism preached by Chaitanya. Be that as it
may, the fact remains that the kingdom of Orissa lost its old
power from the beginning of the sixteenth century. About
A.D. 1541-1542 the dynasty of KapOendra was supplanted by the
Bhoi dynasty, which was so called because its founder, Govinda, for-
merly a minister of Prataparudra, belonged to the Bhoi or writer
caste. Govinda, his son and two grandsons reigned for about eighteen
years. The dynasty was ousted, in about a.d. 1559, by Mukunda
Harichandana, who did his best to save the kingdom of Orissa
from Muslim invasions till Ms death in a.d. 1668, and whose alliance
was sought by Akbar in prtrsuance of Ms poHcy of attacking the
386
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
CHITOBGAEH
(Affording a view of the Kirtistambha at the upper right corner)
“ S
prominent of these was the Gnhila principality of Mewar, where
the Rajput genius unfolded itself so brilliantly and which for
generations produced a succession of brave generals, heroic leaders,
prudent rulers and some brilliant poets. As early as the seventh
century a.d. the brave and chivalrous Rajputs of the Guhila clan
established their power in this territory. We have already narrated
how ‘Ala-ud-din Kbalji besieged and captured Chitor, the capital
of Mewar, and how Hanur, or his son, delivered it from the hands of
Afghans of Bengal from both sides. The Kararani Sultans of Bengal
annexed Orissa in a.d. 1568. The Hindu renegade, Kalapahar,
who had accompanied Sulaiman Kararani’s son, Bayazid, to
Orissa, is said to have desecrated the temple of Jagannath and even
made attempts to destroy the wooden idols. Then began a Mughul-
Afghan contest for the possession of Orissa.
Mewar
Some of the Rajput States were stirred with the spirit of revival
on the dismemberment of the Turko-Afghan Empire. The most
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DELHI SIILTlNATE 387
the Muslims and retrieved the lost honour of his race. Hamir died
fuU of years possibly in a.d. 1364 “leaving a name still honoured
in Mewar as one of the wisest and most gallant of her princes and
bequeathing weU-established and extensive power” to his son,
Kshetra Simha. Kshetra Simha being killed in the course of a family
quarrel m or about a.d. 1382 was succeeded by his son, Lakha. On
Lakha’s death after 1418 (?), hisson, Mokala, ascended the throne
of Mewar, but he was assassinated in or about a.d. 1431 by two of his
uncles. The next Rana of Mewar was Kumbha, one of the most
famous rulers in the history of India. His reign was an important
period in the annals of his country. Tod thus praises his achieve-
ments: “All that was wanting to augment her (Mewar’s) resources
against the storms which were collecting on the brows of Caucasus
and the shores of Oxus, and were destined to burst on the head
of his grandson, Sangha, was effected by Kumbha; who with
Hamir’s energy, Lakha’s taste for arts, and a genius compre-
hensive as either or more fortunate, succeeded in aU his under-
takings, and once more raised the ‘crimson banner’ of Mewar
upon the banks of the Ghaggar, the scene of Samarsi’s defeat.”
Kumbha fought against the Muslim rulers of Malwa and Gujarat,
and although success did not attend all his enterprises, he could
hold his own position against his ambitious neighbours. He was
also a mighty builder, to whom Mewar is indebted for some of her
finest monuments. Of the eighty-four fortresses built for the
defence of Mewar, thirty-two were erected by Kumbha. The most
brilliant monument of his military and constructive genius is the
fortress of Kumhhalgarh, “second to none in strategical importance
or historical renown”. Kumbha’s Jayastamhha, also called the
Kirtistambha (Tower of Fame), is another monument of his genius.
Further, the Rana was a poet, a man of letters and an accomplished
musician. He was assassinated by his son, Udaya Karan, probably in
A.D. 1469. This cruelty of Udaya’s horrified the nobles, who acknow-
ledged his younger brother, Rayamalla, as the Rana. RayamaUa’s
sons quarrelled among themselves for the succession and ultimately
one of them, Sangrama, or Sanga, as hewas popularly called, succeeded
to the throne of Mewar in or about a.d. 1509. Sanga was
endowed with remarkable military prowess. A hero of a hundred
fields, he bore the scars of eighty wounds on his body in addition
to having an eye blinded and a leg crippled. He fought successfully
against Malwa, Delhi and Gujarat, and organised the financial
resources and the military forces of Mewar with a view to buildmg
her supremacy on the break-up of the Delhi Sultanate. Thus a
contest between him and any other power then trying to establish
388 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
supremacy in Northern India was inevitable. The battle of Khanua,
to be described in a subsequent chapter, was a logical outcome of
this fact.
Kamarupa and Assam
At the time of the advent of the Muslims in Bengal in the early
thirteenth century, the Brahmaputra valley was parcelled out
into a number of independent principalities, at war with one
another. A line of Chutiya (a tribe of mixed Bodo-Shan stock)
kings ruled over the tract east of the Subansiri and the Disang,
while a strip to the south and south-east was under the control
of some Bodo tribes. Further west was a Kachari kingdom lying
south of the Brahmaputra and extending probably half way across
the Nowgong district. West of the Chutiyas on the north bank
and of the Kacharis on the south, were the domains of some petty
chiefs called Bhuiyas. To the extreme west was situated the kingdom
of Kamarupa, the western boundary of which was marked by the
river Karatoya and the eastern boundary varied according to the
position of its hostile neighbours. It was known as the kingdom
of Kamata. The Ahoms, a section of the great Shan tribe, had
appeared as a new element in the history of the Brahmaputra
valley early in the thirteenth century, and checked the eastern
expansion of the Kamata kingdom, while its western neighbours,
the Muslim Sultans of Bengal, led several invasions into its
territories with var 3 dng results.
Early in the fifteenth century a strong monarchy was established
in Kamata by the KKens with their capital at Kamatapur, a few
miles to the south of Gooch Behar. The Khens ruled over Kamata
for about seventy-five years and their last ruler, Nilambar, was
overthrown by ‘Ala-ud-dm Husain Shah in about a.d. 1498. After
a short period of confusion, Biswa Simha, of the Koch tribe, which
was Mongoloid in origin, established a powerful kingdom with
Koch Bihar, modern Gooch Bihar, as his capital, about a.d. 1616.
The greatest ruler of this line was Biswa Simha’s son and successor,
Nara Narayan, during whose reign the kingdom of Kamata grew
in prosperity, and reached the zenith of its power. But in 1581
he was compelled to cede the portions of his kingdom to the east
of the river Sankosh to his nephew, Raghu Dev. Thus the Koch
kingdom was divided into two rival principalities, called Koch Bihar
and Koch Ha jo by the Muslims. Them feuds drew the intervention
of the Ahoms and the Muslims, and in 1639 the western and the
eastern States fell under the supremacy of the Muslims and the
Ahoms respectively.
DISINTEGRATION OE THE DELHI SULTlNATE 389
The Ahoms, a section of the Shan tribe, who appeared in Assam
in about a.d. 1215, gradually consolidated their position and
established a strong monarchy which lasted for six centuries.
Darmg the period under review they checked the eastward expan-
sion of the kings of Kamarupa and the Sultans of Bengal, The
kingdom of the Ahoms became vulnerable to Muslim attacks only
after the latter had subjugated Kamarupa- Thus ‘Ala-u-din Husain
Shah of Bengal led an expedition into Assam when it was ruled
by Suhenpha. In spite of the initial success of Muslim arms, this
expedition had a disastrous end. There was no Ahom-Mushm
conflict for more than thirty years, till the second phase of it began
when invasions mto Assam were conducted by some local Muham-
madan chieftains of Bengal. But their attempts also failed by
September, 1533. Thus the attempt of the Muslims of Bengal to
conquer Assam ended in failure by the thirties of the sixteenth
century. The history of Assam after this period will be treated in
its proper place.
Nepal
By the year a.d. 879 Nepal possibly threw off the Tibetan yoke and
came to have an independent history of its own. For two hundred
years after this we know little about the kings ruling in Nepal,
but from the eleventh century Nepal flourished under the Thakuris.
For more than two hundred years (1097-1326), the Karnataka
king Nanyadeva of Mithila and his successors claimed, from their
capital at Simraon, a sort of loose sovereignty over the local princes
of Nepal. In a.d. 1324, Harisimha of Tirhut, a descendant of Nanya-
deva, invaded Nepal, the reigning king of which, J ayarudramalla,
submitted to him. With his headquarters at Bhatgaon, Harisimha
gradually extended his power over the whole valley, and his kingdom
had diplomatic relations with China in the fourteenth century.
But at the same time Harisimha and his descendants “left undis-
turbed the local rulers, who acknowledged their hegemony, in the
possession of the two other capitals, viz., Patan and Katmandu”.
In 1376 Jaya-SthitimaUa, grandson-in-law of the MaHa king, Jaya-
rudra (1320-1326), and son-in-law of Jagatsimha, a prince of the
Karnataka line of Harisimha, who had married Jayarudra’s daughter,
Nayakadevi, seized the throne of the Mallas and established his
authority over practically the whole of Nepal. It was henceforth
ruled by his descendants “in regular succession”. He had three
sons — Dharmamalla, JyotirmaUa and Kirtimalla. They kept the
kingdom undivided. By A.D. 1418 Harisimha’s descendants lost
their authority in Nepal, and JyotirmaUa tried to exercise imperial
390 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
power. About a.d. 1426 Jyotirmalla was succeeded by his eldest
son, Yakshamalla, who ruled for about half a century and was the
greatest of the Malla rulers of Nepal. But he committed a mistake
before his death, between a.d. 1474 and 1476, in partitioning the
kingdom among his sons and daughters. This led to the rise of
the two rival principalities of Katmandu and Bhatgaon, whose
quarrels ultimately led to the conquest of Nepal by the Gurkhas
in A.D. 1768.
CHAPTER VI
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TTJRKO -AFGHANS IN INDIA, AND MORAL AS
'WELL AS MATERIAL CONDITIONS OF THE COUNTRY DURING THEIR
RULE
I. The Turko- Afghan Government
A. The Central Government
The Muslim State in India was a theocracy, the existence of which
was theoretically justified by the needs of religion. The Sultan
was considered to be Caesar and Pope combined in one. In theory,
indeed, his authority in religious matters was limited by the Holy
Law of the Quran, and with the exception of ‘Ala-ud-din, no
Sultan could clearly divorce religion from politics. But in practice,
the Muslim Sultan of India was a perfect autocrat, unchecked by
any restrictions ; and his word was law. The Sultans at times paid,
with two short breaks, only ceremonial allegiance to the Khalifahs
of Baghdad and Egypt, but did not owe their power to them nor
to the will of the people, though the Islamic theory of sovereignty
was constitutional and democratic in character. In fact, the
Muslim State in India was, to aU intents and purposes, independent
and autonomous, the Sultan being the mainspring of the entire
system of administration. The real source of the Sultan’s authority
was military strength, and this was imderstood and acquiesced in.
not merely by the unthinking rabble but also by the soldiers, the
poets (e.g. Amir Khusrav) and the Ulemas of the age. As the
supreme head of the executive, the Sultan transacted the ajffairs
of the State with the help of such officers and ministers as he might
choose to select. The State being essentially military in character,
the Sultan was the chief commander of forces ; he was also the
chief law-giver and the final court of appeal.
The autocracy of the Muslim Sultana of India was the inevitable
result of the then circumstances. They had to be constantly on
their guard against the hostility of the Hindu States, the Hindu
fighting communities and the Mongol invaders. This required a
strong centralised government, which gradually made itself despotic.
Further, there was no hereditary Muslim aristocracy, conscious of
391
392 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
its own rights and privileges and eager to assert these against
royal despotism, although occasionally some nobles made their
influence felt. There were also no popular assemblies, keen about
constitutional hberty, and no strong public opinion, competent
enough to oppose autocracy. Even the Ulemas, who exercised much
influence in the State, had not the courage to openly oppose the
Sultans and depose an undesirable ruler in the same manner as Hilde-
brand deposed Henry IV. Succession to the Sultanate of Delhi was not
determined by any recognised law, nor was there any definite principle.
“Broadly speaking, the choice was limited, as a matter of convenience,
to the surviving members of the deceased Sultan’s family. The priority
of birth, the question of efflciency, the nomination of the dead king —
these considerations sometimes received some attention, but the deci-
sive voice seems to have been that of the nobles, who usually preferred
personal convenience to the interests of the State.”
Even the most autocratic ruler cannot manage the task of
administration single-handed. Thus the Sultans of Delhi had to
devise, from the beginning of their rule, an administrative machinery
with a regular hierarchy of officers in charge of various departments,
who, however, did not in any way check their authority but rather
carried out their respective duties according to the former’s orders.
The Sultans had a council of friends and trusted officers called the
MajUs4-Khalwat, which they consulted when important affairs of
State demanded attention. The councillors might express their
which at times had some influence on the administration ;
but these were not binding on the Sultan. The Sultan received aU
courtiers, Khans, Maliks, and Amirs, in a court called Bdr-i-Khds.
He sat as the supreme judge in the Bdr-i-Am, where he tried cases,
received petitions of the people and heard their complaints. The
highest officer in the Central Government was the Wazir, who had
control over the other departments of the State, — such as the
Diwdn-i-Bisdlat or the Department of Appeals, the Diwdn4-Arz or
the Military Department, the Diwdn~i~Inshd or the Correspondence
Department, the Diwdn-i-Bandagdn or the Department of Slaves, the
Diwdn-i-Qazd-i-Mamalik or the Department of Justice, Intelligence
and Posts, the Diwdn-i-Amlr Kohi or the Department of
Agriculture (created by Muhammad bin Tughluq), the Diwdn-i-
Mustakhraj or the Department to look after and realise arrears from
collectors or agents (created by ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji), Diwdn-iAlhairdt
or the Department of Charity (in Eiruz Shah’s reign), Diwdn-i
Jstihqdq or the Department of Pensions,-— and also over the Mint,
the charitable institutions and the Kdrkhdnds. Besides the high
officers in charge of the various departments, there were other
CONDITIONS TINDER TURKO-AFGHlNS 393
subordinate officers like the Mustaufi-i-Mamalih or the Auditor
General, whose duty was to check the expenditure of the State;
the Mushrif-i-Mamdlih, who was in charge of the accounts of
receipts ; the Majmuddr, who preserved the records of loans advanced
by government ; the Khdzin or the Treasurer ; the Armr-i-Behr or
the Controller of Boats; the BakhsM-i-Fauj or Paymaster of the
Forces, and others. The Ndib-i-Wazir-i-Mamdlik or the Deputy
Wazir did not enjoy a very high status. The Tughluq period was
“the heyday of the Wazirat in MusHm India”, and from the days
of the later Tughluqs the powers of the Wazir grew enormously.
But these began to decline in the time of the Sayyids and the office
of the Wazir became obscure under the Afghans.
Justice was usually administered by the Qdzi-ul-Qazdt, or the
Lord Chief Justice, who was aided by Muftis to expound the law,
which was based on the injunctions of the Quran, though rulers
like ‘Ala-ud-din and Muhammad bin Tughluq were guided by con-
siderations of policy. The penal law was excessively severe, the
penalties of mutilation and death being usually inliicted on the
culprits. Force and torture were employed to extort confession.
The judicial procedure does not seem to have been very regular.
Cases were started without due enquiries and, on most occasions,
received summary trials. The law of debt, as we know from Marco
Polo, was severe ; and the creditors often invoked royal assistance to
realise their dues from the debtors. The Kotwdl was the custodian
of peace and order; and another officer of the municipal police
was the Muhtasib, whose duties were to keep a strict watch over the
conduct of the people, to control the markets and to regulate
weights and measures. The Sultan kept himself informed of the
movements of the people through a large number of spies. The
old forts and castles were utilised as prisons. The prison “regula-
tions were lax, and corruption prevailed among the officers”.
The fiscal policy of the Turkish Sultans of India was modelled
on the theory of finance of the Hanafi school of Muslim Jurists,
which the former borrowed from the Ghaznavids whom they had
supplanted. Thus the principal sources of revenue of the Delhi
Sultanate were the Khardj or land tax from the Hindu chiefs and
landlords ; land revenue obtained from the Khdlsd or crown-lands,
iqtd^s or lands granted to followers and officers (usually military)
for certain years or for the lifetime of the grantee, who was known
as the Muqta, and other classes of lands ; Khams or one-fifth of
the spoils of war; and religious tax. Besides these, abwdhs or
cesses and other kinds of taxes like the house tax, grazing tax,
water tax, etc., were levied on the people. The State also derived
394 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
some income from trade duties. The jizya was originally a sort of
tax levied on the non-Muslims “in return for which they received
protection of life and property and exemption from military service
But in course of time, a religious motive was attached to it, and in
India it was the only extra burden which the Hindus had to bear.
Taxes were paid both in cash and kind. We have already given
the important points regarding the revenue reforms of the Khaljis
and the Tughluqs. It may be noted here that the revenue policy of
the State, and the satisfactory working or otherwise of the revenue
department, varied according to the personality of the rulers. While
no important changes in revenue admioistration are recorded to have
been effected by Htutmish, and only a few attempts were made by
Balban to make it orderly, ‘Ala-ud-din’s revenue policy was compre-
hensive, affecting aU types of land tenures, and Muhammad bin
Tughluq’s vigorous but ill-advised revenue pohoy also deeply ui-
fluenced the condition of the State. The rate of assessment also
varied, being excessively high since the time of ‘Ala-ud-din, who
charged 50 per cent on the gross produce of the land. In spite of his
general leniency, Ghiyas-ud-(ffn Tughluq does not seem to have reduced
the scale as fixed by ‘Ala-ud-din, and in the time of Muhammad bin
Tughluq it was certainly not lower, if not higher, than this. The farm-
ing system was prevalent, and its lavish extension in the time of
Firuz Shah proved to be detrimental to the integrity of the State.
The standing army of the Sultanate consisted of the royal body-
guard, and the troops of the capital, which were, in times of need,
reinforced by the levies sent by the provincial viceroys and the
Mugtas, and the contingents of Hindu troops. Men of different
nationalities, such as Turks, lOiataians, Persians and Indians,
were enlisted in the army. The main branches of the army
were the infantry, including numerous archers, the cavalry, and
the elephants. There was nothing like artillery, which came to
be used effectively in later times ; but rockets and naphtha balls,
and a machine discharging balls by the force of gunpowder, were
used, though not with much effect, as early as the reign of Htutmish.
Further, a sort of mechanical artillery, consisting of various crude
machines, like manjaniqs, Tmngonels, mangons, through which fire-
balls, fire-arrows, pieces of rock, stones, earthen or iron balls, bottles
full of naphtha, and scorpions and other poisonous reptiles, could be
hmled against the enemy, were used in siege-craft in medieval India.
The Turkish Sultans of Delhi maintained a court, — ^though not
so splendid as that of the Great Mughuls, — through which their
majesty found expression. Harems, full of the wives and concu-
bines of the Sultans and princes of the royal blood, were kept in
395
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AFGHlNS
the apartments of the royal palace. Culture of a rather limited
type was patronised in these courts, but their maintenance must
have caused a heavy drain on the economic resources of the country.
B. Administration of the Provinces
The direct influence of the Sultan was limited to the area within
striking distance of his forts and outposts, and the distant provinces
were placed m the charge of viceroys, who were called Naib Sultans.
The number of provinces varied from twenty to twenty-five. A
province was subdivided into smaller portions, which were in
the charge of Mugtas or of Amils ; and there were further smaller
units under Shiqddrs, whose jurisdiction did not extend over more
than a few miles. Each province was “a replica of the Empire”,
and the Naib Sultan exercised executive, judicial, and midtary
functions in his territory almost as a despot, subject only to the
control of the central government, which varied according to
the strength or weakness of the latter. Muhammad bin Tughluq’s
failure to control the provinces encouraged his viceroys to declare
independence. The viceroy was paid from the revenue of his
province, and after meeting the cost of his administration he had to
remit the surplus to the central exchequer. He maintained a local
militia and had to render military aid, at times, to the Sultan. Thus
his position was somewhat like that of a feudal baron of medieval
Europe. The intrigues of the nobles, and lack of co-operation
among the officers, usually hampered the good working of the provin-
cial government ; and consequently peace and order were not perfectly
maintained. Besides the imperial provinces, large tracts of land had
of necessity to be left in the hands of old Hindu chieftains, who were
not interfered with in ruling their ancestral territories so long as
they sent tributes and presents to Delhi. The village communities
continued unaffected by the establishment of a new government
in the country.
C. The Muslim Nobility
The nobility exercised a predominant influence in the State as
generals, administrators and sometimes as king-makers. But it
was not a hereditary, homogeneous and well-organised body as
was the case vsdth the nobles of France or of England. Though the
Turks formed the majority in this class, there were in it also men
of other nationalities, like Arabs, Afghans, Abyssinians, Egyptians,
people of Java, and Indians. Such a heterogeneous class could
hardly be expected to work with a common aim or principle and
offer a healthy check to royal absolutism. Naturally the nobles
396 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
often occupied themselves with their mutual rivalries and pursued
selfish interests at the cost of the welfare of the State. “The
nobility,” remarks a modern writer, “was nothing more than a
mere agglomeration of disintegrating atoms,” which failed to
“evolve a workable constitution for the country. ” The State might
have derived some benefit from its aristocracy, but it sujBfered more
from a gross caricature of debased feudalism, which was largely
responsible for its dismemberment.
The Turko-Afghan machinery of administration, briefly out-
lined above, lacked the force of habit, derived from tradition, and
of wiU, derived from national support, both of which are necessary
for the security and long tenure of a government. Its military
and feudal character, which was the inevitable result of the circum'
stances under which it grew, was opposed to the traditional ancient
government of the land, though the medieval Rajput States might
have afibrded a parallel to it. By the nature of its growth, it could
seldom be established on the goodwill and support of the people. As
a matter of fact, a tie of mutual attachment between the rulers
and the masses of the people was in many cases absent. The State
grew on military strength, its rulers were, in most cases, concerned
vdth measures calculated to strengthen their own authority; and
its aristocracy, without any consistent policy, pursued selfish
interests. Its collapse was inevitable when the Sultans failed to
command adequate force and the aristocracy grew more ambitious
and turbulent.
2. Economic and Social Conditions
A. Economic
It is not easy to form an accurate idea of the economic condition
of the vast numbers of the people of India, during the three cen-
turies of Turko-Afghan rule. Some attempts have, however, been
made recently to arrive at the facts of the matter by collecting
incidental references from chronicles, the works of Amir ELhxisrav,
folklore and fiction, poetry and ballads, the writings of Hindu as
well as Mushm mystics, works on practical arts and treatises on
law and ethics, the accounts left by foreign travellers, and some
official and private correspondence. The country was then famous
for her untold wealth. We know from Eerishta how Mahmud of
Ghazni carried off a vast booty, and it is striking that even after
the thoughtless extravagance of Muhammad bin Tughluq, and the
chronic disorders of the later Tughluq period, Timur captured an
enormous booty in Delhi. But the State did not pursue any com-
prehensive economic policy aiming at the improvement of the
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AFGHANS 397
condition of the people; and the few experiments of the Ilhaljis
or the Tughluqs did not produce permanent results. “ On the M^hole,”
remarks a modern Muslim writer, “any big improvement in the
method of production, a more equitable distribution of the economic
wealth, or a better adjustment of the economic position of the
various social classes, was outside the policy of the State,”
India had, however, traditions of industrial organisation, through
the guilds and crafts of the village communities and of the urban
areas, and of widespread commerce, internal as well as external,
which survived the shocks of political revolutions in spite of the
absence of State guidance and support during the period under
review. The Sultans of Delhi, or, in later times, some of the minor
provincial rulers, encouraged industries and trade only for their
own political and administrative needs. Thus the royal kdrkhdnds
or manufactories at Delhi sometimes employed 4,000 weavers of
silk besides manufacturers of other stuffs to satisfy royal demands.
There were no factories or large-scale industrial organisations such
as we have to-day. In most cases the manufacturers dealt directly
with the traders, though occasionally they disposed of their goods
at fairs, and again sometimes a number of them were employed
by some enterprising business men to manufacture goods under
their supervision. Though agriculture formed the occupation
of the bulk of the people, there were some important industries
in the urban as well as rural areas of the country. These were the
textile industry, including the manufacture of cotton cloth, woollen
cloth and silks, the dyeing industry and calico-pamting, the sugar in-
dustry, metal- work, stone and brick work, and the paper industry.
The minor industries were cup-making, shoe-making, making of arms,
especially bows and arrows, manufacture of scents, spirits and liquors,
etc. Bengal and Gujarat were especially renowned for the manu-
facture and export of textile goods. The excellence of Bengal goods
has been highly praised by Amir Kliusrav, and foreign travellers, like
Mauhan, who visited Bengal in a.d, 1406, Barthema, who came to
■ India during the early part of the sixteenth century (1503-1608),
and Barbosa, who came here about a.d. 1518.
The volume of India’s intemal trade during this period “was
large except when thwarted by the monopoly of the State or rigid
administrative control”. Her commercial relations with the out-
side w'orld also deserve notice. The sea-route connected her com-
mercially vlth the distant regions of Europe, the Malay Islands
and China, and other countries on the Pacific Ocean; and she had
intercourse through land routes with Central Asia, Afghanistan,
Persia, Tibet and Bhutan. The author of Masdlih-ul-absdr writes ;
398 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
“Merchants of all countries never cease to carry pure gold into India,
and to bring back m exchange commodities of herbs and gums. ”
The chief imports were articles of luxury for the richer classes and
horses and mules ; and the principal exports consisted of varieties of
agricultural goods, and textile manufactures, the minor ones being
tutenag, opium, indigo- cakes, etc. Some countries round the Persian
Gulf were entirely dependent on India for their food supply. The
ports of Bengal and Gujarat were then chiefly used for India’s export
trade. Barthema considered Bengal to be “the richest country in
the world for cotton, ginger, sugar, grain and flesh of every kind”.
The prices of goods were not uniform throughout the period.
These were abnormally high in tunes of famine and scarcity,
but very low in times of overproduction. Thus, owing to severe
famines during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq, the price
of com rose to 16 and 17 jitals per seer and many people died of
starvation. After Firuz Shah’s second attack on Sind, with the
consequent scarcity in that province, the price of corn rose to
8 and \0ptals per 5 seers, and of pulses to 4 and 5 tankas per maund,
or 6.4 and 8 jitals per seer respectively. The reign of Ibrahim
Lodi was again a period of exceptionally low prices. A man could
then buy 10 maunds of corn, 5 seers of oil and 10 yards of coarse
cloth for one BuhluU which was equivalent to 1.6 jital ia value.
The prices during ‘Ala-ud-din’s reign have been considered as
normal. These were (calculating per maund) — ^wheat 7|- jitaUt
barley 4 jitals, paddy or rice 5 jitals, pulses 5 jitals, lentils 3 jitals,
sugar (white) 100 jitals, sugar (soft) 60 jitals, mutton 10 jitals,
and ghee (clarified butter) 16 jitals ; muslins of Delhi cost 17 tankas'^
a piece, of ‘Aligarh 6 tankas ] and blankets of coarse stuff cost
6 jitals and those of finer quality 3Q jitals^ for each piece. Comparing
^ The purchasing power of a tanka was about twelve times that of the
present rupee.
® Comparative prices in the reigns of ‘Ala-ud-din, Muhammad bin Tughluq
and Firuz Shah:
Commodities
Muhammad bin
‘Ala-ud-din Tughluq
Firuz
Shah
(prices in jitals per maund)
Wheat
n
12
8
Barley
4
8
4
Paddy
6
14
X
Pulses
6
X
Lentils .
3
4
4
Sugar (white)
100
80
X
Sugar (soft)
60
64
120, 140
Mutton .
10
64
X
Ghee
16
X
100
IB., 1936, Vol. I,
, Letters No. 2,
p. 236.)
CONDITIONS UNDER TDRKO-AEGHlNS 399
the prices of goods in the reigns of ‘Ala-ud-dm, Muhammad bin
Tughluq and Firuz Shah, we find that, generally speaking, these rose
during the reign of the second Sultan but again went down almost to
the previous level of ‘Ala-ud-din’s reign during the reign of Firuz Shah.
On the whole, food and goods were cheap in the Doab area as well
as in the provinces. Ibn Batutah observes that he had nowhere
seen “a country where the commodities sell cheaper” than m
Bengal ; eight dirhams were sufficient here for the annual expenses
of a family of three. But we have no means of estimating the average
income or cost of living of an Indian of those days. We should
not, moreover, fail to note that the country, especially Bengal,
suffered from an exceptional scarcity of money. It is, therefore,
rather difficult to determine how far the people were benefited by
the low prices of commodities then prevailing.
As regards the standard of living of the different classes of the
society, the difference between that of the wealthier classes and
of the peasants was “almost antipodal”. While the rufing and
official classes roUed in opulence and luxury, the tiUers of the
soil had a very low standard of living. The incidence of taxation
must have weighed heavily on them, and their condition became
miserable in times of famine, when no adequate relief measures
could be provided. Amir IChusrav significantly remarks that
“every pearl in the royal crown is but the crystallised drop of
blood fallen from the tearful eyes of the poor peasant”. Babur,
who was struck with the scanty requirements of the Indian rural
folk, writes: “People disappear completely where they have
been living for many years in about a day and a half.” Thus the
peasants of Medieval India do not seem to have been much better
off than their descendants of modern times. But, judged by
standards of to-day, they had fewer needs. The villages being
economically self-sufficient, the simple requirements of the rural
population were supplied locally to their satisfaction. Further,
in spite of political revolutions and intrigues at the metropolis,
the villagers pursued their ordinary occupations of life with the
utmost unconcern. Court politics seldom disturbed the even tenor
of village life.
B. Social Life
It was a common practice with the Sultans and the nobles to
maintain slaves, male as well as female. The number of royal
slaves {Bandagdn-i-^hhds) was usually large. ‘Ala-ud-din had
50,000 slaves and their number rose to 200,000 under Firuz Shah.
Much care was taken of them by their masters, as they formed a
400
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
useful source of service and sometimes of pecuniary gain. The
Sultans usually manumitted their slaves after some time, and
some of the slaves rose to political and social eminence by dint
of their merit and ability. Resides a large number of Indian slaves,
of whom the Assam slaves were most liked because of their strong
physique, male as well as female slaves were imported from other
countries like China, Turkestan, and Persia. The prices of slaves
fluctuated according to the courses of wars and famines. The institu-
tion of slavery might have served certain purposes for the rulers
and the nobles ; but at the same time it could not but produce some
baneful social consequences. In fact, it was a “stamp of unpro-
gressiveness” and an unhealthy feature of social life.
Dependence of women on their husbands, or other male relatives,
was a prominent feature of social life among the Hindus as well
as the Mushms. But they enjoyed a position of respect and were
expected to observe strict fidelity in then conjugal life. They
generally lived in seclusion in the sphere of their homes; and the
Purdah system became more elaborate, both among the Hindus
and the Muslims, except in some coastal towns in Gujarat, owing
chiefly to the general sense of insecurity of the period caused by
inroads of foreign invaders, especially the Mongols. The culture
of the women varied according to the classes to which they belonged.
While the ordinary village women remained absorbed in their
domestic duties, some belonging to the upper class cultivated
arts and sciences. Rupamati and Padmavati are good examples
of educated ladies. Both boys and girls were married at an
early age. The practice of Salt, or a wife burning herself on
the funeral pyre of her husband, was widely prevalent among
certain classes. According to Ibn Batutah, a sort of permit
had to be procured from the Sultan of Delhi before the burning
of a widow. Though the general standard of social life was high,
being marked by charity and other virtues, there were a few vices
connected with the passion for wine and women.
3. Literature, Art and Architecture
A. Effect of the Impact of the Indian and the Islamic
Civilisationa
So immense was the assimilative potentiality of the old Indian
civilisation that the earlier invaders of this country, the Greeks,
the Sakas and the Huns, were absorbed within the fold of her
population and completely lost their identity. But it did not
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AF'GHANS 401
happen so with the Turko- Afghan invaders of India. In the wake
of Mushm invasions, deiSnite social and religious ideas, which
differed fundamentally from those of Hindustan, entered into
this country and a perfect absorption of the invaders by the
original inhabitants could not be possible. The political relations
between the new-comers and the indigenous people were sometimes
characterised by bitter strife. But whenever two types of civilisation
come into close contact with each other for centuries, both are
bound to be influenced mutually. Thus, through long association,
the growth of the numbers of the converted Indo-Muslhn com-
munity, and the influence of several liberal movements in India,
the Hindu and Muslim communities came to imbibe each other’s
thoughts and customs; and, beneath the ruffled surface of storm
and stress, there flowed a genial current of mutual harmony and
toleration in different spheres of life. As a matter of fact, both
Hindus and Muslims had mutual admiration for each other’s
culture, since the early days of the advent of Islam into India,
and one of the sources of Muslim mysticism was Indian. Famous
Muslim scholars and samts lived and laboured in India during the
Medieval period, and they helped the dissemination of the ideas
of Islamic philosophy and mysticism m this land. The wholesome
spirit of mutual toleration found expression in the growing venera-
tion of the Hindus for the Muslim saints, particularly of the mystic
school, and a corresponding Muhammadan practice of venerating
Hindu saints; and it ultimately led to the common worship of
Satyapir (the True saint). It was probably due to this feeling of
friendliness that conversion of the Muslims into the Hindu fold,
and reconversion of the Hindus to their original faith, could be
possible during this period and later on. It was out of the desire
for mutual understanding that Hindu (Sanskrit) religious literature
was studied and translated or summarised in the Muslim courts
like those of Zain-ul-‘Abidin in Kashmir and Husain Shah in
Bengal. Further, Mushm courts and Muslim preachers and saints
were attracted to the study of Hindu philosophy like Yoga and
Vedanta and the sciences of medicine and astrology. The Hindu
astronomers similarly borrowed from the Muslims technical terms,
the Muslim calculations of latitudes and longitudes, some items
of the calendar [ZicTi) and a branch of horoscopy called and
in medicine the knowledge of metalhc acids and some processes in
iatro-chemistry. The growth of Urdu, of the mingling “out of
Persian, Arabic, and Turkish words and ideas with languages and
concepts of Sanskritio origin, is a proof of the linguistic synthesis
of the Hindus and the Mushms”. Some Muslims wrote in vernaculars
402
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
on topics of Hindu life and tradition, as MaHk Muhammad Jayasi
did on Padmini ; and Hindu writers wrote in the Persian language
on Muslim, literary traditions, as Rai Bhana Mai did m his chronicles.
Numerous Muslim poets wrote m Hindi and Hindu poets in
Urdu. Amir KJiusrav is known to have been the author of some
Hindi works. This assimilation between the two cultures led also
to the springing up of new styles of art, architecture and
music, “in which the basic element remained the old Hindu, but
the finish and outward form became Persian and the purpose
served was that of Muslim courts Some Muslims of aristocratic
Hindu origin, or living in a Hindu environment, assimilated the
Hindu customs of Sail and Jauhar. Several intermarriages between
the ruling members of the two communities helped this rapproche-
ment and some again were the result of it. These inter- communal
marriages, though sometimes tainted with compulsion as a condition
of conquest, did much “to soften the acrimonious diSerences”
between the two communities and assist the transplanting of the
customs of the one to the fold of the other.
The spirit of harmony and co-operation was not absent in the
political field also. Besides retaining, out of necessity, the existing
machinery of local administration, the Hindu headmen and
accountants of the villages, the Muslim State employed a large
number of Hindus, who became prominent in dififerent branches
of administration. Thus Medini Rai of Chanderi and his friends
held high positions in Malwa; in Bengal, Husain Shah employed
Hindu officers, most prominent amongst whom were Purandar
Khan, Rup and Sanatan; the Sultans of Golkunda employed
some Hindus as ministers; Yusuf ‘Add Shah of Bijapur entrusted
the Hindus with offices of responsibility and the records of his
State were ordinarily kept in the Marathi language. Sultan Zain-
‘ul- ‘Abidin of Kashmir anticipated Akbar in his pro-Hindu and
Uberal policy. The Mushm subjects of Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah of
Bijapur described him as "‘Jagadguru’* for his patronage of the
Hindus in his State. Examples of Rajput chivalry towards the
Muslims are not rare. Thus the Rajput hero, Rana Sanga, was
chivalrous enough to respect the independence of his vanquished
foe, Mahmud II of Malwa; Qutlugh Khan after being defeated
by Sultan Nasir-ud-din took refuge with Rana Ban Pal of Santur ;
and it is well known how Hamir Deva of Ranthambhor gave
shelter to a rebel chief of ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji at the risk of incurring
the Sultan’s wrath. Even the Vijayanagar Emperors employed
Muslims in their military service from the time of Deva Raya II,
and patronised “the cause of Islam in and outside their great
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AEGHANS 403
capital”. A famous Muslim general, Asad Khan of Bijapur, was
once invited to Vijayanagar to witness the Mahanavami festival,
Rana Sanga had a contingent of Muslim troops under him in his
war with Babur, and Himu, a Hindu Benia, who rose to be the
chief minister of ‘Add Shah Sur, was the commander and leader
of the Afghan troops in their last important fight with the Mughuls
in A.D. 1556. These official appointments might have been due
more to political necessity than to any feeling of goodwill. But
there can be no doubt that they facilitated the growth of amity
between the Hindus and Muslims. In fact, in different aspects
of life — arts and crafts, music and painting, in the styles of buddings,
in dress and costume, in games and sports — ^this assimilation between
the two communities had progressed so much that when Babur
came to India he was compeUed to notice their peculiar “Hiudu-
stani way”. Sir John Marshall has very aptly remarked that
“seldom in the history of mankind has the spectacle been witnessed
of two civdisations, so vast and so strongly developed, yet so
radically dissimdar as the Muhammadan and Hindu, meeting
and mingling together. The very contrasts which existed between
them, the wide divergences in their culture and their religions,
make the history of their impact peculiarly instructive. . . . ”
Hinduism could not completely absorb Islam but was in turn
influenced by it in two ways. On the one hand, the proselytising
zeal of Islam strengthened conservatism in the orthodox circles
of the Hindus, who, with a view to fortifying their position against
the spread of the Islamic faith, increased the stringency of
the caste rules and formulated a number of rules in the Smriti
works. The most famous writers of this class were Madhava of
Vijayanagar, whose commentary on a Pardsara Smriti work entitled
Kdlanirnaya was written between a.d. 1335-1360; Vi^ve^vara,
author of Madanapdrijdta, a Smriti work written for King
Madanapala (a.d. 1360-1370); the famous commentator of Manu,
Kulluka, a Bengali author belonging to the Benares school by domi-
cile ; and Raghunandan of Bengal, a contemporary of Chaitanya. On
the other hand, some of the democratic principles of Islam made
their way into the social and religious systems of the Hindus, and
led to the rise of liberal movements under some saintly preachers.
With some differences in details, all these reformers were exponents
of the liberal BJiaTcti cult, the message of which they sought to
carry before the unlettered masses. They preached the fundamental
equality of aU religions and the unity of Godhead, held that the
dignity of man depended on his actions and not on his birth,
protested against excessive ritualism and formalities of religion and
404
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
domination of the priests, and emphasised simple devotion and
faith as the means of salvation for one and all.
Among them, Ramananda occupies the first place in point of time,
though it should be noted that there are differences of opinion
regarding the dates of his birth and death. Born at Allahabad
in a Kanyakubja Brahmana family, Ramananda travelled through
the holy places of Northern India. He was a worshipper of Rama
and preached the doctrine of Bhakti in Hindi, to members of all
classes and both sexes. Thus, of his twelve principal disciples,!
one was a barber, another a cobbler and the third a Muhammadan
weaver.
Another famous Vaishnava saint was Vallabhacharya, an
exponent of the Krishna cult. He was bom near Benares in a.d.
1479 of a Telugu Brahmana family, when the latter had come
there on pilgrimage. He showed signs of genius in his early life.
After finishing his education he went to the court of Krishpadeva
Raya of Vijayanagar, where he defeated some Saiva 'pandits in
a public discussion. He advocated renunciation of the world and
“insisted on the complete identity of both soul and world with
the Supreme spirit”. His monism was kno\vn as Suddha-advaita
or “Pure Non-Duality”. But abuses later on appeared among
the followers of VaUabhacharya, and, as Monier-Williams writes,
“Vallabhacharyaism became in its degenerate form the Epicurean-
ism of the East”.
The greatest and most popular of the Vaishpava saints was
Ohaitanya (1485-1633). Born in a learned Brahmana family of
Nadia in Bengal in a.d. 1485, Chaitanya displayed a wonderful
literary acumen in his early life and his soxil soon aspired to rise
above the fetters of this world. He renounced it at the age of
twenty-four and spent the rest of his life in preaching his message
of love and devotion— eighteen years in Orissa, and six years
in the Deccan, Brindavan, Gaur and other places. He is regarded
by bis followers as an incarnation of Vishpu. The essence of
Chaitanyaism has been thus expressed by Krishpadas Kaviraj,
the author of Chaitanyacharitdmrita, the famous biography of
Chaitanya: “if a creature adores Krishpa and serves his Guru,
he is released from the meshes of illusion and attains to Krishpa’s
feet”, and “leaving these (i.e. temptations) and the religious
systems based on caste, (the true Vaishpava) helplessly takes
refuge with Krishpa”. Thus he was opposed to priestly ritualism
and preached faith in Hari. He believed that through love and
! Anantananda, Kabir, Pipa, Bhavananda, SuMia, Srasiira, Padmavatl,
ISTarhari, RaidSsa, Dhana, Saina and the wife of Stirsura.
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AFGHlNS 405
devotion, and song and dance, a state of ecstasy could be produced
in which the personal presence of God would be realised. His
gospel was meant for all, irrespective of caste and creed, and some
of his disciples were drawn from the lower strata of Hindu society
and from among Muslims. The influence of Chaitanya’s teachings
on the masses of the people has been wide and profound.
In Maharashtra the religion of devotion was preached by Namadeva ;
and among his followers a few were Muslim converts to Hinduism.
Namadeva, who belonged to a caste of tailors or calico-printers,
flourished probably during the first half of the fifteenth century
With his faith in the unity of Godhead, he did not set much
store by idol-worship and external observances of religion. He
believed that salvation could be attained only through love of
God. Thus he said:
“ Love for him who jfilleth my heart shall never be sundered ;
Nama has applied his heart to the true Name.
As the love between a child and his mother,
So is my soul imbued in the God.”
Kabir made the most earnest efforts to foster a spirit of harmony
between Hinduism and Islam. His life is shrouded in a good deal
of obscurity, and the dates of his birth and death are uncertain.
He flourished either towards the close of the fourteenth century
or in the first quarter of the fifteenth century. A legend tells
us that he was born of a Brahmapa widow, who left him on the side
of a tank in Benares, and was then found and brought up by a
Muhammadan weaver and his wife. He is represented by tradition
to have been a disciple of Ramananda. Though, as Dr. Carpenter
puts it, “the whole background of Kabir’s thought is Hindu”,
he was also influenced to a great extent by Sufi saints and poets
with whom he came in contact. Thus he preached a religion of
love, which would promote unity amongst all classes and creeds.
To him “Hindu and Turk were pots of same clay: Allah and
Rama were but different names”. He wrote :
^ There are differences of opinion about the date of his birth. According
to Macauliffe {The 8ikh Religion, Vol, VI, p. 18) it is a.d. 1270; Dr. Bhan-
darkar {Vaishnavism and Saivaism, p. 89) and Carpenter {Theism in Medieval
India, p. 462) place him in the fourteenth century. Dr. Parquhar, however,
writes that he flourished “from 1400 to 1430 or thereabouts” {J,R.A.8.,
1920, p. 186).
* For diferent opinions, vide Tara Chand, Influence of Islam on Indian
Civilisation, pp. 146-7. According to Macauliffie and Bhandarkar, a.u. 1398,
but according to Westcott, Farquhar, Burns and others a.d. 1440 is the
date of his Mrth.
406 A]sr ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
“ It is needless to ask of a saint the caste to which he belongs ;
The barber has sought God, the washerman and the carpenter —
Even Raidas was a seeker after God.
The Rishi Swapacha was a tanner by caste.
Hindus and Moslems alike have achieved that
End, where remains no mark of distinction.”
Kabir did not believe in the efficacy of ritual, or external
formalities, either of Hinduism or of Islam; to him the true
means of salvation was Bhajan or devotional worship, together
with the freedom of the soul from all sham, insincerity, hypocrisy
and cruelty.
Thus he proclaimed:
“It is not by fasting and repeating prayers and the creed
That one goeth to heaven;
The inner veil of the temple of Mecca
Is in man’s heart, if the truth be known.
Make thy mind thy Kaaba, thy body its enclosing temple,
Conscience its prime teacher;
Sacrifice wrath, doubt, and malice;
Make patience thine utterance of the five prayers.
The Hindus and the Mussalmans have the same Lord.”
Another great preacher of the time was Nanak, the founder of
Sikhism and the reviver of the pure monotheistic doctrine of the
Upanishads. He was^bom m a Khatri family of Talwandi (modern
Nankana), about thirty-five miles to the south-west of the city
of Lahore, in a.d. 1469, and spent his whole life in preaching
his gospel of universal toleration, based on aU that was good in
Hinduism and Islam. As a matter of fact, his mission was to put
an end to the conflict of religions. Like Kabir, he preached the
unity of Godhead, condemned with vehemence the formalism of
both Hinduism and Islam. Thus he wrote :
“Religion consisteth not in mere words;
He who looketh on aU men as equal is religious.
Religion consisteth not in wandering to tombs or places of
cremation, or sitting in attitudes of contemplation.
Religion consisteth not in wandering in foreign countries, or
in bathing at places of pilgrimage.
Abide pure amidst the impurities of the world ;
Thus shalt thou find the way to religion.”
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AFGHlNS 407
While advocating a middle path between extreme asceticism and
pleasure-seeking, Nanak exhorted his followers to discard hypocrisy,
selfishness and falsehood. He proclaimed:
“ Make continence thy furnace, resignation thy goldsmith,
Understanding thine anvil, divine knowledge thy tools,
The fear of God thy bellows, austerities thy fire,
Divine love thy crucible, and melt God’s name therein.
In such a true mint the Word shall be coined.
This is the practice of those on whom God looked with an eye
of favour.”
Nanak’s religion being a proselytising one, several Muslims
were converted to it, and it gathered momentum under his
successors.
B. Development of Provincial Literature
Besides producing far-reaching social and religious effects, the
reform movements also gave a great impetus to the development
of Indian literature in different parts of India. WTiile the orthodox
scholars continued to write in Sanskrit, the religious reformers,
with their aim of preaching before the uneducated masses, wrote
and spoke in a medium which could be easily understood by them.
Thus Ramananda and Kabir preached in Hindi and did much to
enrich its poetry; and the doMs and saJcMs of Kabir, permeated
with devotional fervour, are brilliant specimens of Hindi literature.
Namadeva greatly helped the development of Marathi literature ;
Mira Bai and some other preachers of the Radha-Krishria cult
sang in Brajabhdshd ; Nanak and his disciples encouraged Punjabi
and Gurumukhi; and Bengali literature owes a heavy debt to the
Vaishnava teachers. The famous Vaishnava poet Chandidas,
who was bom, probably towards the end of the fourteenth century,
in the village of Nannur in the Birbhum district of Bengal, is still
held in great esteem and his lyrics are known even to the common
folk of Bengal. His contemporary, Vidyapati Thakur, though a
native of Mithila, is regarded as a poet of Bengal and his memory
is venerated by the people of this province. The patronage of the
princely courts also considerably helped the growth of literature.
Vidyapati was the court poet of a Hindu chief named ^iva Simha.
The Muslim rulers of Bengal engaged scholars to translate the
RamdyatjM and the MaMbhdrata ffom Sanskrit into Bengali,
which they understood and spoke. Thus Sultan Nusrat Shah of
Gaur had the MaMbhdrata translated into Bengali. Vidyapati
408
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
says much in praise of this Sultan and also of Sultan Ghiyas-ud-
din. Krittivas, whose Bengali version of the Edmdyana has been
regarded by some as the Bible of Bengal, enjoyed the patronage of
a “King of Gaur”. Maladhar Yasu translated the Bhdgavata into
Bengali under the patronage of Sultan Husain Shah and received
from him the title of Gunardja Khan. Husain Shah’s general,
Paragal Khan, caused another translation of the Mahdbhdrata
to be made by Parame^vara, also known as the Kavindra, and
Paragal Khan’s son, Ghuti Khan, governor of Chittagong, employed
Srikara Nandi to translate the Advamedha Parva of the Mahdbhdrata
into Bengali. We have already noted what great encouragement
was given to the development of Telugu literature by the Vijayanagar
court.
C. Literary Activity in Sanskrit
The period was not entirely barren of important compositions in
Sanskrit, religious as well as secular, though in this respect it suffers
in comparison with the preceding two or three centuries. About
A.D. 1300 Parthasarathi Mi^ra wrote several works on the Karma
Mimdnsd, of which the Sdstra Dl-pikd was studied most widely.
Some works which expounded the doctrines of the Yoga, Vaiseshika,
and Nyaya systems of philosophy were produced during this
period. The more important dramas of the time were
mada-mardana by Jay Singh Suri (a.d. 1219-1229), Pradyumna-
abhyudaya by the Kerala prince Ravivarman, Pratdp Budra Kalydn
by Yidyanath (a.d. 1300), Pdrvatl Parinaya by Vamana Bhatta Bana
(a.d. 1400), Oangdddsa Pratdpa Vildsa, celebrating the fight of a
prince of Champaner against Muhammad II of Gujarat, by
Gangadhar, and the VidagdJia Mddhava and the Lalita Mddliava,
written about a.d. 1532 by Rupa Goswami, minister of Husain
Shah of Bengal, and author of no less than twenty-five wwks in
Sanskrit. Smriti and grammatical literature flourished during
this period in Mithila and Bengal, the most famous writers being
Padmanabha Datta, Vidyapati Upadhyaya and Vachaspati of
Mithila and Raghunandan of Bengal. It was also marked by the
production of a mass of Jaina literature, secular as well as religious.
The Vijayanagar rulers extended considerable patronage to scholars
like Sayana, his brother, Madhava Vidyaranya, and others, and
there was consequently a wide Sanskrit culture. We find instances
of Muslim scholars possessing a knowledge of Sanskrit.
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AFGHANS
409
D. Persian Literature and Muslim Education
The Sultans and Amirs of Delhi, and the Muslim rulers and
nobles in the provinces, naturally encouraged literary activities
in Persian, which they appreciated better, Amir Khusrav declared
with pride that Delhi developed into an intellectual competitor
of Bukhara, the famous university- city of Central Asia, The then
Muslim rulers of India extended patronage to the Persian scholars
who flocked to their courts from other parts of Asia under the
pressure of Mongol inroads ; established institutions for Muslim
learning at Delhi, Jullundur, Firuzabad and other places;
founded libraries, the most important one being the Imperial
Library at Delhi, of which Amir Khusrav was appointed the
librarian by Jalal-ud-din EZhalji; and also helped the growth
of Muslim literary societies. The most famous of the Indian
scholars who wrote in Persian during this period was Amir Khusrav
He was a prolific writer, whose genius unfolded itself in poetry,
prose and music, and whom destiny granted a long tenure of
life. He first rose to fame during the reign of Balkan and was the
tutor of Prince Muhammad, the eldest son of the Sultan. Sub-
sequently he became the court-poet of ‘Ala-ud-din Klialji, also
enjoyed the patronage of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, and died in
A.D. 1324-1325. Another poet of the time, whose fame was recog-
nised outside India, was Shaikh Najm-ud-din Hasan, popularly
known as Hasan-i-Dihlavi. The first Khalji ruler did not forget
to patronise learning, and his successor, ‘Ala-ud-dln, also seems
to have been an enthusiastic friend of it. We are told by Barni
that “the most wonderful thing which people saw in ‘Ala-ud-din’s
reign was the multitude of great men of all nationalities, masters
of every science and experts in every art. The capital of Delhi,
by the presence of these unrivalled men of great talents, had
become the envy of Baghdad, the rival of Cairo, and the equal
of Constantinople”. The pious and learned scholar Nizam-ud-din
Auliya and several other scholars flourished during this reign.
Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, too, encouraged learned men ; and, in spite
of his fanciful projects, Muhammad bin Tughluq, himself a
man of accomplishments, freely patronised poets, logicians,
philosophers and physicians, and held discussion with them in
his court. The most notable of the literary men of his time was
Maulana Muaiyyan-ud-din Umrani, who wrote commentaries on
the Husaini, Talkhis, and Miflah. Firuz Shah, himself the author
of Fatuhdt-i-Firuz ShdM, showed great zeal for the cause of education
and established several colleges with mosques attached to them.
410
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
Among tlie learned men of his time, the most eminent were Qazi
‘Abdnl Muqtadir Shanihi, Maulana KJiwaJagi, and Ahmad
Thanesvari. Among the Lodis, Sultan Sikandar was himself a
poet, and gave considerable encouragement to learning. Most of the
rulers of the Bahmani kingdom and other independent MusHm
dynasties, like those of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golkunda, Malwa,
Jaunpur, Bengal, and even Multan, were also patrons of letters.
The Muslim writers showed their skill in a branch of study which
had been comparatively neglected by the Hindus. They wrote
several first-rate historical books in elegant prose. Thus we have
Mmhaj-ud-dm’s Tabaqdt-i-Ndsin, which is a general history of
the Islamic world and was named after one of his patrons, Sultan
Nasir-ud-din Mahmud. Amir IChusrav’s historical mesnevis are
fuU of valuable information, and his Ta’nkh-i-‘Aldi especially
“contains an interesting account of the first few years of the reign
of ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji”. The most famous historian of the period
was Zia-ud-din Barni, a contemporary of Muhammad bin Ttighluq
and Piruz Shah. Two other important historical works of the
time are the Ta’nkh-i-Ftruz STidM of Shams-i-Sira.j ‘AM, written
during the reign of Piruz Shah, and the Ta’nkTi’i-Mubdrak
Shahl of Yahiya bin Ahmad Sarhindi, which was written about
eighty years after the death of Muhammad bin Tughluq and was
largely used by later writers.
E. Art and Architecture
It is inaccurate to describe the architecture of the period as
“Indo-Saracenic” or “Pathan”, as some scholars like Fergussonand
others have done. Nor can it be regarded as entkely Indian in “soul
and body”, as HaveU would ask us to believe. In fact, it repre-
sented a blending of Indian and Islamic styles, as did certain other
aspects of the culture of the time. Sir John Marshall observed
that “Indo-Islamic art is not merely a local variety of Islamic
art”, nor is it merely “a modified form of Hindu art. . . .
Broadly speaking, Indo-Islamic architecture derives its character
from both sources, though not always in an equal degree”. There
is no doubt that there existed in India certain Brahmanical,
Buddhist and Jaina styles, while Islamic influences were slowly
entering into this land from the middle of the seventh century
AJ). At the same time, we should note that what we generally
caU Islamic art was not of a homogeneous and single type ;
but the followers of Islam, like the Arabs, the Persians, or
the Turks, brought in their train the art of different parts of
MrSTAB, DEIiOT
412 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Western and Central Asia, Northern Africa and South-Western
Europe. The mingling of these with the different indigenous styles
of old Indian art during this period, according to the needs of
religion and personal taste, led to the growth of new “Indian”
styles of architecture, distinct in every province, like Jaunpur,
Bengal, Bijapur, Gujarat, etc. In Delhi architecture Islamic
influences predominated owing to the numerical strength of the
Muslims there. “At Jaunpur, on the other hand, and in the Deccan,
the local styles enjoyed greater ascendancy, while in Bengal the
conquerors not only adopted the fashion of building in brick, but
ARCHED SCREEN OF QTJTB-TJD-DIN AIBAK ON THE
Q-OWWAT-UB-ISBAM MASJID, DELHI
adorned their structures with chiselled and moulded enrichments
frankly imitated from Hindu prototypes. So, too, in Western
India they appropriated to themselves almost en bloc the beautiful
Gujarati style, which has yielded some of the finest buildings of
medieval India ; and in Kashmir they did the same with the
striking wooden architecture which must have been long prevalent
in that part of the Himalayas. ”
This amalgamation of exotic and indigenous architectural styles
was possible owing to certain factors. The Muslims had of necessity
to employ Indian craftsmen and sculptors, who were naturally
guided in their work by the existing art traditions of their country.
Further, in the earlier period of Muslim invasions, mosques were
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AFGHlNS 413
constructed out of the materials of Hindu and Jaina temples,
and sometimes the temples themselves were only modified to some
extent to suit the requirements of the conquerors. Again, in
spite of some striking contrasts between the Indian and Islamic
styles, there were two points of resemblance between them which
QtrWWAT-tJIi-ISLAM MASJID, DELHI
(Carvings on screen extension)
favoured their fusion. One characteristic feature of many Hindu
temples, as well as of Muslim mosques, was “the open court
encompassed by chambers or colonnades, and such temples as
were built on this plan naturally lent themselves to conversion
into mosques and would be the first to be adapted for that purpose
by the conquerors. Again, a fundamental characteristic that
supplied a common fink between the two styles was the fact that
I
I
414 AJSr ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
both Islamic and Hindu art were inherently decorative. Ornament
was as vital to the one as to the other ; both were dependent on it
for their very being”.
The best specimens of the Delhi style are offered by the Qutb
group of mosques, the most famous of which is the Qutb IVIinar,
marked by free-standing towers, calligraphic inscriptions and
stalactite corbelling beneath the balconies. The two principal
monuments of ‘Ala-ud-din’s reign — ^the Jamd‘at Khdna Masjid
MASJII) at the DABOAH OB’ NIZAM-XJD-niN AULIYA
at the Dargdh of Nizam-ud-din Auliya and the ‘AIM Darwdza
at the Qutb Minar — show the growing preponderance of MusUm
ideas over those of the Hindu architects. The architecture of the
Tughluq period lost the splendour, luxuriance and variety which
characterised that of the Slave and Khalji regimes; it became
prosaic, simple, austere and formal. This was due to the religious
ideas of the Tughluqs and to the comparatively poor condition
of the State jSnances during their rule. Under the Sayyids and the
Lodis, attempts were made to revive the animated style of the
Khalj! period. But these succeeded only to a limited extent, and
TOMB OS’ fflBUZ SHIh, SON OS' BAJAB. DEBBI
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AEGHlNS 417
the style could not “shake off the deadening effect of the Tughluq
period”.
Between a.d. 1400 and 1478, during the reigns of Ibrahim,
Mahmud and Husain Sharqi, a new style of architecture developed
in Jaimpur, which shows the indubitable influence of Hindu art. Its
massive sloping walls, square pillars, smaller galleries and cloisters
are clearly Hindu features, designed by Hindu masons; and the
mosques of Jaunpur have no minarets of the usual type. In fact,
many of the new buildings of Jaunpur were built out of the materials
of old temples for a new purpose. The Atdla Devi Masjid, founded
BABA SONA MASJID, OAUB
in A.D. 1377, but completed in a.d. 1408, is one of the brilliant
specimens of the Jaunpur style.
In Bengal also there grew up a mixed style of architecture,
characterised by the use of bricks in the main, “the subsidiary use
of stone, the use of pointed arches on short pillars, and the MusHm
adaptation of the traditional Hindu temple style of curvilinear
cornices copied from bamboo structures, and of beautifully carved
Hindu symbolic decorative designs Hke the Lotus”. The Advrui
Masjid at Pandua of 400 domes, built by Sikandar in a.d. 1368,
is renowned for its magnitude and beauty. The other famous mosques
of this province are the Ghhotd Sand Masjid (Smaller Golden Mosque),
built by Wall Muhammad during the reign of Husain Shah between
A
418 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
A.D. 1493-1519; the Bard Bond Masjid (Greater Golden Mosque),
completed by Nusrat Shah at Gaur in 1526 ; and the Qadam Rasul,
built by the same Sultan in a.d. 1530.
The province of Gujarat also witnessed the growth of a beautiful
style of architecture. A splendid indigenous style had already
flourished there before the coming of the Muslims, and the buildings
of the conquerors bear unmistakable signs of the influence of
that style, though arches were occasionally used for symbolical
ADiNA MASJID, PINDUA
purposes. Thus we find the use of fine wood-carvmg and also of
delicate stone lattices and ornaments in the buildings of the new
capital city, Ahmadabad, which was constructed by Ahmad Shah,
during a.d. 1411—1441, out of the ruins of old temples and buildings.
The Jdmi‘ Masjid, the construction of which was begun in a.d.
1411, has 260 pillars supporting 15 stone domes, made of hori-
zontally projecting courses in the indigenous style. Dr. Burgess,
who has dealt exhaustively with the history and features of ancient
r
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AFGHANS 419
and medieval architecture in Ms five volumes of the Archaeological
Survey of Western India, justly describes this style as “combining
aU the beauty and finish of the native art with a certain magnificence
which is deficient in their own works”. In the numerous buildings,
mosques and tombs, built in Gujarat since the accession of the
Ahmad Shahi rulers, the tradition of the old Indian art was
predominant, though it was modified in certain respects according
to the requirements of the followers of Islam.
At Dhar, the old capital of the kingdom of Malwa, two mosques
TOMB Off HUSHANO SHiH
were built whoUy out of the remains of old buddings; the domes
and pillars of these mosques were of Hindu form. But the buildings
at Mandu, where the capital was soon transferred, were marked
by the predominance of MusHm art traditions, as those of Delhi;
“the borrowing or imitating” of native forms “seems to have
been suppressed and the buildings clung steadily to the pointed
arch style”. Among the many buildings of splendid architectural
beauty built m the fortified city of Mandu, situated in an
extensive plateau over-looking the Narmada, the following deserve
mention — ^the JdmV Masjid, wMoh was planned and begun by
several elements — Indian, Turkish, Egyptian and Persian — the
last of which was well-marked in some of the buildings like the
Jdmi^ Masjid at Grulbarga, the CJiand ilfiwar at Eaulatabad (1435)
and the College of Mahmud Gawan at Bidar (1472). Many of the
Bahmani buildings were built on the sites of the old temples and
out of their materials, and thus the influence of old Hindu art
could not be avoided. Turkish and Egyptian elements entered
through West Asiatic and African adventurers, who got employ-
ment m the Bahmani kingdom ; and the Persian element through
the Persians, who poured into that kingdom in the latter half
of the fifteenth century. The native Deccan art, however, began
420 AH ADVANCED HISTOKY OE INDIA
Hushang and completed by Mahmud Kkalji, the Hindold Mahal,
the Jahaj Mahal, Hushang’s tomb, and Baz Bahadur’s and
Rupamati’s palaces. Marble and sandstone were used in many of
these edifices.
The Muslim Sultans of Kashmir continued the old tradition of
stone and wooden architecture but grafted on it “structural
forms and decorative motifs peculiarly associated with Islam”.
Thus here also we find a blending of Hindu and Muslim ideas of
art.
In South India the architecture of the Bahmanids, who were
patrons of art, letters and sciences, was a composite mixture of
Thus we find that, in spite of some bitterness in political relations,
the impact of Hindu and Islamic civilisations was producing
harmony and mutual understanding in the spheres of society,
culture and art, during the Turko-Afghan period. This harmony
developed in the time of the great Mughul, Akbar, to an
unprecedented degree and was not whoUy lost even in the
of his successors and also of the later Mughuls.
The preachings of the saintly teachers of India with their ideal of
uplift of the masses, the tolerant ideas of the Sufi saints and scholars,
and the growth of Indian provincial literature, might be regarded
CONDITIONS UNDER TURKO-AFGHlNS 421
to reassert itself in growing vigour from the end of the fifteenth
century. As the monuments which the ‘Adil Shahis of Bijapur
built in the next century were constructed by Indian artists and
craftsmen, “it was inevitable”, writes Sir John Marshall, “that
Indian genius should rise superior to foreign influence and stamp
itself more and more deeply on these creations”. We have already
discussed the splendid outburst of art and architecture in the
Vijayanagar Empire.
TOMB OW MtTHAMMAD ‘ADH. SBLAH
422
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
as signs of modernism appearing as a result of the fusion of two
civilisations, while the medieval Sultanate was hastening towards
disintegration. Another noticeable feature of Indian history on the
eve of Babur’s invasion was the rise or growth of indigenous states,
like Vijayanagar, Orissa and Mewar, as a sort of protest against
foreign domination. We should also note that the rulers of the
independent Muslim kingdoms that arose on the ruins of the
medieval Muslim Empire cannot all be regarded as aliens ; the rulers
of Gujarat, Ahmadnagar and Berar were of indigenous origin.
Many of the States, whether Hindu or MusHm, that grew up at
this time represented local movements for “self-determination ”. But
their chances were destroyed by another Turkish incursion, of which
the leader was Babur. Thus Babur’s invasion gave a new turn
to the history of India.
PART II
Book II
THE IVIUGHUL EMPIRE
CHAPTER I
MUQHTJL-AFGHAN COJTTEST FOB, S1JPBBMACY IN INDIA,
A.D. 1526-1556
I. Babur
The history of India from a.d. 1526 to 1556 is mainly the story of
the Mughul- Afghan contest for supremacy in this land. The previous
Mughul (Mongol) inroads into India did not produce any tangible
result except that they added, through the settlement of the “New
Mussalmans”, a new element to the Indian population and at times
harassed the Turko-Afghan Sultans. But the invasion of Timur,
who occupied a province of the Empire, the Punjab, accelerated
the fall of the decadent Sultanate. One of his descendants, Babur,
was destined to attempt a systematic conquest of Northern India
and thus to lay here the foundation of a new Turkish dominion, ^
which being lost in the time of his son and successor, Humayun,
in the face of an Afghan revival, was restored by the year 1556
and was gradually extended by Akbar. In fact, there were three
phases in the history of the Mughul conquest of India. The first
phase (1526-1530) was occupied with the subjugation of the
Afghans and the Rajputs under Rana Sanga. The second phase
(1530-1540) commenced with the reign of Humayun, who made
unsuccessful attempts to subjugate Malwa, Gujarat and Bengal,
but was expelled from India by Sher Shah, which meant the
revival of the Afghan power. The third phase (1545-1556) was
marked by the restoration of the Mughul dominion by Humayun
and its consolidation by Akbar.
Babur, a Chaghatai Turk, was descended on his father’s side from
Timur, and was connected on his mother’s side with Chingiz I^an.
^ The so-called Mughuls really belonged to a branch of the Turks named
after Chaghatai, the second son of Ching^ Khan, the famous Mongol leader,
who came to possess Central Asia and Turkestan, the land of the Turks.
The establishment of the Mughul dominion in India can very well be regarded
as “an event in Islamic and world history” in the sense that it meant a
fresh triumph for Islam in India, at a time when its followers were gaining
success in other parts of the world. Constantinople had been captured by
the Turks in a.d. 1453, Sulaiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) extended the
authority of the Turkish Empire over South-eastern Europe; and in Persia,
Isma'il Safavi (1500-1524) laid the foundation of the famous Safa^n Empire.
426
426
AK ADVANCED HISTOBY OF INDIA
In 1494 he inherited from his father, at the age of eleven, the
small principality of Farghana, now a province of Chinese Turkestan.
But his early life was full of difficulties, which, however, proved
to be a blessing in disguise by training him adequately to fight
with the vicissitudes of fortune. He cherished the desire of recover-
ing the throne of Timur, but was thwarted by his kinsmen and
near relatives at Farghana and the rivalry of the Uzbeg chief
Shaibani Khan. Hia two attempts to take possession of the coveted
city of Samarqand in 1497 and 1503 ended in failure. To add to
his misfortunes, he was deprived of his own patrimony of Farghana
and had to spend his days as a homeless wanderer for about a
year. But even in this period of dire adversity, he formed the bold
design of conquering Hindustan like his great ancestor Timur,
the story of whose Indian exploits he heard from an old lady of
one hundred and eleven, mother of a village headman with whom
he had found shelter for some time. Thus takmg advantage of a
rebellion in another part of the dominions of the XJzbegs, whose
rising power had kept off the Timurids from their principalities,
Babur occupied Kabul in a.d. 1504. Being able to secure the help
of Shah Isma'il Safavi of Persia against Shaibani Khan, the Uzbeg
chief, Babur tried once again to occupy Samarqand in October,
1511, but the Uzbegs under Shaibani’s successor finally defeated
b im in 1512, Babur’s ambitions towards the north-west being thus
foiled, he decided to try his luck in the south-east, and led several
expeditions in this direction, which were in the nature of recon-
naissances, before he got an opportunity to advance into the heart
of_Hindustan after twelve years.
[This opportunity came to Babur when he was invited to
India by a discontented party. It has already been pointed
out how India was then distracted by the ambitions, disaffections
and rivalries of the nobles, and the Delhi Sultanate existed in
nothing but in name. The last nail in its coffin was driven by
the ambition and revengeful spirit of some of its nobles. Two of
them, Daulat Khan, the most powerful noble of the Punjab,
who was discontented with Ibrahim Lodi because of the cruel
treatment he had meted out to his son, Dilaw^ar Khan, and ‘Alam
Khan, an uncle of Ibrahim Lodi and a pretender to the throne of
Delhi, went to the length of inviting Babur to invade India.
Probably Bana Sanga had some negotiations with Babur about
this time.
Babur had for some time been cherishing the ambition of invad-
ing Hindustan. Has early training in the school of adversity had
implanted in him the spirit of adventure. He at once responded to
MUGHUL-AFGHlN CONTEST FOR SUPREMACY 427 , -
the invitation, entered the Punjab and occupied Lahore in
1524. But his Indian confederates, Daulat Khan and ‘Alam lOian,
soon realised their mistake. When they saw that Babur had no
desire to give up his Indian conquests, they turned against him.
This compelled Babur to retire to Kabul, where he began to coUect
reinforcements with a view to striking once again.
The blow was not long in coming. He marched from Kabul in
November, 1525, occupied the Punjab, and compelled Paulat
Khan Lodi to submit. The more difficult task of conquering Delhi,
which was certainly within the horizon of Babur’s ambition, was
stni to be accomplished. So he proceeded against Ibrahim Lodi,
the nominal ruler of the shrivelled Afghan Empire, and met him
on the historic field of Panipat on the 21st AprO, 1626. He had
with him a large park of artillery and an army of 12,000 men,
while the numerical strength of the troops of Ibrahim was vastly
superior, being 100,000 according to Babur’s estimate. But Babur |
had the strength of character and experience of a veteran general, |
while his enemy, as we are told by Babur himself, “was an in-
experienced man, careless in his movements, who marched without
order, halted or retired without method and engaged without fore-
sight”. Thus by superior strategy and generalship and the use of
artillery^ Babur won a decisive victory over the Lodi Sultan, who,
after a desperate resistance, fell on the field of battle with the
flower of his army. “By the grace and mercy of Almighty God,”
Babur wrote, “this difficult affair was made easy to me, and that
mighty army, in the space of half a day, was laid in the dust*”
Babur quickly occupied Delhi and Agra.
But the Mughul conquest of Hindustan was not an accomplished
fact as a result of Babur’s victory over Ibrahim. It did not give
him the virtual sovereignty over the country, because there were
other strong powers like the Afghan military chiefs, and the
Rajputs under Rana Sanga, who also then aspired after political
supremacy and were thus sure to oppose him. As a modem writer
has aptly remarked, “the magnitude of Babur’s task could be
properly realised when we say that it actually began with Panipat.
Panipat set his foot on the path of empire-building, and in this
path the first great obstacle was the opposition of the Afghan
tribes” under a number of military chiefs, each one of whom
exercised almost undisputed power within his domains or jdglrs.
Nevertheless, the battle of Panipat has its own significance in the
sense that it marked the foundation of Mughul dominion in India.
^We have already pointed out that this was not the first occasion when
artillery was used in India.
428 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Shortly after occupying the Doab, Babur suppressed the Afghan
nobles in the north, south and east of it. He sent his own nobles
to the unconquered parts of the country to expel the Afghan
chiefs therefrom, while he engaged himself at Agra in organising
his resources with a view to meeting the brave Rajput chief, Rana
Sanga, a collision with whom was inevitable. As a matter of fact,
it took place almost before the task of subduing the Afghan nobles
had been completed. Rana Sanga, a veteran and intrepid warrior,
marched to Bayana, where he was joined by Hasan Khan Mewati
and some other Muslim supporters of the Lodi dynasty. Thus the
Rajputs and some of the Indian Muslims allied themselves together
with the determination to prevent the imposition of another foreign
yoke on India. But all the Afghan chiefs could not combine with
the Rajputs at this critical moment, and thus Babur’s task became
comparatively easy. The course of Indian history might have taken
a different turn if he had had to encounter the united strength of
the Hindus and all the Muslims of India.
Rana Sanga, the hero of Rajput national revival, was certainly
a more formidable adversary than Ibrahim. He marched with
an army, composed of 120 chiefs, 80,000 horse and 600 war
elephants, and the rulers of Marwar, Amber, Gwalior, Ajmer,
and Chanderi, and Sultan Mahmud Lodi (another son of Sultan
Sikandar Lodi), whom Rana Sanga had acknowledged as the ruler
of Delhi, joined him. Moreover, the Rajputs, being “energetic,
chivalrous, fond of battle and bloodshed, animated by a strong
national spirit, were ready to meet face to face the boldest veterans
of the camp, and were at all times prepared to lay down their
life for their honour”. Babur’s small army was struck with terror
and panic, and he himself also fuUy realised the magnitude of
his task. But he possessed an indomitable spirit, and without
being unnerved tried to infuse fresh courage and enthusiasm
into the hearts of his dismayed soldiers. He broke his drinking
cups, poured out all the liquor that he had with him on the ground,
vowed not to take strong drink any longer, and appealed to his
men in a stirring speech.
This produced the desired effect, and all his soldiers swore on
the Holy Quran to fight for him. The Mughuls and the Indians
met in a decisive contest at Khanua or Kanwa, a viUage almost
due west of Agra, on the 16th March, 1627. The Rajputs fought
with desperate valour, but Babur, by using similar tactics as at
Panipat, triumphed over them. The defeat of the Rajputs was
complete. The Rana escaped with the help of some of his foilow^ers,
but died broken-hearted after about two years. Babur followed
MUGHUL-AFGHlN CONTEST FOR SUPREMACY 429
up his success at Klhanua by crossing the Jumna and storming
the fortress of Chanderi, in spite of the gallant opposition of the
Rajputs.
The battle of Khanua is certainly one of the decisive battles
of Indian history. In a sense, its results were more significant
than those of the Jfirst battle of Panipat. The battle of Panipat
marked the defeat of the titular Sultan of Delhi, who had in fact
ceased to command sovereign authority, while that of Khanua
resulted in the defeat of the powerful Rajput confederacy. The
latter thus destroyed the chance of political revival of the Rajputs, '
for which they had made a bid on the decay of the Turko-Afghan
Sultanate. It is, of course, far from the truth to say that the Rajputs
“ceased henceforth to be a dominant factor m the politics of
Hindustan”. In fact, their retirement from the field of politics
was only temporary. They revived once again after about thirty
years and exercised profound influence on the history of the Mughul
Empire. Even Sher Shah had to reckon with Rajput hostility.
But the temporary ecHpse of the Rajputs after Khanua facilitated
Babur’s task in India and made possible the foundation of
a new foreign rule. Rushbrook Williams is right when he says
that before the battle of Khanua, “the occupation of Hindustan
might have been looked upon as a mere episode in Babur’s
career of adventure; but from henceforth it becomes the keynote
of his activities for the remainder of his life. His days of
wandering in search of a fortune are now over ; the fortune is his
and he has but to show himself worthy of it. And it is significant
of the new stage in his career, which this battle marks, that never
afterwards does he have to stake his throne and life upon the
issue of a stricken field. Fighting there is and fighting in plenty
to be done ; but it is fighting for the extension of his power, for
the reduction of rebels, for the ordering of his kingdom. It is
never fighting for his throne. And it is also significant of Babur’s
grasp of vital issues that from henceforth the centre of gravity
of his power is shifted from Kabul to Hindustan”.
We have already noted how Babur hurried to meet the Rajputs
by leaving the task of thorough subjugation of the Afghan chiefs
incomplete. But he could now turn his undivided attention to it.
He met the allied Afghans of Bihar and Bengal on the banks of
the Gogra, near the junction of that river with the Ganges above
Patna, and ioflicted a crushing defeat on them on the 6th May,
1529. Thus, as a result of three battles, a considerable portion
of Northern India was reduced to submission by Babur, who
became the master of a kingdom extending from the Oxus to the
430
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Gogra and from the Himalayas to Gwalior, though there remained
certain gaps to be filled in here and there.
But Babur was not destined to enjoy for long the fruits of his
hard-won victories. He died at Agra at the age of forty-seven
or forty-eight, on the 26th December, 1530. The Muslim historians
relate a romantic anecdote regarding his death. It is said that
when his son, Humayun, fell iU, Babur, by a fervent prayer to
God, had his son’s disease transferred to his own body, and thus
while the son began to recover, the father’s health gradually
declined till he ultimately succumbed, two or three months after
Humayun’s recovery. A modem writer argues that Babur’s death
was due to the attack of a disease and that “there is no reason to
believe the fantasy told by ’Abul Fazl that Babur died as the result
of the sacrifice he performed for his son”.i Babur’s body was first
laid at Arambagh in Agra, but was afterwards conveyed to Kabul,
where it was buried in one of his favourite gardens.^
During the four years that Babur spent in Hindustan, the
Punjab, the territory covered by the modern United Provinces,
and North Bihar, were conquered by him, and the leading Rajput
state of Mewar also submitted to him. But he could ejffect nothing
more than conquests, which alone do not suffice to stabilise an
Empire, unless the work of administrative consolidation goes hand
in hand with, or immediately follows, them. Thus, as a modem
writer has remarked, “what he_had left undone was of greater
importance” than what he had done. Though his military con-
quests gave^hhn an extensive dominion, “there was”, writes
Erskine, “little uniformity in the political situation of the different
parts of this vast empire. Har^y any law could be regarded
as universal but that of the unrestrained power of the prince.
Each kingdom, each province, each district, and (we may almost
say) every village, was governed, in ordinary matters, by its
peculiar customs. . . . There were no regular courts of law
spread over the kingdom for the administration of justice. . . .
All differences relating to land, where they were not settled by
the village officers, were decided by the district authorities, the
collectors, the Zamindars or Jagirdars. The higher officers of govern-
ment exercised not only civfi. but also criminal jurisdiction, even
in capital cases, with little form or under little restraint”. In fact,
after his conquests, Babur hadl hardly any time to enact new laws,
^ Sri Bam Sharma, “Story of Babur’s Death ”, Calcutta Beview, September,
1936 . ■ . . .
“ As Babur hr^elf tells us, he had a special liking for Kabul. “ The climate
is extremely delightful,” he writes, “and there is no such place in the known
world.”
MUGHUL-AFGHlN CONTEST FOR SUPREMACY 431
or to reorganise the admmistration, which continued to retain
its medieval feudal nature with all its defects. He could not build
a sound financial system. He spent much wealth in offering
presents and gifts to his followers, and remitted certain duties
for the Muslims. Nor could he leave behind him any “remark-
able public and philanthropic institutions” to win the goodwill
of the governed. Thus, taking these defects of Babur’s work
into consideration, it can very well be said that he “bequeathed
to his son a monarchy which could be held together “"only by
the continuance of war conditions, which in times of peace was
weak, structureless and invertebrate”. Nevertheless, he occupies
an important place in the history of India, as he was the first
architect to lay the foundation stone of the edifice of the Mughul
Empire in India, on which the superstructure was raised by his
illustrious grandson, Akbar.
Babur is one of the most romantic and interesting personalities
in the history of Asia. A man of indomitable spirit and remark-
able military prowess, he was no ruthless conqueror exulting in
needless massacres and wanton destruction. An affectionate father, a
kind master, a generous friend and a firm believer in God, he
was an ardent lover of Nature and truth and “excelled in music
and other arts”. He probably inherited firom his father the restless
spirit of adventure and geniality of temperament that he did not
lose even m the most troublesome period of his life, and derived
his Hterary tastes from his maternal grandfather. As Lane-
Poole observes; “He is the link between Central Asia and India,
between predatory hordes and imperial government, between
Timur and Akbar. The blood of the two great scourges of Asia,
Chingiz and Timur, mixed in his veins, and to the daring and
restlessness of the nomad Tartar he joined the culture and urbanity
of the Persian. He brought the energy of the Mongol, the courage
and capacity of the Turk, to the subjection of the listless Hindu ;
and, himself a soldier of fortune and no architect of empire, he yet
laid the first stone of the splendid fabric which his grandson Akbar
completed. . . . His permanent place in history rests upon his
Indian conquests, which opened th e way fo r an imperial fine;
but his place in bio^aphy and in literature is determined rather
by his daring adventures and persevering efforts in his earlier days,
and by the delightful Memoirs in which he related them. Soldier
of fortune as he was, Babur was not the less a man of fine hterary
taste and fastidious critical perception. In Persian, the language
of culture, the Latin of Central AMa, as it is of India, he was an
accomplished poet, and in his native Turk! he was master of a
432
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
pure and unaffected style alike in prose and verse.” His Memoirs,
which deservedly hold a high place in the history of human litera-
ture, were translated into Persian by ‘Abdur Rahim Khan-i-
Khanan in the time of Akbar in 1590, into English by Leyden and
Erskine in 1826, and into French in 1871. Annette Susannah
Beveridge has published a revised English version of these. There
is also a small collection of his fine Turki lyrics.
2 . Humayun and his Early Wars
Three days after the death of Babur, Humayun ascended the
throne of Hindustan at the age of twenty-three. The situation
at his accession was not indeed a very easy one. He was confronted
with several hostile forces on all sides, disguised and so the more
dangerous. There was hardly any unity in the royal family, and
his cousins, Muhammad Zaman and Muhammad Sultan, were
pretenders to the throne. Moreover, as the law of primogeniture
was not strictly enforced among the Mussahnans, his three brothers,
Kamran, Hindal and ‘Askari, also coveted the throne. As
Erskine remarks: “The sword was the grand arbiter of right, and
every son was prepared to try his fortune against his brothers.”
His court was also fifil of nobles who engineered plans for the
possession of the throne. Further, the army at his disposal was
a mixed body, composed of adventurers of diverse nationalities
having conflicting interests. Thus, he could not safely count on
the support of his relatives, his court, or his army. Again, Babur’s
legacy to Humayun was of a precarious nature. The former, as
we have already noted, did not leave behind him a consolidated
and well-organised Empire. In fact, “he had defeated the armies
and broken the power of the reigning dynasty ; but the only hold
which he, or his race, yet had upon the people of India was military
force”. The Rajputs had been only temporarily subdued. Though
the Afghans had been defeated, they were far from being per-
manently crushed. The numerous scattered Afghan nobles, always
ripe for revolt, required only a strong and able leader to galvanise
them into life, and this they found in Sher Shah. The grovdng power
of Gujarat under Bahadur Shah was also a serious menace' to
Humayun. \ "
A ruler, possessed of military genius, diplomatic skill, and
political wisdom, was the need of the hour. But Humayun lacked
all of these. In fact, he himself proved to be his worst enemy.
Though endowed with intellectual tastes and love of culture, he
was devoid of the wisdom and discretion, as well as strong
MUGHUL-AFGHAN contest foe supremacy 433
determination and perseverance, of his father. As Lane-Poole
observes, “he was incapable of sustained effort and after a moment
of triumph would bury himself in his harem and dream away the
precious hours in the opium-eater’s paradise whilst his enemies
were thundering at the gate. Naturally kind, he forgave when
he should have punished; light-hearted and sociable, he revelled
at the table when he ought to have been in the saddle. His char-
acter attracts but never dominates. In private life he might have
been a delightful companion and a staunch friend. But as a king
he was a failure. His name means ‘fortunate’, and never was
an unlucky sovereign more miscalled”.
The first mistake on the part of Humayun was that he showed
indiscreet clemency, probably under the dying instructions of his
father, towards his brothers, who being his jealous rivals should have
been kept under effective control. ‘Askari was given the fief of
Sambhal; Hindal that of Alwar; and Kamran, the eldest of the
three, was not only confirmed in the possession of Kabul and
Qandahar but also secured after a military demonstration against
Mir Yunus ‘Ali, Humayun’s general at Lahore, the Punjab and the
district of Hissar Firuza, to the east of the Punjab proper. Thus
Humayun struck at the root of the integrity of Babur’s Empire.
Further, the transfer of the Indus region and beyond to Kamran
deprived Huinayun of the best recruiting ground for his army,
the strength of which was absolutely necessary for the safety of
the infant Mughul dominion in India. The possession of Hissar
Firuza gave Kamran the command of the high-road between the
Punjab and Delhi.
Fortune, however, favoured Humayun in his early wars, before
the hostile forces had grown uncontrollable. Five or six months
after his accession he marched to besiege the fortress of Kalin iar
in Bundelkhand, on the suspicion that its Raja was m sympathy
with the Afghans. But he had ; to rei^e, after levying a certain
amount of money from the Raja, to detdl with the Afghan menace m
the east. He gained a decisive victory over the Afghans at Dourah
(Dauhrua) and drove out Sultan Mahmud Lodi from Jaunpur. He
besieged Ohunar, then held by the Afghan chief Sher Khan, but
soon abandoned it, and without completely suppressing the rising
Afghan chief accepted from him “a purely perfunctory submission” ,
and thus allowed bim free scope to develop his resources and power,
while he had to march to the west to check the growing pretensions
of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat.
Bahadur Shah had given definite provocation to Humayun. He
had openly given shelter and help to many of the Afghan refugees
434
AK ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
and foes of the latter. The decline of Mewar had given him the
opportunity to extend his territories at its expense, and after
annexing Malwa he besieged the famous Rajput fortress of Chitor,
when Humayun reached Malwa towards the end of 1534 without
reaping the full advantage of his victory over the Afghans. Severely
harassed by the Gujaratis, Rani Karnavati of Mewar solicited
Humayhn’s assistance against Bahadur Shah. But the Mughul
Iri-ng paid no heed to this, nor did he, for his own sake, immediately
attack Bahadur Shah, but waited while the latter vanquished
the Rajputs and stormed Chitor with the help of the Turkish
engineer, Bumi Khan (of Constantinople), and Portuguese and other
European artillerymen. Humayun committed a fatal blunder by
ignoring the Rajput appeal. Indeed, he lost a golden opportunity
of winning for his own cause their sympathy and support, the
inestimable worth of which was realised by his son, Akbar. For
the present he defeated the troops of Bahadur Shah in an engage-
ment on the banks of an artificial lake near Mandasor, chased
him from Mandu to Champaner and Ahmadabad and thence
to Cambay till he was compelled to seek refuge in the island of
Diu. But this victory of Humayun over the Gujarat ruler was
short-lived. The wealmess of his character soon manifested itself
here as in other events of his career. In the flush of victory,
he, his brother, ‘Askari, and most of his soldiers, plunged into
feasting and revelry, as a natural sequel to which “his affairs
fell into confusion; and even his own camp became a scene
of uproar and insubordination”. The Sultan of Gujarat took
advantage of this to recover his lost territories from the Mughuls.
Humayun could not think of subdumg him again, as his attention
was drawn towards the east, where the Afghans had grown immensely
powerful. No sooner had he begun his return march than Malwa
was also lost to him. Thus “one year had seen the rapid conquest
of the two great provinces; the next saw them quickly lost”. The
next stage in Humayun’s career was marked by his ill-fated conflicts
with Sher, the champion of Afghan revival.
3 . Sher Shah and the Surs : The Afghan Revival and Decline
Babur’s victories at Panipat and Gogra did not result in the
complete annihilation of the Afghan chiefs. They were seething
■with discontent against the newly founded alien rule, and only
needed the guidance of one strong personality to coalesce their
isolated efforts into an organised national resistance against it.
This they got in Sher Khan Sur, who effected the revival of the
MUGHUL-AFGHAN CONTEST FOR SUPREMACY 435
Afghan power and established a glorious, though short, regime
in India by ousting the newly established Mughul authority.
The career of Sher Kdian Sur, the hero of Indo-Muslim revival,
is as fascinating as that of Babur and not less instructive than
that of the great Mughul, Akbar. Originally bearing the name
of Farid, he began his Ufe in a humble way, and, like many other
great men in history, had to pass through various trials and
vicissitudes of fortune before he rose to prominence by dint of
his personal merit. His grandfather, Ibrahim, an Afghan of the
Sur tribe, lived near Peshawar and his father’s name was Hasan.
Ibrahim migrated with his son to the east in quest of military
service in the early part of Buhlul Lodi’s reign and both first
entered the service of Mahabat Edian Sur and Baud Khan Sahu
Khail, jdgirddrs of the paragands of Hariana and Bakhala in the
Punjab, and settled in the paragand of Bajwara or Bejoura, where
probably Farid was bom in a.d. 1472.^ After some time Ibrahim
got employment under Jamal Khan Sarang Khani of Hissar Firuza
in the Delhi district. Farid was soon taken to Sasaram by his
father, Hasan, who had been granted a jdgir there by his master,
Umar Khan Sarwani, entitled Khau-i-A‘zam, when the latter got
the governorship of Jaunpur. Hasan, like the other nobles of
his time, was a polygamist, and Farid’s step-mother had pre-
dominant influence over him. This made him indiflferent to Farid,
whereupon the latter left home at the age of twenty-two and went
to Jaunpur. Thus the Afghan youth was forced into a life of adven-
ture and struggle, which cast his mind and character in a heroic
mould. For some time he devoted himself to study. By indefatig-
able industry and steady application, Farid early attracted the
attention of his teachers at Jaunpur and quickly gained an uncommon
acquaintance with the Persian language and literature. He was
capable of reproducing from memory the Oulistdn, Bustdn and
8ihandar-7idmah. Being pleased with this promising youth, Jamal
Khan, his father’s patron, effected a reconciliation between him and
his father, who allowed him to return to Sasaram and to administer
the paragands of Sasaram and Khawaspur, both then dependent
on Rohtas in Bihar. The successful administration of those two
places by Farid served to increase his step-mother’s jealousy, and
so leaving Sasaram once again he went to Agra.
On the death of hk father, Farid took possession of his paternal
jdgir on the strength of a royal firman^ which he had been able
1 The old view of Dr. Qanungo that Farid was born at Hissar Firuza in
A..D. 1486 has been recently pointed out to be wrong by Prof. Paramatma
Satan in his paper on “The Date and Place of Sher Shah’s Birth” published
in 1934, pp. 108-22.
436 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
to procure at Agra. In 1522 he got into the service of Bahar Khan
Lohanij the independent ruler of Bihar, whose favour he soon secured
by discharging his duties honestly and assiduously. His master
conferred on him the title of Sher Khan for his having shown
gallantry by killing a tiger single-handed, and also soon rewarded
his ability and faithfulness by appointing him his deputy {Vahil)
and tutor {Atdliq) of his minor son, Jalal Khan.
But perverse destiny again went against Sher. His enemies
poisoned his master’s mind against him, and he was once more
deprived of his father’s jdglr. “Impressed by the complete success
of Mughul arms” and with the prospect of future gain, he now
joined Babur’s camp, where he remained from April, 1527, to
June, 1528. In return for the valuable services he rendered to
Babur in his eastern campaigns, the latter restored Sasaram to
him.
Sher soon left the Mughul service and came back to Bihar to
become again its deputy governor and guardian of his former
pupil, Jalal Khan. While the minor king remained as the nominal
ruler of Bibar, Sher became the virtual head of its government.
In the course of four years he won over the greater part of the army
to his cause and “elevated himself to a state of complete independ-
ence”. Meanwhile, the fortress of Chunar luckUy came into his pos-
session. Taj Khan, the Lord of Chunar, was killed by his eldest son,
who had risen against his father for his infatuation with a younger
wife, Lad Malika. This widow, however, married Sher Khan and
gave him the fortress of Chunar. Humayun besieged Chunar in
1531, but Sher Khan had taken no part in the Afghan rising of
that year and saved his position by a timely submission to the
Mughul invader.
The rapid and unexpected rise of Sher at the expense of the
Lohani Afghans made the latter, and even Jalal Khan, impatient
of his control. They tried to get rid of this dictator. The attempt,
however, failed owing to his “unusual cfroumspection ”, They
then entered into an alliance (September, 1533) with MahmQd Shah,
the King of Bengal, who was naturally eager to check the rise
of Sher, which prejudiced his own prestige and power. But the
brave Afghan deputy inflicted a defeat on the allied troops of the
Bengal Sultan and the Lohanis at Surajgarh, on the banks of the
Kiul river, east of the town of Bihar. The victory at Surajgarh w'as
indeed a turning-point in the career of Sher. “Great as it was as
a military achievement, it was greater in its far-reaching political
result. . . . But for the victory at Surajgarh, the jdglrddr of
Sasaram would never have emerged from his obscurity into the
MUGHUL-APGHAN contest for supremacy 437
arena of poKtics to run, in spite of himself, a race for the Empire
with hereditary crowned heads like Bahadur Shah and Humayun
Padshah.” It made him the undisputed ruler of Bihar in fact
as well as in name.
Sher had an opportunity to increase his power when Humayun
marched against Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. He suddenly invaded
Bengal and appeared before its capital, Gaur, not by the usual
route through the Teliagarhi passes (near modem Sahebganj on
the E.I. By. Loop Line), but by another unfrequented and less
circuitous one. Mahmud Shah, the weak ruler of Bengal, without
making any serious attempt to oppose the Afghan invader, con-
cluded peace with him by paying him a large sum, amounting to
thirteen lacs of gold pieces, and by ceding to him a territory extend-
ing from Edul to Sakrigali, ninety miles in length with a breadth
of thirty miles. These fresh acquisitions considerably enhanced
Sher’s power and prestige, and, after the expulsion of Bahadur
Shah of Gujarat to Diu, many of the distinguished Afghan nobles
joined their rising leader in the east. Thus strengthened, Sher again
invaded Bengal about the middle of October, 1537, with a view
to conquering it permanently, and closely besieged the city of Gaur.
Humayun, who on his way back from Gujarat and Malwa had
been wasting his time at Agra, in his usual fashion, realised the
gravity of the Afghan menace m the east rather too late and
marched to oppose Sher Khan in the second week of December,
1537. But instead of proceeding straight to Gaur, by which he
could have frustrated the designs of Sher Khan in aUiance with the
Sultan of Bengal, he besieged Chunar. The brave garrison of Sher
Kha.n at Chunar baffled all the attempts of the assailants for six
months, while Sher Khan was left free to utilise that time for the
reduction of Gaur by April, 1638. Sher Khan had also captured
the fortress of Bohtas by questionable means and had sent his
family and wealth there. Baffled in Bihar, Humayun turned
towards Bengal and entered Gaur in July, 1538. But Sher Khan,
cleverly avoiding any open contest with him in Bengal, went
to occupy the Mughul territories m Bihar and Jaunpur and
plunder the tract as far west as Kanauj.
Humayun, who was then whiling away his time in idleness
and festivities at Gaur, was disconcerted on hearing of Sher’s
activities in the west and left Bengal for Agra before his return
should be cut off. But he was opposed on the way, at Chaunsa
near Buxar, by Sher Khan and his Afghan followers and suffered
a heavy defeat in June, 1539. Most of the Mughul soldiers were
drowned or captmed ; and the life of their unlucky ruler was saved
438
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
by a water-carrier, who carried him on his water-skin across the
Ganges, into which he had recklessly jumped.
The victory over the sovereign of 'Delhi widened the limit of
Sher Khan’s ambition and made him the de facto ruler of the
territories extending from Kanauj in the west to the hills of Assam
and Chittagong in the east and from the Himalayas in the north to
the hills of Jharkhand (from Rohtas to Birbhum) and the Bay of
Bengal in the south. To legalise what he had gained by the strength
of arms and strategj'^, he now assumed the royal title of Sher Shah
and ordered the Khutba to be read and the coins to be struck in
his name. Next year Humayun made another attempt to recover
his fortune, though he could not secure the co-operation of his
brothers in spite of his best attempts. On the 17th May, 1540,
the Mughuls and the Afghans met again opposite Kanauj. The army
of Humayun, hopelessly demoraUsed, half-hearted and badly
ofidcered, was severely defeated by the Afghans at the battle of
the Ganges or Bilgram, commonly known as the battle of Kanauj,
and Humayun just managed to escape. Thus the work of Babur
in India was undone, and the sovereignty of Hindustan once more
passed to the Afghans. From this time Humayun had to lead
the life of a wanderer for about fifteen years.
The sons of Babur failed to combine even at such a critics,!
moment, though Humayun went to Lahore and did his best to
win them over. Their selfishness triumphed over common interests
and Sher Shah was able to extend his authority to the Punjab
also. The Afghan ruler marched, with his usual promptitude and
vigour, to subdue the warlike hill tribes of the Gakkar country,
situated between the upper courses of the Indus and the Jhelum.
He ravaged this territory but could not thoroughly reduce the
Gakkars, as he had to proceed huraedly to Bengal in March,
1541, where his deputy had imprudently rebelled against his
authority. He dismissed the rebel, “ changed the military character
of the provincial administration and sub,stituted a completely new
mechanism, at once original in principle and efficient in working”.
The province was divided into several districts, each of which
was to be governed by an officer appointed directly by him and
responsible to him alone.
Sher Shah next turned his attention against the Rajputs of the
west, who had not yet recovered fully from the blow of IChanua.
Having subjugated Malwa in a.d. 1542, he marched against Puran
Mai of Raisin in Central India. After some resistance the garrison
of the fort of Raisin capitulated, the Rajputs agreeing to evacuate
the fort on condition that they were allowed to pass “unmolested’*
MUGHUL-AFGHAN contest for supremacy 439
beyond the frontier of Malwa. But the Afghans fell hiriously on the
people of the fort as soon as the latter had come outside the
walls. To save their wives and children from disgrace, the Rajputs
took their lives, and themselves died to a man, fighting bravely
against their formidable foe, in 1543. The Raisin incident has been
condemned by several writers as a great blot on the character of
Sher Shah. Sind and Multan were annexed to the Afghan Empire
by the governor of the Punjab. There remained only one more
formidable enemy of Sher Shah to be subdued. He was Maldev,
the Rajput ruler of Marwar, a consummate general and energetic
ruler, whose territories extended over about 10,000 square miles.
Instigated by some disaffected Rajput chiefs whose territories had
been conquered by Maldev, Sher Khan led an expedition against
the Rathor chief in a.d. 1544. Maldev, on his part, was not
unprepared. Considering it inadvisable to risk an open battle with
the Rathors in their own country, Sher Shah had recourse to a
stratagem. He sent to Maldev a few forged letters, said to
have been written to him by the Rajput generals, promising
him their help, and thus succeeded in frightening the Rathor
ruler, who retreated from the field and took refuge in the fortress
of Sivan. In spite of this, the generals of the Rajput army, like
Jeta and Kama, with their followers, opposed Sher Shah’s army
and fought with desperate valour, but only to meet a warrior’s
death. Sher Shah won a victory, though at great cost, with the
loss of several thousand Afghans on the battlefield and coming
near to losing his empire. The Rajputs lost a chance of revival
and the path was left open for undisputed Afghan supremacy over
Northern India. After this success, Sher Shah reduced to submission
the whole region from Ajmer to Abu and marched to besiege the
fort of Kalinjar. He succeeded in capturing the fort, but died
from an accidental explosion of gunpowder on the 22nd May, 1545.
A brave warrior and a successful conqueror, Sher Shah was
the architect of a brilliant administrative system, which elicited
admiration even from eulogists of his enemies, the Mughuls.
In fact, his qualities as a ruler were more remarkable than
his victories on the field of battle. His brief reign of five years
was marked by the introduction of wise and salutary changes in
every conceivable branch of administration. Some of these were
by way of revival and reformation of the traditional features of
the old administrative systems of India, Hindu as weU as Muslim,
while others were entirely original in character, and form, indeed, a
link between ancient and modem India. *‘No government — ^not even
the British,” affirms IVIr. Keene, “has shown so much wisdom^
440 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
as this Pathan.” Though Sher Shah’s government was a highly
centralised system, crowned by a bureaucracy, with real power
concentrated in the hands of the King, he was not an unbridled
autocrat, regardless of the rights and interests of the people. In the
spirit of an enlightened despot, he “attempted to found an empire
broadly based upon the people’s will”.
For convenience of administration, the whole Empire was
divided into forty-seven units (sarJcdrs), each of which was again
subdivided into several paragands. The ’paragana had one Amin,
one Shigdar, one treasurer, one Hmdu writer and one Persian
writer to keep accounts. Over the next higher admioistrative unit,
the sarJcdr, were placed a Shiqddr-i-Shiqddrdn and a Munsif-i-
Munsifdn to supervise the work of the paragand officers. To check
undue influence of the officers in their respective jurisdictions,
the King devised the plan of transferring them every two or
three years, which, however, could not be long-enduring owing to
the brief span of his rule. Every branch of the administration
was subject to Sher Shah’s personal supervision. Like A^oka and
Harsha, he acted up to the maxim that “it behoves the great
to be always active”.
Sher Shah’s land revenue reforms, based on wise and humane
principles, have unique importance in the administrative history
of India ; for they served as the model for future agrarian systems.
After a careful and proper survey of the lands, he settled the land
revenue direct with the cultivators, the State demand being fixed
at one-fourth or one-third of the average produce, payable either
in kind or in cash, the latter method being preferred. For actual
collection of revenue the Government utilised the services of
officers like the Amins, the Maqadams, the Shiqddrs, the Qdnungos
and the Patwdrls. Punctual and full payment .of the assessed
amount was insisted on and enforced, if necessary, by Sher Shah
He instructed the revenue officials to show leniency at the time
of assessment and to be strict at the time of collection of revenues.
The rights of the tenants were duly recognised and the liabilities
of each were clearly defined in the habuUyat (deed of agreement),
which the State took from him, and the pattd (title-deed), which
it gave him in return. Remissions of rents were made, and probably
loans were advanced to the tenants in case of damage to crops,
caused by the encampment of soldiers, or the insufficiency of
rain. These revenue reforms increased the resources of the State
and at the same time conduced to the interest of the people.
The currency and tariff reforms of Sher Shah w'ere also calculated
to improve the general economic condition of his Empire. He not
MUGHUL-AFGHAN contest for supremacy 441
only introduced some specific changes in the mint but also tried
to rectify “the progressive deterioration of the previous Kings”.
He reformed the tariff by removing vexatious customs and
permitting the imposition of customs on articles of trade only at
the frontiers and in the places of sale. This considerably helped
the cause of trade and commerce by facilitating easy and cheap
transport of merchandise.
This was further helped by the improvement of communications.
For the purpose of imperial defence, as well as for the convenience
of the people, Sher Shah connected the important places of his
kingdom by a chain of excellent roads. The longest of these, the
Grand Trunk Road, which stiU survives, extended for 1,500 Tcos
from Sonargaon in Eastern Bengal to the Indus. One road ran
from Agra to Burhanpur, another from Agra to Jodhpur and
the fort of Chitor, and a fourth from Lahore to Multan, Follow-
ing the traditions of some rulers of the past, Sher Shah planted
shade-giving trees on both sides of the established roads, and
sarais or rest-houses at different stages, separate arrangements
being provided for the Muslims and the Hindus. These sarais also
served the purpose of post-houses, which facilitated quick exchange
of news and supplied the Government with information from
different parts of the Empire. The maintenance of an efficient
system of espionage also enabled the ruler to know what happened
in his kingdom.
To secure peace and order, the police system was reorganised,
and the principle of local responsibility for local crimes was enforced.
Thus the village headmen were made responsible for the detection
of criminals, and maintenance of peace, in the rural areas. The
efficiency of the system has been testified to by all the Muslim
writers. “Such was the state of safety of the highway,” observes
Nizam-ud-din, who had no reason to be partial towards Sher
Shah, “that if any one carried a purse full of gold (pieces) and
slept in the desert (deserted places) for nights, there was no need
for keeping watch.”
Sher Shah had a strong sense of justice, and its administration
under him was even-handed, no distinction being made between
the high and the low, and not even the near relatives of the King
being spared from its decrees. In the paragand, civil suits were
disposed of by the Amin, and other cases, mostly criminal, by
the Qdzl and the Mlr-i‘Adal. Several ^arctganas had over them
a Munsif-i-Munsifdn to try civil cases. At the capital city there
were the Chief Qdzl, the imperial and above aU, the Emperor
as the highest authority in judicial as in other matters.
442 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Though a pious Muslim, Sher Shah was not a fierce bigot. His
treatment of the Hindus in general was tolerant and just. He
employed Hindus in important offices of the State, one of his
best generals being Brahmajit Gaur. “His attitude towards
Hinduism,” observes Dr. Qanungo, “was not of contemptuous
sufferance but of respectful deference ; it received due recognition
in the State.”
Sher Shah realised the importance of maintaining a strong and
efficient army, and so reorganised it, borrowing largely the main
principles of ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji’s military system. The services
of a body of armed retainers, or of a feudal levy, were not
considered sufficient for his needs; he took care to maintain a
regular army, the soldiers being bound to him, through their
immediate commanding officer, by the strong tie of personal
devotion and discipline. He had under his direct command a large
force consisting of 150,000 cavalry, 25,000 infantry, 300 elephants
and artillery. Garrisons were maintained at different strategic
points of the kingdom ; each of these, called a fauj, was under the
command of a faujddr. Sher Shah enforced strict discipline in
the army and took ample precautions to prevent corruption among
the soldiers. Besides duly supervising the recruitment of soldiers,
he personally fixed their salaries, took their descriptive rolls and
revived the practice of branding horses.
Sher Shah is indeed a striking personality in the history of
Medieval India. By virtue of sheer merit and ability he rose from
a very humble position to be the leader of Afghan revival, and
one of the greatest rulers that India has produced. His “military
character” was marked by “a rare combination of caution and
enterprise”; his political conduct was, on the whole, just and
humane ; his religious attitude was free from medieval bigotry ; and
his excellent taste in budding is weU attested, even to-day, by
his noble mausoleum at Sasaram. He applied his indefatigable
industry to the service of the State, and his reforms were well
calculated to secure the interests of the people. He had, remarks
Erskine, “more of the spirit of a legislator and a guardian of
his people than any prince before Akbar”. In fact, the real sig-
nificance of his reign lies in the fact that he embodied in himself
those very qualities which are needed for the building of a national
State in India, and he prepared the ground for the glorious Akbaride
regime in more ways than one. But for his accidental death after
^ It does not seem to be fair to describe Sher Shah’s religious policy as
“narrow” as a modem writer has done. Vide December, 1938, pp.
600-1.
MUGHUL-AFGHM contest for supremacy 443
only five years’ rule, the restoration of the Mughnls would not
have been accomplished so soon. As Smith observes: “If Sher
Shah had been spared, the ‘Great Moghuls’ would not have appeared
on the stage of history. ” His right to the throne of India was better
than that of Humayun. While Humayun had inherited the conquests
of a Central Asian adventurer, who had not been able to create any
strong claim, except that of force, for the rule of his dynasty in
India, Sher Shah’s family, hailmg from the frontier, had lived within
India for three generations. Further, the latter’s equipment for
kingship was exceptionally high, and he had achieved a good deal
more than the mere conquest of territories.
4 . The Successors of Sher Shah
The Afghan Empire built up by Sher Shah did not long survive
his death. The disappearance of his strong personality, and the
weakness of his successors, led to the recrudescence of jealousies
and refractoriness among the Afghan nobles, which plunged the
whole kingdom into a welter of anarchy and thus paved the way
for Mughul restoration. On Sher Shah’s death, his second son,
Jalal Khan, who was then at Rewah, was proclaimed king under
the title of Sultan Islam Shah, commonly known as Salim Shah.
Salim strengthened his position against the intrigues of his brother
and his supporters, by drastic measures. He maintained the
efficiency of the army and most of his father’s wise reforms.
“His internal administration was excellent.” But he died young
in November, 1564, and disorders soon followed. His minor son,
Firuz Elhan, was murdered by his maternal uncle, Mubariz Khan
(son of Nizam Khan Sur, Sher Shah’s brother, and brother of
Firuz Khan’s mother, Bibi Bai), who seized the throne and
assumed the title of Muhammad ‘Adil Shall. ‘AdD. Shah being an
indolent and worthless prince, Himu, a purely self-made man,
who rose from the position of an ordinary Benia of Rewari in
Mewat to that of the chief minister of the Sur monarch, tried to
manage the affairs of the kingdom with tact; but the suspicious
nature, and the follies, of his master frustrated his efforts with
great prejudice to the interests of the decaying Afghan Empire.
‘Add Shah soon afterwards lost Bengal and Malwa; his own
relatives rebelled against him ; and his authority was also challenged
by two nephews of Sher Shah, who asserted their claims to the
throne.
444
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
5 . Restoration of the Mughuls
This disturbed situation encouraged Humayun to attempt the
restoration of his lost dominion after about fifteen years. He
had been wandering from place to place in search of shelter and
help. So intense was the jealousy of his brothers, especially of
Kamran, that they showed him great unkindness even in these
days of adversity, not to speak of their pooHng their resources
against the Afghans. His attempts to find a rallying-ground in
Sind also proved unsuccessful, because of the hostility of Shah
Husain, the governor of Sind, and the scarcity of provisions
among his followers, whose numbers had been swelled by the influx of
many fugitives. It was during his wanderings in the deserts of
Sind that early in 1542 he married Hamida Banu Begam,
daughter of Shaikh ‘All Ambar Jaini, who had been a preceptor
to Humayun’s brother Hindal. The Rajput princes dared not
afibrd him shelter. He went to Amarkot, the Hindu chief of which,
Rana Prasad by name, had promised help to conquer Thatta and
Bhakkar, but he disappointed him in the end. It was here that his
son Akbar was born on the 23rd November, 1542. Bhakkar could not
be conquered by Humayun, who failed also to secure asylum
with his brother Kamran. Thus driven from pillar to post, Humayun
left India and threw himself on the generosity of Shah Tahmasp.
The young ruler of Persia helped him with a force of 14,000
men on his promising to conform to the Shiah creed, to have the
Shah’s name proclaimed in his Khutha and to cede Qandahar to him
on his success. Thus Persian help, which had once facilitated the
success of Babur’s eastern enterprise, now enabled his successor
to recover his lost dominion. With it Humayun occupied Qandahar
and Kabul in 1545. But Qandahar was not given to the Persians,
and it proved henceforth to be a bone of contention between them
and the Mughuls. Kamran was imprisoned, blinded and sent to
Mecca, to which Humayun consented with the utmost reluctance,
though his brother merited no lenient treatment in view of his
past conduct. ‘Askari also proceeded to Mecca, but Hindal fell
dead in a night encounter.
Having overcome the hostility of his unkind brothers in the north-
west, Humayun marched in November, 1554, to reconquer Hindu-
stan, for which he got an excellent opportunity in the civil wars
among the Surs. In February, 1555, he captured Lahore. After
defeating Sikandar Sur, the rebel governor of the Punjab, who had
been proclaimed Emperor by the Afghans, in a battle near Sirhmd,
he occupied Delhi and Agra in the month of July of the same year.
MUGHUL-AFGHAN contest for supremacy 445
Sikandar retired to the Siwalik Hills. Thus by a favourable turn
of fortune, Humayun succeeded in recovering a part of what he
had lost through his own weakness and indecision. But he did not
live long enough to show if adversity had produced any wholesome
effect on his character. He died on the 24th January, 1556, in
consequence of an accidental fall from the staircase of his library
at Delhi.
Akbar, who was then in the Punjab with his guardian Bairam,
an old comrade of his father, was formally proclaimed on the
14th February, 1656, at the age of thirteen, as the successor of
Humayun. But the Mughul supremacy over Hindustan was still
far from being assured. As Smith writes, “before Akbar could
become Padshah in reality as well as in name he had to prove
himself better than the rival claimants to the throne, and at least to
win back his father’s lost dominion”. As a matter of fact, India in
1666 “presented a dark as well as a complex picture”. While the
country had ceased to enjoy the benefits of the reforms of Sher Shah
through the follies and quarrels of his successors, it was subjected at
the same time to the horrors of a terrible famine. Further, each of
the independent kingdoms in different parts of India was contending
for power. In the north-west, Mirza Muhammad Hakim, Akbar’s
half-brother, governed Kabul almost independently. In the north,
Kashmir was under a local Muhammadan dynasty and the Himalayan
States were also independent. Sind and Multan had become free from
imperial control after the death of Sher Shah. Orissa, Malwa and
Gujarat and the local chieftains of Gondwana (in the modern
Central Provinces) were independent of the control of any overlord.
South of the Vindhyas lay the extensive Vijayanagar Empire, and
the Muslim Sultanates of Khandesh, Berar, Bidar, Ahmadnagar,
and Golkunda which felt little or no interest in northern politics.
The Portuguese had established thek influence on the western coast
by the possession of Goa and Diu. Humayun had been able to
recover only a small fragment of his territories in Hindustan before
he died. The Siks were still in occupation of the greater portion of
Sher Shah’s dominion. As Ahmad Yadgar tells us, “ the country from
Agra to Malwa, and the confines pf ^aunpur, owned the sovereignty of
‘Adil Shah ; from Delhi to the hmaUer Rohtas on the road to Kabul,
it was in the hands of Shah Sikandar; and from the borders of
the hills to the boundaries of Gujarat, it belonged to Ibrahim
Khan”. As foiy'the claims to the lordship of Hindustan, there
was nothing to choose between Akbar and the representatives of
Sher. These “could be decided”, as Smith writes, “only by the
sword”. Thus Akbar’s heritage was of a precarious nature, and
446 AJSr ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
his task of building up an Empire was indeed a very difficult
one.
Soon after Akbar’s accession, Himu, the capable general and
minister of ‘Adh Shah Sur, came forward to oppose the Mughuls.
He first occupied Agra and Delhi by defeating Tardi Beg, the
Mughul governor of Delhi, who was put to death under the
orders of Bairam for his failure to defend Delhi, Having assumed
the title of Raja Vikramjit or Vikramaditya, Himu met Akbar
and Bairam at the historic field of Panipat with a large army
including 1,500 war elephants. He had initial successes against
both the wings of the Mughul army, but the day was decided by
a chance arrow which struck him in the eye. He lost conscious-
ness, and his soldiers, deprived of their leader, dispersed in confusion.
In this helpless condition, Himu was put to death, according to some,
by Bairam, on the refusal of Akbar to kill him with his own hands,
and, according to others, by Akbar himself at the instigation of
his Protector.
The result of the second battle of Panipat was decisive. It
brought to a close the Afghan-Mughul contest for supremacy in
India by giving a verdict in favour of the latter. The victors soon
occupied Delhi and Agra. Sikandar Sur surrendered himself to
them in May, a.d. 1557, and was granted a fief in the eastern
provinces, whence he was soon expelled by Akbar and died as a
fugitive in Bengal (a.d. 1558-1559). Muhammad ‘Adil died (1556)
fighting at Monghyr against the governor of Bengal. Ibrahim Sur,
after wandering from place to place, found asylum in Orissa,
where he was killed about ten years later (a.d. 1567-1568). Thus there
remained no Sur rival to contest Akbar’s claims to sovereignty
over Hindustan. The later anti-Mughul Afghan risings, during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were more or less too sporadic
and local to be a serious menace to Mughul suzerainty.
CHAPTER II
AKBAR THE GREAT
I. End of the Regency
The second battle of Pardpat marked the real beginning of the
Mughul Empire in India and set it on the path of expansion.
Between 1558 and 1560 Gwalior, Ajmer and Jaunpur were incor-
porated into it. But Akbar, held in the trammels of tutelage by his
guardian and Protector, Bairam lOian, was not yet free to act
independently. The Protector had rendered valuable services to
the Mughuls, but he had created many enemies by this time by using
his power in a high-handed manner. Abul Eazl writes that “at
length Bairam’s proceedings went beyond all endurance”. Akbar
personally felt a desire to be king in fact as weU as in name,
and was also urged by his mother, Hamida Banu Begam, his
foster-mother, Maham Anaga, and her son, Adam Khan, to get
rid of the regent. In 1560 the Emperor openly expressed before
Bairam his determination to take the reins of government in his own
hands and dismissed him. The Protector submitted to the decision
of his master with apparent resignation and agreed to leave for
Mecca. But when Akbar deputed Pir Muhammad, a personal enemy
and former subordinate of Bairam, to see his guardian out of the
imperial domains, or as Badauni puts it, “to pack him off as quickly
as possible to Mecca”, the latter, considering it to be an insult,
rebelled. He was defeated near JuUundur, but Akbar was wise
enough to treat him with generosity in consideration of his past
services. On his way to Mecca, Bairam was stabbed to death in
January, 1561, by a Lohani Afghan, whose father had been killed
on a previous occasion by the Mughul troops under the command of
the Protector. Though the Afghans plundered all that he had been
carrying with him, his family escaped disgrace and his son, ‘Abdm
Rahim, received Akbar’s protection and rose later on to be one
of the chief nobles of the Empire.
The fall of Bairam did not at once enable Akbar to assume fully
the reios of government into his own hands. For two years more
(a.d. 1560-1562), his foster-mother, Maham Anaga, her son, Adam
447
Khan, and their relatives, exercised an undue influence in the
State. Adam ICtian and Pir Muhammad effected the conquest of
Malwa (1661) by methods which have been vividly described by
Badauni, an eye-witness of their oppression; but they remained
unpunished. Being at last impatient of theh influence, Ahbar caused
the death of Adam Khan. His mother died of grief after forty
days. Thus by the month of May, 1562, Akbar was able to
emancipate himself from harem influence.
2 . Conquests and Annexations
A strong imperialist by instinct, Akbar followed a policy of
conquest for the expansion of his empire until the capture of
Asirgarh in January, 1601. Unforeseen and uncontrollable cir-
cumstances prevented him from carrying it further. “A monarch”,
he held, “should be ever intent on conquest, otherwise his neigh-
bours rise in arms against him.” In fact, Akbar achieved the
political unification of nearly the whole of Northern and Central India
by frequent annexations extending over forty years. We have already
noted how Malwa was conquered by Adam Khan and Pir Muhammad
in 1561, but its ruler, Baz Bahadur, soon recovered it and did not
submit to the Mughuls until some years later. In 1564 Akbar
sent Asaf Khan, governor of Kara and the eastern provinces, to
conquer the kingdom of Garah Katanga (in Gondwana), roughly
corresponding to the northern districts of the Central Provinces.
The reigning king of this tract, Bit Narayan, was a minor, but it
was ably governed by his mother, Durgavati, a Bajput lady of
superb beauty and great valour. She gallantly opposed the im-
perialists but was defeated in a fight with them between Garah
and Mandala (now in the Jubbulpore district). In the true Rajput
spirit, she preferred death to disgrace and committed suicide.
Thus “her end was as noble and devoted as her life had been
useful”. The young ruler, Bir Narayan, fought in a chivalrous
manner against his enemies till he lost his life. The invaders captured
a vast booty. Asaf Khan held the kingdom for some time, but
it was subsequently made over to a representative of the old ruling
family, who was compelled by the Mughuls to “part with that
portion of his kingdom which now forms the kingdom of Bhopal”.
As we have already noted, the battle of Khanua (1527) did not result
in the total eclipse of Rajput influence in the north. Raj putana still
formed a powerful factor in the history of India. Gifted with the
true insight of a statesman and liberal in outlook, Akbar realised
the value of Rajput alliance in his task of building up an Empire in
448 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
AIOBAR THE GREAT
449
India for his dynasty, which was a foreign one, at the cost of the
Afghans, who were the “children of the soil”. Thus he tried, as
far as possible, to conciliate the Rajputs and secure and ensure
their active co-operation in almost all his activities. By his wise
and liberal policy, he won the hearts of most of them to such an
extent that they rendered valuable services to his empire and even
shed their blood for it. The Empire of Akbar was, in fact, the outcome
of the co-ordination of Mughul prowess and diplomacy and Rajput
valour and service. In 1662, Raja Bihari Mall, of Amber (Jaipur),
tendered his submission to Akbar and cemented his friendship with
him by a marriage alliance. Bihari Mall, with his son, Bhagwan Das,
and grandson, Man Singh, proceeded to Agra. He was given a com-
mand of 5,000 and his son and grandson were also admitted to
high rank in the army. Thus was opened the way through which
the Mughul Emperors were able to secure for four generations
“the services of some of the greatest captains and diplomats that
medieval India produced”.
But Mewar, where the Rajput spirit had manifested itself “in its
very quintessence”, which had been provided with excellent means
of defence in its steep mountains and strong castles, and which
had contested with Babur the supremacy of Northern India, did
not bow its head in obedience to the Mughul Emperor. It offended
him by giving shelter to Baz Bahadur, the fugitive ruler of Malwa.
Its independence was, however, galling to Akbar, who cherished
the ideal of an aU-India empire, the economic interests of which
also demanded a control over Mewar, through which lay the high-
ways of commerce between the Ganges-Jumna Doab and the
western coast. The ambitious design of Akbar was facilitated by
the prevalence of internal discord in Mewar, following the death
of Rana Sanga, and by the weakness of Udai Singh, the unworthy
son of a noble sire. “Well had it been for Mewar,” exclaims
Tod, “had the annals of Mewar never recorded the name of Udai
Singh in the catalogue of her princes.” When Akbar besieged the
fort of Chitor in October, 1667, Udai Singh fled to the hills, leaving
his capital to its fate. But there were some brave followers of
the Rana, notably Jaimall and Patta, who offered a stubborn
opposition to the imperialists for four months (20th October, 1567,
to 23rd February, 1568) till Jaimall was killed by a musket-shot
fired by Akbar himself. Patta also fell dead later. The death
of the leaders of the defence disheartened the besieged garrison,
who rushed on then* enemies sword in hand and fought bravely
tin they perished to a man. The Rajput women performed the rite
of Jauhar. Akbar then stormed the fort of Chitor. According to
450 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Abul Fazl 30,000 persons were slain, but the figure seems to be
highly exaggerated. Akbar’s wrath fell also upon what Tod calls
“the symbols of regality”. Thus he removed the huge kettledrums
(eight or ten feet in diameter, the reverberation of which proclaimed
for miles around the entrance and exit of the princes from the gates
of Chitor) and also the massive candelabra from the shrine of the
Great Mother of Chitor, to Agra.
Struck with terror at the fall of Chitor, the other Rajput chiefs,
who had so long defied Akbar, submitted to him. In February,
1569, Rai Surjana Hara of Ranthambhor surrendered to Akbar
the keys of his fortress and entered into the imperial service. Raja
Ramchand, the chief of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand, followed suit
in the same year. The occupation of Kalinjar greatly strengthened
Akbar’s military position and marks an important step in the
progress of Mughul imperialism. In 1570 the rulers of Bikaner and
Jaisalmer not only submitted to the Mughul Emperor but also
gave their daughters in marriage to him.
■ Thus, one by one, the Rajput chiefs acknowledged Mughul
sway, but Mewar still refused to own it. Udai Singh retained
his independence though he had lost his ancestral capital. After
his death on the 3rd March, 1572, at Gogunda, situated about
nineteen miles north-west of Udaipur, Mewar found a true patriot
and leader m his son Pratap, who, being in every respect faithful
to the traditions of his country, offered uncompromising resistance
to the invaders. The magnitude of his task can be well under-
stood when we note that without a capital, and with only
slender resources, he had to oppose the organised strength of
the Mughul Emperor, who was then “immeasurably the richest
monarch on the face of the earth”. Further, his fellow chiefs
and neighbours and even his own brother, devoid of the high
Rajput ideals of chivalry and independence, had allied them-
selves with the Mughuls. But no obstacle was too alarming
for this national hero of Rajputana, who was made of nobler stuff
than his relatives. “The magnitude of the peril confirmed the
fortitude of Pratap, who vowed, in the words of the bard, ‘ to make
his mother’s milk resplendent, ’ and he amply redeemed his pledge. ”
The inevitable imperial invasion of his territory took place in
April, 1576, under a body of troops commanded by Man Smgh
of Amber and Asaf Khan, and a furious battle was fought at the
pass of Haldighat near Gogunda. Pratap was defeated, and barely
escaped with his Hfe, which was saved by the selfless devotion
of the chief of Jhala, who drew upon himself the attack of tlw
imperialists by declaring himself to be the Rana. Mounted on his
AKBAR THE GREAT
451
i
beloved horse “Chaitak'\ the Rana betook himself to the hills,
and his strongholds were captured by his enemies one by one. But
Pratap could not think of submission even in the midst of the direst
adversity. Hunted from rock to rock by his implacable enemy, and
“feeding his family from the fruits of his native hills”, he con-
tinued the war with undaunted spirit and energy and had the
satisfaction of recovering many of his strongholds before he died
on the 19th January, 1597, at the age of fifty-seven. The Rajput
patriot was anxious for his motherland even at his last moment, for
he had no faith in his son ; and before he expired, he exacted from
his chiefs “a pledge that his country should not be abandoned to the
Turks”. “Thus closed the life of a Rajput whose memory,” observes
Tod, “is even now idolized by every Sisodia.” “Had Mew'ar,” he
adds, “possessed her Thuej'-dides or her Xenophon, neither the wars
of the Peloponnesus nor the retreat of the ‘Ten Thousand’ would
have yielded more diversified incidents for the historic muse than
the deeds of this brilliant reign amid the many vicissitudes of
Mewar. Undaunted heroism, inflexible fortitude, that sincerity
which ‘keeps honour bright’, perseverance — with fidelity such as
no nation can boast of, were the materials opposed to a soaring
ambition, commanding talents, unlimited means, and the fervour
of religious zeal; aU, however, insufficient to contend with one
unconquerable mind.” Pratap ’s is indeed an inspiring personality
in Indian history. The Rajputs have produced abler generals and
more astute statesmen than Pratap, but not more brave and noble
patriotic leaders than he. Pratap’s son, Amar Singh, tried to carry
out the behest of his father but was attacked by a Mughul army
under Man Singh in 1599 and was defeated after a gallant resist-
ance, Akbar could not imdertake any other invasion of Mewar
owing to illness.
After annexing Ranthambhor and Kalinjar in a.d. 1569, the
Mughuls subjugated Gujarat. With rich and flourishmg ports on
its coasts, Gujarat had an attractive commercial position and a
special economic advantage. Its possession had therefore been
coveted by the preceding rulers of Delhi, even by Humayun,
whose occupation of it was, however, temporary. But Akbar must
have realised the importance of occupying this province for the
interests of his Empire, and the prevailing distracted condition of
Gujarat under its nominal king, Muzaffar Shah III, gave him an
excellent opportunity for it. As a matter of fact, his intervention
being sought by 1‘tLmad Khan, the leader of a local faction, had
some justification. In 1572 ikbar marched in person against
Gujarat, defeated all opposition and pensioned off the puppet
452
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
king. He captured Surat on the 26th February, 1573, after
besieging it for a month and a half, and the Portuguese, who
came in touch with him on this occasion, courted his friendship.
But no .sooner had he reached his headquarters at Fathpur Sikri
than i^urrections broke out in the newly conquered province,
in which some of his own cousins took part. Highly enraged at
this, Akbar marched hurriedly to Ahmadabad, having traversed
six hundred miles in eleven days, and thoroughly vanquished
the insurgents in a battle near Ahmadabad on the 2nd September,
1573. Gujarat thus came under Akbar’s authority and became
henceforth an integral part of his Empire. It turned out to be one
of its profitable sources of income, chiefly through the reorganisation
of its finances and revenues by Todar Mai, whose work in that
province was ably carried on by Shihab-ud-din Ahmad from 1577
to 1583 or 1584. “The conquest of Gujarat,” remarks Dr. Smith,
“marks an important epoch in Akbar’s history.” Besides placing
its resources at the disposal of the Empire, it secured for it free
access to the sea and brought it in contact with the Portuguese,
which in some ways influenced the history of India. But the
Mughuls made no attempt to build up any sea-power and their
shortsightedness in this direction helped the intrusion of the
European traders.
The more important province of Bengal was next conquered by
the Mughuls. The Sur kings made themselves independent in
Bengal during the short and stormy reign of Muhammad ‘Adil
Shah and ruled it tiU 1564, when, taking advantage of the disorders
following the murder of the reigning young king, Sulaiman Kararani,
governor of South Bihar, extended his authority over Bengal also.
Till his death in a.d. 1572, Sulaiman formally recognised the over-
lordship of Akbar and maintained friendly relations with him. He
transferred his capital from Gaur to Tanda and a n nexed the Hindu
kingdom of Orissa. But his son, Daud, who, according to the author
of the Tabaqdt, “knew nothing of the art of government”, soon
“forsook the prudent measures of his father”. He incurred the
Emperor’s resentment not only by proclaiming his independence but
also by attacking the outpost of Zamania on the eastern frontier of
the Empire (situated in the Ghazipur district of U.P.). In 1574 Akbar
himself marched against the presumptuous governor of Bengal
and expelled him from Patna and Hajipur during the rainy season.
He returned to Fathpur Sikri, leaving Mun‘im Khan in charge
of the Bengal campaign. Daud retreated tow^ards Orissa and was
defeated by the Mughul troops at Tukaroi near the eastern bank of
the Suvamarekha on the 3rd March, 1575. But this battle had no
AKBAR THE GREAT
453
decisive result owing to the ill-advised leniency of Mim'ina Khan
towards the vanquished foe, who was consequently able to strike once
more to recover Bengal in October, 1575. This necessitated another
campaign against Baud, who was finally defeated and killed in a
battle, near Rajmahal, in July, 1576. Bengal henceforth became an
integral part of the Mughul Empire. But the weak policy of the
imperial governor, Muzaffar Khan Turbati, who was “harsh in
his measures and offensive in his speech ”, gave rise to fresh troubles
in that province. Further, the authority of the Emperor continued
to be long resisted there by some powerful Bengal chiefs, the
most important of whom were ‘ Isa Khan of Bast Central Dacca
and Mymensingh, Kedar Rai of Vikrampur, Kandarpanarayan
of Chandradvipa (Bakarganj) and Pratapaditya of Jessore. Orissa
was finally annexed to the Empire in 1592.
In the meanwhile, Akbar had to face a critical situation due to
the sinister motives of his step-brother, Mirza Muhammad Hakim,
who governed Kabul as an independent ruler for all practical
purposes. In conspiracy with some nobles of the eastern provinces,
and some discontented officers of the court, like Khwaja Mansur,
the Diwdn of the Empire, and others, he cherished the ambition
of seizing the throne of Hindustan for himself and even invaded
the Punjab. Considering it inadvisable to ignore any longer his
intrigues and movements, Akbar marched from his capital on
the 8th February, 1581, towards Afghanistan with about 50,000
cavalry, 500 elephants and a large number of infantry. Mirza
Muhammad Hakim, on hearing of the Emperor’s advance, fled from
the Punjab to Kabul without offering any opposition to his brother.
The Emperor thereupon entered Kabul on the 9th August, 1581 .
Mirza Muhammad Hakim was defeated, but was restored to the
government of his province on taking a vow of fidelity to the
Emperor, who returned to Delhi early in December, 1581. The
victory at Kabul brought immense relief to Akbar. It gave him,
VTites Smith, “an absolutely free hand for the rest of his life, and
may be regarded as the climax of his career”. Kabul was formally
annexed to the Delhi empire after the death of Mirza Muhammad
Hakim in July, 1585.
3. The North-West Frontier.
Every government in India has to deal with the complex north-
west frontier problem. This region occupies a position of strategic
as well as economic importance, and it is, therefore, highly necessary
for a ruler of India to maintain effective control over it. The
454
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Hindukush range, separating Central Asia from Southern Afghani-
stan, Baluchistan and India, becomes “much less forbidding” in
the north of Herat, and through this vulnerable point an external
invader from Persia or Central Asia may easily enter the Kabul
Valley and India. As the master of Kabul, the Mughul Emperor
“must hold Qandahar or his dominion is unsafe. In an age when
Kabul was a part of the Delhi Empire, Qandahar was our indis-
pensable first line of defence”. Qandahar was also an important
trade centre, where merchants from different parts of Asia fl.ocked
together and exchanged their commodities. Through it goods were
carried from India to other Asiatic countries more frequently
than before, owing to the Portuguese domination of the Red Sea
and their hostile relations with Persia. Further, the turbulent
Afghan tribes of the frontier, such as the Uzbegs and the Yusufzais,
were “very dangerous in their native hills, being democratic to
a degree and fanatically attached to their liberty. Fighting in
the fastnesses of their country which afford the best of natural
defences, they . . . ever resisted any attempts to bring them into
subjugation to any of the adjoining monarchies”. Their attitude
towards the Mughul Empire was far from friendly, but an
imperialist like j^bar could hardly fail to realise the import-
ance of effectively guarding this frontier. He was able to
suppress the turbulence of the Uzbegs, whose leader, ‘AbduUah
IChan, remained friendly to the Mughul Emperor, and also
to defeat the Roshniyas.^ The Yusufzais, too, were crushingly
defeated by a large Mughul army commanded by Raja Todar
Mall and Prince Murad. Abul Fazl writes: “A large number
of them were killed and many were sold into Turan and
Persia. The countries of Sawad (Swat), Bajaur and Buner, which
have few equals for climate, fruits and cheapness of food, w^ere
cleansed of the evil-doers.” Bhagwan Das and Kasim lOian being
deputed at the head of 5,000 men to conquer Kashmir, defeated
its Sultan, Yusuf Shah, and his son, Ya'qub, in 1586. Kashmir
was then annexed to the Empire. Sind and Baluchistan w^ere
conquered in 1590-1591 and 1595 respectively. Qandahar came
into the possession of Akbar peacefully. Being harassed by his
own relatives and also by the Uzbegs, the Persian governor of
Qandahar, Muzaffar Husain Mirza, surrendered it to Akbar’s
^ The Roshniyaa were the followers of Bayazld, who “had boon preaching
a special form of Muhammadanism in which communism on the one hand
and the de.structiou of the enemies of Islam on the other, seem to have been
two of the leading features. Add to this his suggestion that ho was the
Mehdi (the Messiah) to come and we have all the elements of religious ex-
plosion”. Kennedy, History 6f the Great Moghuls, p. 27.
AKBAR THE GREAT
455
representative, Shah Beg, in a.d. 1595. Thus as a result of Akbar’s
policy in the north-west, important territories were added to his
empire, its position was made secure on that frontier, and its
prestige was immensely enhanced. By the year 1595 he made
himself undisputed ruler of the area extending from the Himalayas
to the Narmada and from Hindukush to the Brahmaputra, with
the exception of a narrow strip of tribal area beyond the Indus
and a few other tracts.
4 . Akbar and the Deccan
Having thus consolidated his authority over Northern and
Central India, Akbar decided to extend his sovereignty to the
Deccan. In this he was but following the traditional policy of earlier
northern imperial governments, like those of the Mauryas, the
Guptas, the Khaljis and theTughluqs. He had two definite objects
in view. Firstly, with the ideal of an all-India Empire, he naturally
sought to bring the Deccan Sultanates, Ahmadnagar, Bijapur,
Golkunda and Khandesh, under his hegemony. Secondly, as a
shrewd -statesman, he wanted to utilise his control over the Deccan
as a means of pushing back the Portuguese to the sea, because
though his relations with them were apparently friendly, he did
not think it wise to allow them to enjoy for themselves a part of
the economic resources of the country and interfere in its politics.
Thus Akbar’s Deccan pohcy was purely imperialistic in origin
and outlook. It was not influenced in the least by religious con-
siderations as was the case, to a certain extent, with Shah Jahan
or Aurangzeb.
The Deccan Sultanates were not in a position to defend themselves
against the onrush of Mughul imperialism, as they had almost
exhausted their strength and sunk into inefiS.ciency by indulging
in quarrels among themselves after their temporary alliance against
Vijayanagar in a.d, 1564^1565. Akbar first tried to extort from
them a formal acknowledgment of his suzerainty over the Deccan
by sending ambassadors to their respective courts in 1591. But
all, except Kliandesh, returned evasive answers to his overtures.
The failure of diplomatic missions led him to resort to arms. A
large army under Bairam Khan’s son, ‘Abdur Rahim, and the
Emperor’s second son. Prince Murad, was sent agamst Ahmadnagar,
which had been weakened by internal quarrels. Though the
operations of the Mughul army were much hampered, as its two
generals did not pull well with each other, Ahmadnagar was
besieged by it in 1595. The city was defended with splendid courage
456 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
and extraordinary resolution by Chand Bibi, a dowager-queen
of Bijapur and daughter of Husain Nizam Shah. The besiegers
concluded a treaty with Chand Bibi in 1596 whereby Berar was
ceded to the Mughuls and the boy king of Ahmadnagar promised
to recognise the overlordship of Akbar. But after the departure
of the Mughuls, Chand Bibi “resigned her authority”, and a
faction at Ahmadnagar, in violation of the treaty, contrary
to her will and advice, renewed the war with the Mughuls
in the next year with a view to expelling them from Berar. The
Mughuls gained a victory over the Deccanis at Supa near Ashti
on the Godavari in February, 1597. Internal dissensions prevailed
in Ahmadnagar, and Chand Bibi being either “murdered or con-
strained to take poison”, the city was stormed without difficulty
by the imperialists m August, 1600. But the kingdom was not
finally annexed to the Empire tiU the reign of Shah Jahan.
Mian Bahadur Shah, a ruler of Khandesh, refused to submit
to the imperial authority. Akbar, relieved of the danger of Uzbeg
invasion after the death of ‘Abdullah Khan in 1598, marched to
the south in July, 1599. He soon captured Burhanpur, the capital
of Khandesh, and easily laid siege to the mighty fortress of Asirgarh,
than which “it was impossible to conceive a stronger fortress, or
one more amply supplied with artillery, warlike stores and pro-
visions”. The besieged garrison, though greatly weakened
owing to the outbreak of a terrible pestilence which swept off
many of them, defended the fortress for six months, when Akbar
hastened to achieve his end by subtle means. Unwilling to
prolong the siege as his son Salim had rebelled against him, the
Emperor inveigled Mian Bahadur Shah into his camp to negotiate
for a treaty, on promise of personal safety, but detained him there
and forced him to write a letter to the garrison with instructions
to surrender the fort. The garrison, however, still held out. Akbar
next seduced the Khandesh officers by lavish distribution of money
among them, and thus the gates of Asirgarh “were opened by
golden keys”. This was the last conquest of Akbar.
Having organised the newly-conquered territories into three
suhahs of Ahmadnagar, Berar and Khandesh, and appointed Prince
Daniyal viceroy of Southern and Western India, that is to say,
of the three Deccan subahs with Malwa and Gujarat, Akbar returned
to Agra in May, 1601, to deal with the rebellious Salim. The
Deccan campaigns of Akbar resulted in pushing the Mughul
frontier from the Narmada to the upper courses of the Krishna
river (called here the Bhima). But “the annexation was in form
only. The new territory was too large to be effectively governed
AKBAK THE GREAT
457
or even fully conquered. Everywhere, especially in the south
and the west, local officers of the old dynasty refused to obey the
conqueror, or began to set up puppet princes as a screen for their
self-assertion. The Sultans of Bijapur and Golkunda seized the
adjacent districts of their fallen neighbours”.
5 . The Last Days of Akbar
The last days of Akbar were rendered unhappy by grief and
anguish. His beloved friend and poet, Faizi, passed away in 1595.
In eagerness to seize the throne, Salim set himself up as an
independent king at AUahabad and entered into intrigues with
the Portuguese to achieve his end. In 1602 he further wounded
his father’s feelings by causing Abul Fazl, a close friend of the
Emperor’s, to be put to death on his way back firom the Deccan.
In 1603 a temporary reconciliation was effected between father
and son through the mediation of Sultana Salima Begam. But
Salim again proceeded to Allahabad and began to act in a highly
objectionable manner. Meanwhile Kha,n-i-A‘zam, Raja Man Singh
and some other nobles of the court, plotted to secure the
succession for Salim’s son, Khusrav. But their scheme failed owing
to the opposition of other nobles. The other sons of Akbar had
already died. Salim, the only surviving son of Akbar, became
reconciled to his father after the removal of all the rival claimants.
Akbar treated him like a petulant child, rebuked him severely, and
confined him for some time before pardoning him in November,
1604. But Akbar’s end was drawing near. He was attacked by
severe diarrhoea or dysentery in the autumn of 1605 and died
on the 17th October.
6 . Akbar’s Religion
The sublimity of Akbar’s conceptions, and the catholicity of his
temperament and ideals, were moulded by various influences.
Firstly, the influence of his heredity “endowed him with those
qualities of head and heart that prepared him to receive the im-
. press of his envhonments, and reflect it in the best possible way”.
In spite of their being conquerors, Timur and his descendants were
lovers of art and literature and rose above religious orthodoxy,
largely owing to their contact with Sufism. Akbar’s mother, the
daughter of a Persian scholar, sowed in his mind the seeds of
toleration. Secondly, Akbar’s early contact vdth Sufism, during
his stay in the court of Kabul, where many Sufi saints had fled
away from Persia under the pressure of Safavi persecution, and
468
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
subsequently the influence of his tutor, ‘Abdul Latif, impressed
upon his mind the worth of liberal and sublime ideas and made
him eager to “attain the ineffable bliss of direct contact with the
Divine Reality”. Lastly, his Rajput wives and his contact with
Hinduism, and the reformation movements of his time, made an
impression on his imaginative mind. Thus, “intelligent to an un-
common degree, with a mind alert and inquisitive, he was best
fitted by birth, upbringing and association to feel most keenly
those hankerings and that spiritual unrest which distinguished the
century in which he lived. He was not only the child of his century,
he was its best replica”. It might be that Akbar’s political aim
of establishing an all-India Mughul Empire had some mfluence on
his religious policy, as political factors largely influenced the
religious settlement of his English contemporary, Queen Elizabeth.
But there is no doubt that he had a yearning after truth and often
“tempests of feeling had broken over Akbar’s soul”. We are
told even by the hostile critic Badauni that “he would sit many
a morning alone in prayer and melancholy, on a large flat stone of
an old building near the (Fathpur) palace in a lonely spot with
his head bent over his chest, and gathering the bliss of early hours”.
The conflicts of the different religious sects shocked his soul, and
he devoted himself “to the evolution of a new religion, which
would, he hoped, prove to be a synthesis of aU the warring creeds
and capable of uniting the discordant elements of his vast empire
in one harmonious whole”.
Akbar observed the external forms of the Simni faith until 1575,
when his association with Shaikh Mubarak and his two sons,
Faizi and Abul Fazl, produced a change in his views. He then
caused a building to be constructed at Fathpur Sikri, called the
Ibddat-Khdna or the House of Worship, with a view to discussing,
philosophical and theological questions. He first summoned there
the learned divines of Islam, but their discussions soon took the
shape of “vulgar rancour, morbid orthodoxy and personal attacks”
and they could not reply to some of the queries of Akbar to his
satisfaction. In fact, their petty wranglings, of which Badauni
gives a graphic picture, failed to satisfy his inquisitive soul, and
led him to seek truth elsewhere. He therefore called to the ‘Ihddut-
KMna the wise men of different religions and sects, notably Hindu
philosophers like Purushottama, Devi and some others ; some
Jaina teachers, the most prominent of them being Hari Vijaya
Sun, Vijaya Sen Sun and Bhanuchandxa Upadhayya ; and
Pars! priests and Christian missionaries from Goa. He patiently
attended to the arguments of the exponents of each faith, and
AKBAR THE GREAT
459
“went so far in relation to each religion that different people
had. reasonable grounds for affirming him to be a Zoroastrian, a
Hindu, a Jaina, or a Christian”. But he was not converted to any
of these faiths, and there is no reason to exaggerate the influence of
Christianity over him more than that of any other religion.
It seems that being dissatisfied with the bitter controversies of
the Muslim divines, he was prompted to study “other religions
by means of discourses and debates, which eventually resulted in
his eclecticism” and in the promulgation of the Dln-i-Ildhl. It was
a new religion, “compounded”, as the Jesuit writer Bartoli says,
‘ ‘ out of various elements, taken partly from the Koran of Muhammad,
partly from the scriptures of the Brahmans, and to a certain
extent, as far as suited his purpose, from the Gospel of Christ”.
A firm believer in the policy of universal toleration, Akbar made
no attempt to force his religion on others with the zeal of a convert
or a religious fanatic, but appealed to the inner feelings of men.
Akbar’s conception of universal toleration was indeed a noble
one, and is a brilliant testimony to his national idealism. Relying
on the evidence of Badauni, an uncompromising critic of Akbar,
and on the writings of the Jesuits, who must have been dissatisfied
with the Emperor for their failure to convert him to their faith,
Smith wrongly remarks that “the Divine Faith was a monument
of Akbar’s foUy, not of his wisdom. The whole scheme was the out-
come of ridiculous vanity, a monstrous growth of unrestrained
autocracy”. Von ISToer, the German historian of Akbar, gives a
correct • estimate of the Divine Faith when he writes; “Badaoni
certainly takes every opportunity of raking up the notion of
Akbar’s apotheosis for the purpose of renewing attacks upon the
great emperor. He, however, was never in intimate relation to
the Din-i-Ilahi ; he repeats his misconceptions current among the
populace, marred and alloyed by popular modes of perception.
Akbar might justly have contemplated the acts of his reign with
legitimate pride, but many incidents of his life prove him to have
been among the most modest of men. It was the people who
made a God of the man who was the founder and head of an order
at once political, philosophic and religious. One of his creations
will assure to him for all time a pre-eminent place among the
benefactors of humanity — greatness and universal tolerance in
matters of religion. ”
Alcbar has been charged by Badauni, and the Jesuit writers,
with having renounced Islam in his later years. It is, of course,
true that, with a view to commanding the “indivisible allegiance of
his subjects”, Akbar sought to check the undue influence of the
!
460
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Ulemas, who, like the Popes in medieval Europe, exerted ‘‘a
parallel claim to the obedience of the people”; and proceeded,
step by step, to establish his position as the supreme head of the
Church {Imam-i-Adil). Thus in June, 1579, he removed the chief
preacher at Fathpur Sikri and read the Khutba in his own name,
and in September, 1579, he issued the so-caUed Infallibility Decree,
which made him the supreme arbiter in matters of religion. This
must have caused profound resentment among the Ulemas and
their supporters, but Akbar remained fearless. “He did not mean
to assume the spiritual leadership of the nation without having
spiritual attainments. . . . From start to finish, from ascending
the pulpit at Fathpur Sikri to the propagation of Dm-i-Ildhl,
Akbar was intensely sincere.” It is unfair to denounce a man of
such rational and liberal sentiments as having contempt for other
religions or being an enemy of any of these. He never denied
the authority of the Quran, not even in the so-called Infallibility
Decree. His ideal was a grand synthesis of all that he considered
to be the best in different religions — an ideal essentially national,
for which he is justly entitled to the gratitude of posterity.
7. Personality of Akbar
An intrepid soldier, a benevolent and wise ruler, a man of
enlightened ideas, and a sound judge of character, Akbar occupies
a unique position in the history of India. We know from Abul
Fazl, and even from the hostile critic Badauni, that he had a com-
manding personality and looked every inch a king. Jahangir remarks
in his Memoirs that his father “in his actions and movements was
not like the people of the world, and the glory of God manifested
itself in him”. Like other princes of the house of Timiir, Akbar
was endowed with remarkable courage and uncommon physical
strength. He was fearless in the chase as weU as in the fields of
battle, and, “like Alexander of Macedon, w'as always ready to
risk his life, regardless of political consequences”. He often plunged
his horse into the full-flooded rivers during the rainy season and
safely crossed over to the other side. Though a mighty conqueror,
he did not usually indulge in cruelty for its own sake. Affectionate
towards his relatives, he was not revengeful without cause, and
his behaviour towards his brother, Hakim, shows that he could
pardon a repentant rebel. On some rare occasions his temper got
the upper hand and then the culprits were summarily dealt with, as
is shown by his behaviour towards his maternal uncle, Mu'azzam, and
his foster-brother, Adam Kkan. But he usually maintained perfect
AKBAR THE GREAT
461
self-control. His manners were exceedingly charming and his
address pleasant, for which he has been highly praised by all who
came in contact with him. He was able to win the love and rever-
ence of his subjects, who considered the Ruler of Delhi to be the
Lord of the Universe. Extremely moderate in his diet, he was
fond of fruit and had little liking for meat, which he ceased to
take altogether in his later years.
Though Akbar probably did not learn how to read and write, ^ he
was not uncultured. Possessed of a fine literary taste, a profound
intellectual curiosity and a marvellous memory, he took interest
in the different branches of learning, such as philosophy, theology,
history, and politics. He maintained a library full of books on
various subjects, and was fond of the society of scholars, poets
and philosophers, who read books to him aloud, and thus enabled
him to be conversant with Sufi, Christian, Zoroastrian, Hindu
and Jaina literature. Smith writes that “anybody who heard
hi m , arguing with acuteness and lucidity on a subject of debate
would have credited him with wide literary knowledge and pro-
found erudition and never would have suspected him of illiteracy”.
He possessed also a fair taste for art, architecture and mechanical
works, and is credited with many inventions and improvements
in the manufacture of matchlocks. Gifted with indomitable
energy and indefatigable industry, he erected a vast adminis-
trative machinery on a comprehensive plan, which will be des-
cribed in a subsequent chapter. He looked, as we know from the
Ain-i-Akbarl, “upon the smallest details as mirrors capable of
reflecting a comprehensive outline”.
Though ambitious of territorial conquests, through which the
limits of the Mughul Empire were extended almost to the furth est
limits of Northern India, Akbar was not a selfish and unbridled
autocrat. He did not ignore the feelings of the conquered and
trample on their rights and privileges with an eye only to self-
interest. His ideal of kingship was high. “Upon the conduct of
the monarch,” said he, “depends the efficiency of any course of
action. His gratitude to his Lord, therefore, should be shown in
his just government and due recognition of merit; that of his
people in obedience and praises.” Endowed with the farsightedness
of a genius, he buHt the political structure of the Mughul Empire,
and its administrative system, on the co-operation and goodwill
of all his subjects. He truly realised the unsoundness of ill-
treating the Hindus, who formed the overwhelming majority of
^ Some writers are now trying to prove Akbar’s literacy. Vide Liberty,
30bh December, 1931, and Indian Historical Quarterly, December 1940.
462 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the population, or of relegating them permanently to a position
of inequality and humiliation. This shows the transcendental
ability of Akbar as a statesman. He not only meted out fair
treatment to the Hindus and appointed them to high posts, as
Slier Shah and his successors had done, but also tried to remove aU
invidious distinctions between the Muslims and non-Muslims. Thus
he abolished the pilgrim tax in the eighth year and the jizya in
the ninth year of his reign, and inaugurated a policy of universal
toleration. In fact, he chalked out a rational path for anyone who
would aspire to the position of a national ruler of India.
Akbar tried to introduce humane social reforms. He was a
patron of art and literature. AU this wiU be described in sub-
sequent chapters. From aU points of view his reign forms one of
the most brUliant periods in the history of India. Akbar, remarks
Smith, “was a bom king of men, with a rightful claim to be one
of the mightiest sovereigns known to history. That claim rests
securely on the basis of his extraordinary natural gifts, his original
ideas, and his magnificent achievements”.
CHAPTER HI
jahIngie, and shah jahan
I. Jahangir
A WEEK after Akbar’s death, Salim succeeded to the throne at
Agra at the age of thirty-six and assumed the title of Nur-ud-din
Muhammad Jahangir Padshah Ghazi. Though fond of pleasure
he was not absolutely devoid of military ambition, and dreamt of
conquering Transoxiana, the seat of government of the early
Timurids. Soon after his accession, he tried, in the words of
Asad, “to win the hearts of aU the people” by various measures.
He granted a general amnesty to his opponents, released prisoners,
set up the famous chain of justice between the Shahburji in
the fort of Agra and a stone pillar fixed on the banks of the
Jumna, and promulgated twelve edicts, which were ordered to be
observed as rules of conduct in his kingdom: —
1. Prohibition of cesses (zakdt).
2. Regulations about highway robbery and theft.
3. Free inheritance of property of deceased persons.
4. Prohibition of the sale of wine and of all kinds of intoxicating
liquor.
5. Prohibition of seizure of houses and of cutting olf the nose,
and ears of criminals.
6. Prohibition of forcible seizure of property {Ghasbi).
7. Building of hospitals and appointment of physicians to
attend the sick.
8. Prohibition of the slaughter of animals on certain days.
9. Respect paid to Sunday.
10. General confirmation of mansabs and jdglrs.
11. Confirmation of lands.
12. Amnesty to all prisoners in forts and in prisons of every kind.
These edicts do not seem to have had very great practical effects
The few changes that J ahangir now effected in the offices of the
State were intended to secure him a band of supporters. He
^Described in the Waqidt-i-Jahdnglri as “lands devoted to the purposes
of prayer and praise”.
464
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
rewarded Bir Singh Bundelii, the murderer of Abul Fazl, with
the dignity of a commander of 3,000 horse, while ‘Abdur Rahaman,
the son of the victim, and Maha Singh, son of Man Singh, were
elevated only to the rank of a commander of 2,000. Mirza Ghiyas
Beg, a Persian adventurer and father of Nur Jahan, who was
destined to be famous under the title of I‘timad-ud-daulah, was
raised to the rank of a commander of 1,500.
The “early pleasant dreams” of Jahangir were soon rudely
disturbed by the rebellion of his eldest son, Khusrav, whose rela-
tions with his father had been far from friendly smce the closing
years of Akbar’s reign. Enjoying the kindness and favour of his
grandfather, Khusrav was the most popular prince in the Empire,
having many influential supporters like his maternal uncle, Man
Singh, and his father-in-law, Khan-i-A'zam ‘Aziz Koka, foster-
brother of Akbar. Five months after Jahangir’s accession, he left
Agra, fled to the Punjab and rose in rebellion. Jahangir marched
without delay against his son with a large army. He was so
greatly perturbed that he even forgot to take his daily dose of
opium on the first morning of his march. The Prince’s troops were
easily defeated by the imperial forces near JuUundur and he was
captured with his principal followers, Husain Beg and ‘Abdul
‘Aziz, while attempting to cross the Chenab with a view to proceeding
to Kabul. He was brought before his father with “his hands
bound and a chain on his leg” in open darbdr, and after being
severely reproached was ordered to be imprisoned. His supporters
were subjected to cruel punishments.^ The captive Prince was
destined to suffer more till he met his doom in 1622. Khusrav
and his nephew, Dara Shukoh, are two pathetic figures in Mxighul
history.
The fifth Sikli Guru, Arjan, was sentenced to death, ^ and all
his property was confiscated by the Emperor. Apparently the
charge against him was that he had helped the rebel prince
Khusrav with a sum of money, and some writers believe that the
Guru suffered the “penalty for. high treason and contumacy”.
But Jahangir’s own Memoira make it clear that the Emperor was
not guided by purely political considerations. The unfortunate
prince whom the Guru helped was, in the words of Terry, “a
gentleman of a very lovely presence and fine carriage, exceedingly
beloved of the common people . . . the very love and delight
^Jahangir hzroself writes; “I gave Khusrav into custody ami I onlorofl
these two villains (Husain, Beg and ‘Abdul ‘Auiz) to be enclosed in the skins
of a cow and an ass, and to be placed on asses, face to the tail, and so to be
pai'aded round the city.” Elliot, Vol. VI, p. 300.
® His tomb is situated just outside the Fort of Lahore
465
JAHANGIR AND SHAH JAHAN
of them The Guru’s conduct may have been due to his
charitable and holy disposition, and need not indicate any hostile
intention towards the Emperor personally. The Guru himself
justified his action on the grounds of his dharma and gratitude for
the past favours of Akbar “and not because he was in oppo-
sition” to the Emperor Jahangir. The execution of the Sikh divine
was an impolitic step on the part of Jahangir, as it estranged
the Sikhs, till then a peace-loving community, and turned them
into foes of the Empire.
In May, 1611, Jahangir married Nur Jahan, originally known as
Mfiir-un-nisa, who considerably influenced his career and reign.
Modern researches have discarded the many romantic legends
about Mibr-un-nisa’s birth and early life and have proved, the
rehability of the brief account of MuTamid Khan, the author
of Iqbdl-Ndmd-i-Jahdngln. According to it, MOir-un-nisa was the
daughter of a Persian immigrant, Mirza Ghiyas Beg, who came
to India with his children and wife in the reign of Akbar. She
was born on the way to India at Qandahar. Her father rose
to high positions during the reigns of Akbar and Ms son. She
was married, at the age of seventeen, to ‘Ali Quh Beg Istajhi,
another Persian adventurer, who in the beginning of Jahangir’s
reign received the jdgir of Burdwan in Bengal and the title of
Sher-afghan. When Jahangir heard that Sher-afghan had grown
“ insubordmate and disposed to rebellions”, he sent in a.d. 1607
his foster-brother, Qutb-ud-din, the new governor of Bengal,
who was to the Emperor “in the place of a dear son, a
kind brother, and a congenial friend”, to chastise him. An affray
took place between Sher-afghan and Qutb-ud-din at Burdwan, in
course of wMch the latter was killed. Sher-afghan was, m his turn,
hacked to pieces by the followers of Qutb-ud-din, and Mihr-un-
nisa was taken to the court with her young daughter. After four
years, Mihr-im-nisa’s charming “appearance caught the king’s far-
seeing eye and so captivated him” that he married her, and made
her his chief queen. The Emperor, who styled himseff Nur-
ud-din, conferred on his new consort the title of Nur Mahal (Light
of the Palace), wMch was soon changed to Nur Jahan (Light of
the World). It is sometimes said that Jahangir had been in love
vdth Mihr-im-nisa “when she was still a maiden, during the life-
time of Akbar”, and that his infatuation for her cost Sher-afghan
his life. The truth of this opinion has recently been questioned
on the ground that the contemporary Indian historians, and some
1 Terry, Voyage to East India, p. 411. Terry, Sir Thomas Roe’s chaplain,
met Elhusrav several times.
466
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
European travellers, are silent about it and it was invented by
later writers. But the cause of Mihr-un-nisa being brought to
the court, and not to her father, who held an important post in
the Empire, has not been explained. That Jahangir was not above
the habit of having secret love affairs with the ladies of the court is
proved by the case of Anarkali, for whom he raised in 1615 a
beautiful marble tomb^ at Lahore, bearing the passionate inscrip,
tion: “Ah! Could I behold the face of my beloved once more, I
would thank God until the day of resurrection.”
Nur Jahan was indeed possessed of exquisite beauty, a fine
taste for Persian literature, poetry and arts, “a piercing intellect,
a versatile temper, and sound common sense”. But the most
dominating trait of her character was her inordinate ambition,
which led her to establish an unlimited ascendancy over her husband.
Her father, I‘timad-ud-daulah, and brother, Asaf Khan, became
prominent nobles of the court, and she further strengthened her
position by marrying her daughter by her first husband, to Jahangir’s
youngest son. Prince Shahryar.
The early part of Jahangir’s reign witnessed some important
military successes. Attention was first directed towards Bengal, the
annexation of which had not yet put an end to the Afghan opposi-
tion there. The frequent change of governors in Bengal encouraged
the local Afghans to rebel imder ‘Usman IChan during the governor-
ship of Islam Khan, who was, however, a capable man and took
prompt measures to suppress the rebellion. The Afghans were
defeated by the imperialists on the 12th March, 1612, and their
leader, ‘Usman Khan, died from the effect of a severe wound in the
head. The political power of the Afghans, so long opposed to the
Mughuls, came to an end, and Jahangir’s conciliatory policy made
them henceforth friendly to the Empire.
The most distinguished triumph of Mughul imperialism during
the reign of Jahangir was its victory over the Rajputs of Mew'ar-
who had so long defied its might. Amar Singh of Mewar was devoid
of the unflinching resolution of Pratap, and the policy of Prince
Khurram, the third son of Jahangir, compelled him to negotiate
for peace. The Bana and his son Karan submitted to the Mughuls
and recognised the suzerainty of the Empire. The Rana. himself was
exempted from personal attendance at the imperial court, and
no princess of his family was ever taken to the imperial harem.
As Jahangir himself observed: “The real point was th<at as Rana
Amar Singh and his fathers, proud in the strength of their hilly
^It became the Cbxirch of St, James from 1867 to 1887 and is now the
Becord Office of the Punjab Government.
467
JAHANGIR AND SHAH JAHAN
country and their abodes, had never seen or obeyed any of the
Kings of Hindustan, this should be brought about in my reign.”
Jahangir subsequently placed two life-size marble statues of the
Rana and his son in the garden of his palace at Agra. By granting
generous terms to Mewar and adopting a conciliatory policy towards
it, Jahangir secured its loyalty for the Mughul Empire till Aurang-
zeb’s policy alienated Rana Raj Singh.
In the Deccan, Jahangir pursued the forward policy of his father
and a desultory war dragged on throughout his reign against
the kingdom of Ahmadnagar. Complete success of the Mughul
arms over the forces of Ahmadnagar was not possible, owing partly
to the strength of the Deccan kingdom and partly to the weak
conduct of the war by the imperial troops. The kingdom of
Ahmadnagar was then ably served by its Abyssinian minister, Mahk
‘Ambar, a born leader of men and one of the greatest statesmen
that Medieval India produced. His reorganisation of the revenue
system of the kingdom on sound lines contributed to its financial
stability, and his training of the soldiers, mostly Marathas, in the
guerrilla method of warfare enabled them to cope successfully with
the imperialists. Mu'tamid Khan, the Mughul court-chronicler, who
could not have been biased towards Malik ‘Ambar, thus describes
him: “This ‘Ambar was a slave, but an able man. In warfare, in
command, in sound judgment, and in administration, he had no
rival or equal. He well understood the predatory warfare, which
in the language of the Dakhin is called bargl-giri. He kept down
the turbulent spirits of that country, and maintaiaed his exalted
position to the end of his life and closed his career in honour.
History records no other instance of an Abyssinian slave arriving
at such eminence.” The activities of the imperial troops were, on
the other hand, greatly hampered by continual dissensions among
the commanders. The nominal command of the campaigns was
given first to Prince Parwez and subsequently to Prince Khurram.
But ‘Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan,. and some other chief nobles,
really controlled aU affairs. They occupied their time more in mutual
quarrels than in fighting against the Deccanis. Only a partial
success was gained by the Mughuls m a.d. 1616, when Prince
Khurram captured Ahmadnagar and some other strongholds. For
this victory Khurram was rewarded by his father with the title
of Shah Jahan (King of the World), He received various gifts, and
was elevated to the rank of 30,000 zai and 20,000 saicdr. But the
victory of the Mughuls over Ahniadnagar was more apparent than
real. The Deccan was far from being completely conquered by them.
It has been justly remarked, that “nothing could conceal the stern
468 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
reality that the expenditure of millions of rupees and thousands
of lives had not advanced the Mughul frontier a single line beyond
the frontier of 1605”.
A notable military success of Jahangir’s reign was the capture
of the strong fortress of Kangra in the hiUs of the north-eastern
Punjab on the 16th November, 1620. But this event, in which
Jahangir found cause for exultation, was quickly followed by
disasters and rebellions which had no end tiU he closed his eyes
for ever.
The first serious disaster for the Empire was the loss of Qandahar,
which had long been a source of friction between the Mughuls and the
Persians. Deceiving the Mughul officers by gifts and friendly pro-
fessions, Shah ‘Abbas (1587-1629), one of the greatest rulers of
Asia in his time, took advantage of mternal disorders in the Empire
to besiege Qandahar in 1621, and finally took it in June, 1622. The
huge preparations of Jahangir for the recapture of Qandahar were
in vain, as his son Shah Jahan, whom he ordered to lead the ex-
pedition, apprehending that his absence from the capital would be
utilised by Nur Jahan to prejudice his claims to the throne, and to
strengthen those of her son-in-law, Shahryar, did not move. Alienated
by the intrigues of Nur Jahan, Shah Jahan soon rose in rebellion
against his father, as the Emperor had not the comuge or power
to restrain the Empress. Placed on the horns of a dilemma —
facing the Persian pressure on the north-west and the defection of
Shah Jahan within the heart of the Empire — Jahangir was in
sore straits. His attention and efforts had soon to be diverted
towards the suppression of the danger at home.
Shah Jahan, joined by the aged officer ‘Abdur Rahim Khan-i-
Khanan, at first intended to march on Agra, but an imperial army
under the nominal command of Prince Parwez and with Mahabat
Khian as its real leader, completely defeated him at Balochpur,
south of Delhi, in 1623. He was chased from province to province
and met with repeated reverses. He first proceeded to the Deccan,
whence he was driven to Bengal. But unable to maintain his hold
there, he returned to the Deccan and for a few years w^andered
about seeking the alliance of Malik ‘Ambar and others. He was
finally reconciled to his father in 1625, His sons, Dara Shukoh
and Aurangzeb, were sent to the imperial court, probably to
serve as hostages for his good behaviour; and he retired to
Nasik with his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a niece of Nur Jahan, and his
youngest son, Murad. Thus ended the futile rebellion of Shah
Jahan, with no gain for him but with ample damage to the
Empire.
JAHlNGlE AND SHlH JAHlN 469
An Afghan by birth, Mahabat Khan held only a mansab of 500
in the beginning of Jahangir’s reign. Being rapidly promoted to
higher ranks, he rendered conspicuous services to the Emperor,
especially in suppressing the rebellion of Shah Jahan. But his
success excited the jealousy of Nur Jahan and her brother, Asaf
Khan, and the queen’s hostility drove him to rebellion. By a
bold coup de main he made Jahan^ a prisoner on the bank of the
river Jhelum, while the Emperor was on his way to Kabul. Nur
Jahan managed to escape, but all her attempts to rescue her
husband by force having failed, she joined him in confinement.
She and her husband were finally able, by outwitting Mahabat
Khan, to effect their escape to Kohtas, where the partisans of
Jahangir had collected a large force. Mahabat Khan ultimately
ran away to Shah Jahan and made peace with him. But Nur
Jahan’s triumph was short-lived, for the Emperor died on the
28th October, 1627. His body was buried in a beautiful tomb
at Shahdara, on the banks of the Ravi.
Jahangir is a complex personality in Indian history. Terry
writes of him: “Now for the disposition of that King it ever
seemed unto me to be composed of extremes: for sometimes
he was cruel and at other times he would seem to be exceedingly
fair and gentle.” Beveridge remarks: “Jahangir was indeed a
strange mixture. The man who could stand by and see men
flayed alive . . . could yet be a lover of justice and could
spend his Thursday evenings in holding high converse. ... He
could procure the murder of Abul Eazl and avow the fact without
remorse, and also pity the royal elephants because they shivered
in winter when they sprinkled themselves with cold water. . . .
One good trait in Jahangir was his hearty enjoyment of nature
and his love of flowers.” In the opinion of the Emperor’s latest
biographer, he was “a sensible, kind-hearted man, with strong
family affections and unstinted generosity to all, with a burning
hatred of oppression and a passion for justice. On a few occasions
in his career as prince and emperor, he was betrayed, not
without provocation, by fits of wrath into individual acts of
cruelty. But, as a rule, he was remarkable for humanity, affability
and an open mind”. Francis Gladwin has also observed that
“from the beginning to the end of his reign, Jahangir’s disposition
towards his subjects appears to have been invariably humane
and considerate”. He removed some vexatious transit duties
and taxes and made an attempt to prohibit traffic in eunuchs.
He had a strong sense of justice. “The first order that I gave,”
he writes, “was for fastening up the Chain of Justice.” This chain,
470
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
bearing sixty bells, could be shaken by the humblest of his subjects
to bring their grievances to his notice. He imposed penalties
without any consideration for the rank of the accused. Thus on
passing the capital sentence on an influential murderer, he observed :
“God forbid that in such affairs I should consider princes, and
far less that I should consider Amirs.” His reign saw the beginning
of a new intercourse between Europe and India.
Possessed of a fine aesthetic taste, and himself a painter, Jahangir
was a patron of art and literature and a lover of nature. His
Tuzuk (Memoirs) is a brilliant proof of his literary attainments.
But he was given to excessive intemperance, which gradually
spoiled the finer aspects of his character and was responsible for
the inconsistency of his temper. Jahangir’s attitude towards
religion was not so rational as that of his father, but he was not
an eclectic or a Christian at heart. With a sincere belief in God,
he did not remain satisfied with mere dogmas of any particular
creed but was a deist. He loved to converse with Hindu or
Muslim saints, and Christian preachers, and valued religious
pictures, notably of Christians, but he did not accept the practices
or rites of the Hindus, the Zoroastrians or the Christians,
2. Shah Jahan
A. The 8trv^gle for the Throne
The death of Jahangir was followed by a short period of struggle
for succession to the throne. Shah Jahan was still in the Deccan
when his father died in October, 1627, and though two of his
brothers, Khusrav and Parwez, had already expired, there was
another, Prince Shahryar, with a position of advantage in the
north. At the instance of his mother-in-law, Nur Jahan, Shahryar
lost no time in proclaiming himself Emperor in Lahore. But
Shah Jahan’s cause was ably served by Asaf Khan, father of
Mumtaz Mahal, With much alertness, Asaf Khan sent a message
to Shah Jahan asking him to come to the north. At the same
time, with a view to satisfying the people of the capital, he installed
Prince Dawar Bakhsh, son of the late Prince Khusrav, on the
throne as a stop-gap Emperor, pending the arrival of Slulh tlahan.
Having won over to his side the Mir Bakhshi, Iradat Khan, Asaf
Khan marched to Lahore, defeated the troops of Shahryar, made
him a prisoner and blinded him. Shah 0‘ahan hurried to Agra
from the Deccan and was proclaimed Emperor in tlie metropolis in
February, 1628, under the lofty title of *Abul Muzaffar Shihab-ud-din
471
JAHlNGlR AND SHAH JAHIN
Muhammad Sahib-i-qiran II, Shah Jahan Padshah Ghazi. Soon after
this, Prince Dawar Bakhsh, whom the contemporary chronicler has
aptly described as a “ sacrificial lamb ”, was removed from the throne
and consigned to prison, but he was subsequently released and went
to reside in Persia as a pensioner of its Shah. Shah Jahan
managed to remove all his possible rivals “out of the world”.
He lived to see two of his sons executed, a third driven out of
the country. He himself spent his last days as a captive.
B. Rehellions
For the time being, however, everything went in the Emperor’s
favour. He began his reign with profound optimism and success.
In recognition of their services, Asaf lOian and Mahabat Khan
were promoted to high offices. The former was made the Wazir
of the Empire and the latter governor of Ajmer. The Emperor
easily suppressed two rebellions — one of Jujhar Singh, a Bundela
chief, son of Bir Singh Bundela, and the other of a powerful
Afghan noble named Khan Jahan Lodi, an ex-viceroy of the
Deccan — which broke out in the jfirst and the second year of his
reign respectively. The Bundela chief was quickly overpowered
and retreated into the mountains, whence, however, he continued
to create trouble for the Emperor till 1634. Ultimately he was
defeated by the imperialists, who forced him to leave his country,
and he was killed on the way in a chance skirmish with the Gonds.
More formidable than the Bundela rising was the rebellion of
Khan Jahan Lodi, who had allied himself with Nizam-ul-mulk,
the last of the Nizam Shahi rulers of Ahmadnagar, and bad some
Maratha and Rajput supporters. The success of his efforts, which
meant the “carrying out of the traditional hostility of the Afghan
chiefs to the Mughul dynasty”, would have deprived the Empire
of its southern provinces. But Shah Jahan, having fully realised
the gravity of the situation, sent a body of efficient troops to
suppress the rebellion. Chased from place to place, deserted by
his allies and having lost his friends and relations in battle, the
Afghan chief fought desperately against the imperialists for three
years but was ultimately defeated at Tal Sehonda, north of Kafinjar,
and cut to pieces with his sons, ‘Aziz and Aimal, in the fourth
year.
0. Treatment of the Portuguese and Capture of Hugli
The Portuguese had established themselves above Satgaon in
Bengal in or about a.d. 1579 on the strength of an imperial jimaw,
472
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
and had gradually strengthened their position by the erection of
large buildings round about Hugh, which became consequently
more important than Satgaon from the commercial point of view.
But far from remaining satisfied with peaceful commercial pursuits,
they gave offence to Shah Jahan by some objectionable practices.
They not only exacted heavy duties from the Indian traders,
especially on tobacco (which had become by that time an important
article of trade), at the cost of the revenues of the State, but also
became arrogant enough to begin the abominable and cruel practice
of slave trading, for which they Iddnapped many orphan Hindu
or Muslim children, whom they converted to Christianity. Their
audacity rose so high that they captured two slave girls of Mumtaz
Mahahs. This must have been sufficient to incense the Mughul
Emperor. The conversion of Indians to Christianity by some
of the Jesuit missionaries added to his resentment against the
Portuguese. After his accession to the throne, Shah Jahan appointed
Kasim ‘Ali Khan governor of Bengal and charged him with the
duty of punishing the Portuguese. Hugli was accordingly besieged
by a large army, under the command of Kasim ‘Ali Khan’s son,
on the 24th June, 1632, and was captured after three months.
Many of the Portuguese, as we know from the court-chronicler,
‘Abdul Hamid Lahori, were killed and a large number of them
were taken as prisoners to Agra, where they suffered terribly.
D. Famine in the Deccan and Gnjardt, 1630-1632
In the fourth and fifth years of the reign of Shah Jahan an
appalling famine of the most severe type desolated the Deccan
and Gujarat. The horrors of this terrible calamity have been
thus described by ‘Abdul Hamid Lahori: “The inhabitants of
these two countries were reduced to the direst extremity. Life
was offered for a loaf, but none would buy ; rank was to be sold for
a cake, but none cared for it ; the ever-bounteous hand was stretched
out to beg for food; and the feet which had always trodden the
way of contentment walked about only in search of sustenance.
For a long time dog’s flesh was sold for goat’s flesh, and the pounded
bones of the dead were mixed with flour and sold. When this was
discovered, the sellers were brought to justice. Destitution at
length reached such a pitch that men began to devour each other,
and the flesh of a son was preferred to his love. The numbers of
the dying caused obstruetions in the roads, and every man whose
dii-e sufferings did not terminate in death and who retained the
power to move wandered off to the towns and villages of other
473
JAHlNGlR AND SHlH JAHAN
countries.” An English merchant-traveller, Peter Mundy, who
went on business from Surat to Agra and Patna and came back
while the famine was raging, has also left a detailed account of
its horrors.
E. The North-West Frontier Policy
Shah Jahan was determined to recover the important province
of Qandahar, without which the Mughul position on the north-west
frontier remained comparatively weak. By skilful negotiations
he seduced ‘Ali Mardan Kh.an, the Persian governor of Qandahar,
from his loyalty to the Shah and persuaded him to surrender the
fortress to the Mughuls. ‘Ali Mardan entered the Mughul imperial
service and was rewarded with money and honour. The action
of ‘All Mardan Khan deprived Persia of Qandahar, but the Mughuls
could not retain it long. The Persians under their energetic ruler,
Shah ‘Abbas II, made preparations in August, 1648, with a view
to attacking Qandahar during winter, when the snowTall would make
it difficult for the Mughuls to bring reinforcements from India.
The courtiers of Shah Jahan unwisely advised him to postpone the
work of opposing the Persians till the season was over. “The
natural consequence of neglecting an enemy followed. The Persian
King triumphed over the depth of winter, his lack of provisions,
and other difficulties, on which the courtiers of Shah Jahan had
built their hopes,” and besieged Qandahar on the 16th December,
1648. The Mughul garrison ultimately capitulated on the 11th
February, a.d. 1649, owing largely to the weakness of Daulat Khan,
the incapable Mughul governor of Qandahar. Early in May, Prince
Aurangzeb, with the chief minister, Sa'duUah IChan, was deputed
to make an attempt to recover Qandahar, and he attacked it on
the 16th of that month. But this attempt failed before the superior
military preparations and skill of the Persians. Shah Jahan, how-
ever, would not abandon his design of recapturing Qandahar.
After three years’ preparations the Emperor sent there a powerful
expeditionary army with a siege-train, again under Aurangzeb
and Sa'duUah Khan, while he himself remained encamped at
Kabul to make arrangements for supplies of provisions and
munitions of war. The imperial commanders invested Qandahar
on the 2nd May, 1652. They had received strict instructions from
their master not to deliver an assault on the fortress without
making a breach, but they failed to effect it with their inefficient
gunnery in the face of the superior artillery of the Persians. Thus
the Mughul troops had no success this time also, and Shah Jahan
had to order the abandonment of the siege. A third attempt made
474
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
by the Emperor’s eldest and favourite son, Dara Shukoh (now
exalted with the title of “Shah Buland IqbaV or “King of Lofty
Fortune”), in the following year, proved as unlucky as that of
his brother. Qandahar was lost to the Mughuls for good, though
the campaigns undertaken to recover it during the reign of Shah
Jahan cost no less than twelve crores of rupees, that is, more than
half of the annual income of the State, besides valuable lives.
Further, the repeated failures of the Mughul troops before Qandahar
considerably affected the prestige of the Empire.
F. The Central Asian Policy
The Central Asian adventures of the Mughuls also ended in
disasters, Shah Jahan, like his father and grandfather, dreamt
of reconquering the old territories of his ancestors in Central Asia .
“Ever since the beginnmg of his reign,” writes ‘Abdul Hamid
Lahori, “the Emperor’s heart had been set upon the conquest of
Balkh and Badakhshan, which w^ere hereditary territories of his
house, and the keys to the acquisition of Samarqand, the home
and capital of his great ancestor Timur.” But the difficulties of
mobilising a large army through the lofty ranges of the Hindukush
were great, and the utility of the enterprise for the Mughul Empire
in India was very doubtful. Shah Jahan, however, did not consider
this. “The prosperity of his reign and the flattery of his courtiers
had turned his head and he was dreaming the vainest of vain
dreams.” In 1646, circumstances being favourable owing to the
outbreak of a civil war in the ruling house of the Oxus region,
Prince Murad and ‘Ali Mardan occupied Balldi and Badakhshan,
which lay hemmed in between the Hindukush and the Oxus. But
to consolidate these conquests became impossible. Sick of the
uncongenial climate of Baflch and other difficulties, Prince Murad
came back to India against the desire of his father, for winch he
was disgraced. The wazlr, Sa'dullah Khan, was soon sent to Balkh
to set things right. In the next year the Emperor, determined
not to give up his conquests, dispatched Aurangzeb to Balkh with
a large army. But the Uzbegs now organised a national resistance
against the Mughuls in the face of wliich Aurangzeb, in spite of
his sincere and earnest efforts, could achieve nothing and had
to retreat to India after suffering terrible hardships. The Central
Asian campaigns cost the Mughul Empire immense loss of men
and money. As Sir J. N. Sarkar remarks: “Thus ended Shah
Jahan ’s fatuous war in Balkh — a war in wliich the Indian treasury
spent four krores of rupees in two years and realised from the
475
JAHANGIR AND SHlH JAHlN
conquered country a revenue of 22| lakhs only. Not an inch of
territory was annexed, no dynasty changed, and no enemy replaced
by an ally on the throne of Balkh. The grain stored in the Balkh
fort, worth five lakhs, and the provisions in other forts as well,
were all abandoned to the Bukharians, besides Rs, 50,000 in cash
presented to Nazar Muhammad's grandsons and Rs. 22,500 to
envoys. Five hundred soldiers fell in battle and ten times that
number (including camp-followers) were slain by cold and snow on
the mountains. Such is the terrible price that aggressive imperialism
makes India pay for wars across the north-western frontier.”
Q. Shuh Jahdn and the Deccan States
Shah Jahan resumed the traditional policy of expansion in the
south, the whole of which had not been, as we have already noted,
thoroughly subdued by Akbar. Akbar could only conquer Khandesh
and amiex a portion of Berar. Jahangir’s attempt to conquer
Ahmadnagar was successfully checked by its able minister, Malik
‘Ambar. Bijapur and Golkunda continued to enjoy independence.
Much was still left to be accomplished before Mughul imperialism
could triumph completely over the Peninsula.
The Nizam Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar, because of its
proximity to the Mughul frontier in the south, was the first to feel
the weight of Mughul arms. After the death of Malik ‘Ambar,
the saviour of Ahmadnagar from Mughul attack during the reign
of Jahangir, in 1626, the kingdom was in a moribund condition. In-
ternal dissensions between the Sultan and his minister, Fateh Khan,
the unworthy son of the noble Abyssinian Malik ‘Ambar, brought
the kingdom within the clutches of the Mughuls in the course of a
few years. In 1630 the Mughuls failed to capture Parenda, a
strong fortress belonging to Ahmadnagar. But Fateh Khan, dis-
satisfied with Sultan Nizam-ul-mulk, entered into negotiations
with the Mughul Emperor and at the suggestion of the latter
secretly made away with his master. To perpetuate his own
influence he placed on the throne Nizam-ul-mulk’s son, Husain
Sbah, a boy only ten years old. He was not at all sincere in his
friendship with the Mughuls, When the Mughuls besieged the
fortress of Daulatabad in 1631, he at first went against the
imperialists but was soon w'^on over by them with a bribe of ten
and a half lacs of rupees, and surrendered the fortress. Thus the
same ignoble means which had given Asirgarh to the Mughuls
were used by them also to secure Daulatabad. Ahmadnagar
was annexed to the Mughul Empire in a.d. 1633, and the
476
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
nominal king, Husain Skah, was consigned to life-long imprison-
ment in tke fort of Gwalior. The dynasty of the Nizam Shahis
thus came to an end, though an unsuccessful attempt to revive
it was made in 1635 by Shahji, father of the celebrated Shivaji.
As a reward for his help to the Mughuls, Eateh Edian was enrolled
in the imperial service at a liberal salary.
The independence of the Shiah States of Golkunda and Bijapur
was highly offensive to the imperialistic and religious zeal of Shah
Jahan. The encroachments of the imperial troops on their terri-
tories had already begun in 1629 and 1631 respectively. In
the year 1635, when the rulers of those two States secretly helped
Shahji, who made an attempt to set up a Nizam Shahi boy as
the nominal Sultan of the now defunct kingdom of Admadnagar,
the Mughul Emperor called upon them to acknowledge his suzerainty,
to send tribute regularly, and to abstain from helping Shahji. He
marched in person to the Deccan to enforce his demands and on
reaching Daulatabad on 21st February, 1636, made vigorous
preparations to attack the Deccan States. Overawed by these,
‘Abdullah Shah, Sultan of Golkunda, acknowledged the suzerainty
of Shah Jahan by complying with all the demands of the latter,
such as paying an annual tribute to the Emperor, and to strhdng
coins, and having the Khutha read, in his name.
But the ‘Adil Shah of Bijapur refused to submit to the imperial
behest and made a bold stand to defend his rights. Three Mughul
armies then attacked his kingdom from three sides^ — one, under
Khan-i-Dauran, from Bidar in the north-east, another, under Klian
Jahan, through Sholapur in the west, and the third, under Klian-
i-Zaman, by way of Indapur in the north-west. Though by
resorting to the time-honoured expedients of cutting off the
supplies of the enemy and poisoning the wells, the Bijapur soldiers
bravely defended the capital city, the rest of their kingdom was
devastated by the Mughuls. Thus the Sultan was compelled to
sue for peace, which was concluded in May, 1636. He acknowledged
the suzerainty of the Mughul Emperor, and was required not to
molest the kingdom of Golkunda, which was now a dependency
of the Emperor. Besides being allowed to hold his ancestral
kingdom, the Sultan got portions of the territory of the
Ahmadnagar kingdom, the rest of which was absorbed into the
Mughul Empire. Both the parties agreed not to suborn tlieir
respective officers, and the Sultan was not to assist, or give-
shelter to, Shahji. “Thus after forty years of strife {1595 -
1636),” writes Sir J. N. Sarkar, “the affairs of the Deccan
were at last settled. The position of the Emperor was
JAHlNGlR AND SHAH JAHAN 477
asserted beyond challenge, his boundaries clearly defined, and
his suzerainty over the southern Idngdoms formally established.”
The Emperor left the Deccan on the 11th July, 1636, and sent
his third son, Aurangzeb, then a youth of eighteen, as viceroy
of the Mughul Deccan. It was then a fairly extensive territory,
comprising four provinces, Khandesh, Berar, Telingana, and
Daulatabad, and estimated to yield an income of five crores of
rupees a year. It contained sixty-four hiU forts, some of which
were stUl in the possession of Shahji and other hostile chiefs.
The young viceroy engaged himself assiduously in suppressing
the enemies of the Empire. He captured the district of Baglana,
lying between Khandesh and the Surat coast, and compelled
Shahji to submit to him and surrender certain forts. In 1637 he
went to Agra to marry Dilras Banu Begam, daughter of Shah
Nawaz Khan of the Persian royal family, then employed as a
Mughul officer. But Aurangzeb was much embarrassed in his
Deccan administration for lack of finance and also by the influence
of a hostile party under his brother, Dara Shukoh. In 1644 he
proceeded to Agra to see his favourite sister, Jahanara, who had
been severely burnt in the month of March and was cured at last
in November by an ointment prepared by a slave named Arif.^
But three weeks after his arrival at Agra, Aurangzeb was forced by
adverse circumstances to resign his post. The older historians
have suggested some vague reasons for this sudden fall of Aurangzeb,
which do not offer a true explanation of the situation. ‘Abdul
Hamid Lahori writes that “misled by the wicked counsels of his
foolish companions, he wanted to take to the retired life of an
ascetic and had also done some acts which the Emperor disapproved
of”. In the opinion of KhafiKhan, Aurangzeb, in order to “antici-
pate his father’s punishment of his bad deeds, himself took off his
sword and lived for some days as a hermit” which caused his
retirement from the Deccan viceroyalty. The real reason, as
found in Aurangzeb’s letters, was that owing to Dara Shukoh’s per-
sistent hostility towards him and the partiality of Shah Jahan
for his brother, Aurangzeb found it difficult to carry on the Deccan
administration and maintain his self-respect properly and so
resigned in disgust.
After his resignation of the viceroyalty of the Deccan, Aurangzeb
was appointed governor of Gujarat in February, 1645, and was
subsequently sent on expeditions to BaUth, Badakhshan and
^ It has been shown by Sir William Foster {Indian Antiquary, 1911) and
Dr. Smith {Oxford History, p. 401), that the story of an. English surgeon
named Gabriel Boughton curing Jahanara is not true.
478 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
Qandahar, which, as we have already seen, ended in failure. On
returning from Qandahar, Aurangzeb could not stay at court in
safety, or honourably, owing to the hostility of Bara Shukoh. He
was, therefore, sent to the Deccan as its viceroy for the second time
in the beguming of a.d. 1653 . Prom November, 1653, either
Daulatabad or Aurangabad was the headquarters of his govern-
ment.
The task before Aurangzeb was immensely difficult. Durmg
the few j'-ears following his resignation, the administration of the
Deccan had fallen into utter confusion, and its financial condition
had become deplorable, through a “succession of short viceroyalties
and incompetent viceroys”. The administration ran on a constant
financial deficit, which had to be made good by draining the
imperial exchequer. But this was indeed a shortsighted policy.
To improve the finances of the Deccan was, therefore, Aurangzeb’s
first concern. He not only took steps to promote agriculture in
the interests of the peasantry but also adopted certain revenue
measures, which considerably improved the economic conditions
of his territory and have made his viceroyalty famous in the history
of land settlements in the Deccan. He fortunately received valuable
assistance from an able Persian revenue officer named Murshid
Qull Khan. Belonging originally to the company of ‘All Mardan
Khan, Murshid QuK came to the Deccan with Aurangzeb as diwdn
of Daulatabad and Telingana and subsequently also of Berar and
Khandesh. For the purpose of revenue-collection, the Deccan
subah was divided into two parts, the Painghat or the Lowlands
and the Balaghat or the Highlands, each having its own diwdn
or revenue-minister. The former comprised the whole of Khandesh
and one half of Berar and the latter covered the rest of the terri-
tories under viceregal control. Besides reorganising the Deccan
finances, Murshid Quli extended there Todar Mali’s system of survey
and assessment, with some changes suited to local conditions.
Thus in the areas which W'^ere thinly populated and wdxere agriculture
was in a comparatively backward stage ho retained tlie traditional
system of a fixed lump sum payment per plough, while elsewhere
he introduced the system of hdtdi (metayership), under which
the share of the State varied according to the nature of the crop
and the source of water. In certain parts he introduced another
system of assessment knowm as the ^arib. According to it, the
State-revenue, to be paid in kind, was fixed per higkd on a uniform
claim to one-fourth, of the produce, after a careful measurement
of the lands and consideration of the quality and quantity of their
produce. Steps were also taken to improve the condition of the
JAHANGIR AND SHAH JAHAN 479
ruined villages and help the agricidturists with advance payments.
On the whole, the wise measures of Murshid Quli contributed to
the restoration of prosperity in the Deccan, though the accumu-
lated evils of several years’ bad government were too numerous
to be removed completely within a short time. Sir J. N. Sarkar
observes on the authority of Bhimsen Burhanpuri, the author of
Nushlia-i-Dilkhushd, that in 1658 there was not “a single piece of
waste land near Aurangabad ; wheat and pulse sold at 2| maunds
a rupee, jawar and hajrd at 3|- maimds, molasses at half a maund,
and yellow oil (ghee) at 4 seers
Having thus reorganised the internal administration, Aurangzeb
turned his attention towards destroying the independence of the
rich Shiah States of Golkunda and Bijapur. Excuses for immediate
attack were not lacking. So far as the State of Golkunda, already
a tributary of the Mughul Empire since 1636, was concerned, it
had been frequently in arrears in payment of the stipulated tribute.
A more plausible plea was found in the Sultan’s treatment of his
powerful minister, Mir Jumla, who had secured the protection of
the Mughuls.
Muhammad Sa'id, better known as Mir Jumla, was a Persian
merchant-adventurer. Like several other adventurers, he made
a vast fortune, by trading in diamonds and precious stones, and
soon entered the service of ‘AbduUah Qutb Shah, the Sultan of
Golkunda. His exceptional talents, military genius, and adminis-
trative capacity, were appreciated by his master, who made him
the chief minister of the State. Mir Jumla took advantage of his
position to make himself the virtual dictator of the State. He
went further and soon carved out a dominion for himself by exten-
sive conquests in the Karnatak. This dominion, about three
hundred miles long and fifty miles broad, yielded him an annual
revenue of forty lacs of rupees and enabled him to maintain a
powerful army, especially strong in artillery. Thus, though his
“rank was that of a noble, he possessed the power, wealth and
grandeur of a ruling prince”. Naturally alarmed at the growing
power and wealth of his minister, the Sultan tried to coerce him
into obedience and arrested Ms son, Muhammad ‘Amin Khan,
with his family, for his insolent behaviour towards Mm. Mir Jumla
then entered into intrigues with the Mughul Emperor and Aurang-
zeb. The latter realised that the friendship of this discontented
and semi-independent officer would be of immense service to him
in Ms meditated attack on Golkunda.
Thus the Sultan of Golkunda was betrayed by Mir Jumla.
^Sarkar, Aurangzeb, Vol. I, p. 173,
480 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Aurangzeb procured an order from Shah Jahaii bidding the Sultan
of Golkunda release Mir Jmnla’s family, but without allowing
the Sultan a reasonable time to reply to the Emperor’s letter, he
declared war agaiust him. Acting under Aurangzeb’s instructions,
his son, Prince Muhammad Sultan, attacked Hyderabad in January,
1556, and the Mughul soldiery plundered the country. Aurangzeb
himself reached there on the 6th February and besieged Golkunda
the next day. His ambition was nothing short of the complete
annexation of the kingdom. But the mtervention of Shah Jahan,
under the influence of Dara Shukoh and Jahanara, prevented it.
In obedience to the orders of his father, Aurangzeb was compelled
to raise the siege of Golkunda on the 30th March, 1656, and the
kingdom thus got a further lease of life on pajdng to the Mughul
Emperor an indemnity of ten lacs of rupees and ceding to him the
district of Rangir (modern Manikdrug and Chinoor). Prince
Muhammad Sultan, Aurangzeb’s son, was married by proxy to
the Sultan’s daughter, and, by a secret arrangement, Aurangzeb
extorted a promise from the Sultan to make his new son-in-law
his heir. Mir Jumla was soon afterwards appointed prime minister
of the Empire.
Next came the turn of the kingdom of Bijapur, which had fallen
into disorder after the death of its capable ruler, Muhammad
‘Adil Shah, on the 4th November, 1656. This presented an oppor-
tunity to Aurangzeb for the fulfilment of his design. He obtained
Shah Jahan’s permission to invade the Idngdom on the ground
that the new ruler of Bijapur, a youth of eighteen years, was not
the son of the deceased Sultan but his origin was obscure. This
was nothing but a flimsy pretext and it is clear that the war against
Bijapur “was wholly unrighteous. Bijapur was not a vassal State,
but an independent ally of the Mughul Emperor, and the latter
had no lawful right to confirm or question the succession at Bijapur.
The true reason for the Mughul interference was the helplessness
of its boy-king and the discord among his officers, which presented
a fine ‘opportunity for annexation’, as Aurangzeb expressed it”.
With the assistance of Mir Jumla, Aurangzeb invaded the kingdom
early in January, 1657, and, after a prolonged siege, reduced the
fortress of Bidar towards the end of March and of Kalyani on
the Ist August. Further conquest of the Deccan was prevented
by the sudden intervention of Shah Jahan under the influence of
Dara Shukoh and other opponents of Aurangzeb, The Emperor
granted peace to the Sultan of Bijapur (1657), as conditions of
which the latter had to pay a heavy indemnity, like the Sultan
of Golkunda, and surrender Bidar, Kalyani and Parenda. The
481
JAHlNGlR AND SHAH JAHAN
illness of Shah Jahan, and the consequent scramble for the throne
among his sons, postponed the complete fulfilment of Aurangzeb’s
designs in the Deccan, which thus gained a respite for about thirty
years.
H. War of Succession
Shah Jahan’s last days were made highly tragic by the outbreak
of a terrible war of succession among his sons. It broke out as
soon as he fell ill in September, 1657, and subjected the old Emperor
to extreme humiliation and agony till his exit from this world.
Shah Jahan had four sons, aU of mature age at that time — Dara
Shukoh aged 43, Shuja aged 41, Aurangzeb aged 39, and Murad
aged 33 — and two daughters, Jahanara, who sided with Dara
Shukoh, and Raushnara, who joined the party of Aurangzeb. All
the brothers had by that time gained considerable experience in
civil and military affairs as governors of provinces and commanders
of armies, but there were differences among them in personal
qualities and capacities. The eldest of them, Dara Shukoh, was
in the confidence of his father, who desired him to be his successor.
A man of eclectic views, liberal disposition, and of scholarly instincts,
Dara Shukoh mixed with the followers of other faiths and studied
the doctrines of the Vedanta, the Talmud, the New Testament
and the works of Sufi writers. He caused a Persian version of
the Atharva Veda and the Upanishads to be made with the
assistance of some Brahmana scholars^ and aimed at finding
a modus vivendi among the apparently hostile creeds. For this
he naturally incurred the displeasure of the orthodox members
among his co-religionists, who went against him. But he was
not a heretic. He never “discarded the essential dogmas of Islam;
he only displayed the eclecticism of the Sufis, a recognised school
of Islamic believers. If he showed contempt for the external rites of
religion, he only shared the standpoint of many noble thinkers
of all Churches, such as John Milton”. His latest biographer has
aptly remarked: “It is hardly an exaggeration to say that any one
who intends to take up the solution of the problem of religious
peace in India must begin the work where Dara had left it, and
proceed on the path chalked out by that prince.” But the excessive
fondness of his father for him, and his constant presence at the
court, prevented the growth in him of the qualities of an astute
politician or the abilities of a brave general and also bred in him a
1 For a list of Dara Shukoh’s works wtcfe j.P.B’.S., Vol. II, pp. 21-38;
J.A.S.B., Part I, 1870, pp. 273-9; Sarkar’s Aurangzeb, Vol. I, p. 271 foot-
note; Qanungo, Dara Shukoh, Vol. I, Chapter VI.
482 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
sense of pride, which made him contemptuous of advice. His
anger was, however, “seldom more than momentary”. The second
brother, Shuja, then governor of Bengal, possessed intelligence
and was a brave soldier. But his excessive lovn of ease and pleasure
made him “weak, indolent, and negligent, incapable of sustained
effort, vigilant caution, and profound combination”. The youngest,
Murad, then governor of Gujarat, was no doubt frank, liberal and
brave, but was addicted to hard drinking and could not there-
fore develop the qualities needed for leadership. Aurangzeb, the
third brother, was the ablest of aU. He possessed uncommon
industry and profound diplomatic and military skill, and an
unquestionable capacity for administration. Further, as a zealous
vSunni Mussalman, he naturally obtained the support of the orthodox
Sunnis. As we shall see, the differences in the character of the rival
princes did much to mfluence the course of the struggle. Dara
Shukoh, a liberal man but an ill-qualified general and statesman,
was a poor match for the clever and intelligent Aurangzeb ; Shuja
and Murad had also to suffer for their incompetence before the
superior generalship and tact of Aurangzeb.
Dara Shukoh alone of the four brothers was present at Agra
when Shah Jahan feU ill in September, 1657. The ilhiess was indeed
serious and it was suspected by the three absentee brothers at
their father had really expired and the news had been suppressed
by Dara Shukoh. So precarious is the position of an autocracy
that even the iUness of the Emperor gave rise to confusion and
disorder in the kingdom, which became more intense as soon as the
fratricidal contest commenced. Shuja proclaimed himself Emperor
at Rajmahal, the then capital of Bengal, and marched towards the
metropolis of the Empire. But on arriving near Benares ho w'as
defeated by an army sent against him under Dara Shukoh ’s son,
Sulaiman Shukoh, and was forced to retire to Bengal. Murad also
crowned himself at Ahmadabad (5th December, 1657). He joined
Aurangzeb at Malwa and formed an alliance with him. They entered
into an agreement to partition the Empire, which was solemnised
in the name of God and the Prophet. The terms of the agreement
were: (i) “one-third of the booty would belong to Murad Bakhsli
and two-thirds to Aurangzeb, (ii) after the conquest of the Eniphe,
the Punjab, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Sind would belong to
MurM, who would set up the standard of kingship there, issue
coins and proclaim his own name as king”. The combined troops
of Aurangzeb and Murad marched towards the north and reached
Dharmat, fourteen miles south-south- west of Ujjam. The Emperor
sent Raja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur and Qasim Khan to check
483
JAHAJNIGm AND SHAH JAHAN
theix advance. The hostile armies met at Dharmat on the 15th
April, 1658, where the imperialists w'ere signally defeated, owing
partly “to the evds of divided counsels” and jealousy between
the Hindu and Muslim soldiers and partly to the inferior military
tactics of Jaswant Singh as compared with those of Aurangzeh,
who had “aged in war”. The Rathors fought with desperate valour
and suffered heavy losses, while Qasim Khan did almost nothing
to serve the cause of his master. When Jaswant Singh fled to
Jodhpur his proud wife shut the gates of the castle against him
for retreating from the field of battle. The .battle of Dharmat
immensely added to Aurangzeb’s resources and prestige. As Sir iji
J. N. Sarkar remarks: “The hero of the Deccan wars and the ij
victor of Dharmat faced the world not only without loss but with |
his military reputation rendered absolutely unrivalled in India.”
The victorious princes crossed the Chambal over a neglected
ford and reached the plain of Samugarh, eight miles to the east
of Agra Fort. Dara Shukoh had also advanced there tow'ards the
end of May to meet his opponents with an army of 50,000 soldiers
“formidable in appearance only” but “composed of a miscel-
laneous host of diverse classes and localities, hastily got together
and not properly co-ordinated nor taught to act in concert”. A
battle ensued on the 29th May. It was hotly contested and both
parties fought bravely, Murad getting three wounds in the face.
True to the tradition of their race, the Rajputs under Dara Shukoh
fought gallantly under their brave young leader. Ram Singh, and
perished to a man in making a desperate attack upon the division
of Prince Murad. Unluckily for Dara Shukoh, his elephant being
severely wounded by an arrow, he got down &om it and mounted
a horse. “That action,” observes Smith, “settled the fate of
the battle.” Finding the howddh of their master’s elephant empty,
the surviving troops thought that he had fallen and dispersed from
the field in utter confusion. Filled with despair, Dara Shukoh fled
towards Agra, leaving his camp and guns to be captured by his
enemies, and reached there “in an unspeakably wretched condi-
tion”. The defeat of Dara Shukoh was in fact due to some tactical
errors on the part of his generals and to the weaker condition of
his artillery, and it was not caused wholly, as some accormts would
lead us to believe, by the artful advice of Kdialilullah, who
was in charge of the right wing of his army.
The battle of Samugarh practically decided the issiie in the
succession war among the sons of Shah Jahan. The discomfiture
of Dara, with the loss of many of his soldiers, made it easier for
Aurangzeb to realise his ambition. It may very well be said that
484
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the capture of the throne of Hindustan by Aurangzeb was almost
a logical sequel to his victory at Samugarh. Soon after this victory
he marched to Agra and seized the fort there on the 8th June
following, defying all efforts of Shah Jahan for an amicable
settlement and baffling the attempts of the imperial defenders
of the fort to prevent its capture.
Deprived of his throne, Shah Jahan had to suffer most callous
treatment. When Aurangzeb, as a sort of offensive measure against
the defenders of the Agra fort, stopped the supply of water from
the Jumna, the unhappy Emperor had to quench his thkst m the
dry summer of June with brackish water from the weUs within the
fort. He wrote to Aurangzeb in a pathetic tone ; —
“Praised be the Hindus m aU cases,
As they ever offer water to their dead.
And thou, my son, art a marvellous Mussalman,
As thou causest me in life to lament for (lack of) water.”
Placed under strict confinement as an ordinary prisoner Shah
Jahan was denied even the common conveniences. Aurangzeb
turned a deaf ear to all requests of the Emperor and Jahanara
for reconciliation; and the unhappy Emperor “at last bowed to
the inevitable, and, like a child that cries itself to sleep, ceased
to complain”. He found solace in religion, and, in a spirit of
resignation, passed his last days in prayer and meditation in the
company of his pious daughter, Jahanara, till at last death, at the
age of seventy-four, on the 22nd January, 1666, relieved him of
all his miseries.
Prom Agra Aurangzeb started towards Delhi on the 13th June,
1658. But on the way he halted at Rupnagar near Mathura to
crush the opposition of his brother, Murad, who had by that time
been able to see through the design of his brother and had growi
jealous of him. Instead of meeting Murad in the open field,
Aurangzeb inveigled him into a trap. The unfortunate Prince was
imprisoned first in the fort of Sallmgarh, whence he was removed
to the fortress of Gwalior in January, 1659, and was executed on
the 4th December, 1661, on the charge of murdering Diwan ‘Aii
Naqi. Already after Murad’s arrest, Aurangzeb had gone to Delhi,
where, on the 21st July, 1658, he crowned himself as Emperor.
Aurangzeb next proceeded to deal with his otlier rivals. The
defeat of Dara Shukoh at Dharmat and Samugarh emboldened
Shuja to make a ffre^ bid for power. But his hopes were shattered
when Aurangzeb signally defeated him at K.hajwali, near Allah-
abad, on the 6th January, 1669. He was chased by Mir Jumla
485
JAHANGIR AND SHAH JAHAN
through West Bengal to Dacca and thence to Arakan in May,
1660. Nothing was again heard of Shuja. He was probably
slaughtered with his family by the Arakanese. Aurangzeb’s eldest
son, Prince Muhammad, having quarrelled with Mir Jumla, joined
Shuja for a titne. But he was punished for this with imprison-
ment for life and met his death about 1676.
When fortune went against Dara Shukoh, his son, Sulaiman
Shukoh, was also deserted by his generals and soldiers, who thought
that there was no gain ha following the “losing side any longer”.
After fleeing from place to place, Sulaiman Shukoh, with his
wife, a few other ladies, his foster-brother, Muhammad Shah, and
only seventeen followers, found refuge with a Hindu Raja of the
Garhwal Hflls, who “was all kindness and attention to his princely
guest in distress ”. But pressed by Aurangzeb, his host’s son betrayed
him into the hands of his enemies on the 27th December, 1660.
The captive prince, then in the prime of his youth and singularly
handsome, was brought in chains before Aurangzeb and told him
that he would prefer immediate death to slow poisoning by means
of pousta drink or “infusion of opium-poppy heads”. Aurangzeb
promised “that this drink should not be administered, and that
his mind might be perfectly easy”. But the promise was not kept,
and the dreadful drink was administered every morning to the
unlucky prince until in May, 1662, “he was sent to the next world
through the exertions of his keepers”. Dara Shukoh’s younger
son, Sipihr Shukoh, and Murad’s son, Izid Bakhsh, not being con-
sidered serious rivals, were granted their lives and were subsequently
married to the thhd and the fifth of Aurangzeb’s daughters res-
pectively.
The story of Dara Shukoh’s end is no less sad and pathetic
than that of his brother, Murad, or of his son, Sulaiman Shukoh.
After the capture of Agra by Aurangzeb and the captivity of
Shah Jahan, Dara Shukoh fled from Delhi to Lahore, where he
busied himself in preparations to encounter the pursuing troops
of Aurangzeb. He adopted some measures to guard the ferries
over the Sutlej and hoped that as the rains set in, it would
take some time for Aurangzeb to reach Lahore. “But in hoping
thus, ” writes Sh J. N. Sarkar, “he had counted without Aurangzeb’s
energy and strength of will, before which every obstacle- — Shuman
or physical — gave way.” About a month after Dara’s arrival at
Lahore, his “dreaded rival” crossed the Sutlej with his army and
drove Dara with his family to Multan. The fugitive prince, stiU
chased from place to place by the chief ofBcers of Aurangzeb,
wlio himself had returned to the east in September, 1657, to remove
486 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the dangers created by Shuja and Sulaiman Shukoh, at last suc-
ceeded in reaching Gujarat. Here he was unexpectedly fortunate
in being welcomed (January, 1659) and helped financially by its
newly appointed governor, Shah Nawaz lOian, who cherished resent-
ment against Aurangzeb, Being thus able to recuperate his strength
to some extent, Dara was thinking of returning to the Deccan,
where he expected support from the Shiah rulers of Bijapur and
Golkunda. This would have been the right policy for him. But
Jaswant Singh, who had been already won over by Aurangzeb,
lured him by promises of help to march towards Ajmer. The
Rajput chief, whose conduct during this war of succession was
questionable, proved false to his promises and Dara could not
get the much-hoped-for Rajput help. He was forced to fight with
Aurangzeb, who had arrived near Ajmer. Considering it inadvisable,
in view of his scanty resources, to meet the overwhelming strength
of his enemy’s army in a pitched battle in the open field, Dara
entrenched himself in a strong and admirably selected position at
the pass of Deorai, four miles south of Ajmer, and fought for three
days, 12th-14th April, 1659. But he was ultimately defeated
and found safety in hurried flight. Hunted from place to place
(Rajputana, Cutch and Sind) by the troops of Aurangzeb under
Jai Singh and Bahadur Khan, Dara found no asylum in India.
He hurried towards the north-west frontier in June, 1659, and
sought shelter with Jiwan Khan, the Afghan chief of Dadar (a
place nine miles east of the Bolan Pass), whom he had saved,
a few years back, from the sentence of death passed on him by
Shah Jahan. But on the way to Dadar “the greatest of all mis-
fortunes” befell him. His wife, Nadira Begam, who had been his
devoted companion in his days of wanderings and had been suffering
for some time from an attack of diarrhoea, now succumbed to
prolonged hardships and want of medicine and rest. This threw
Dara into utter bewilderment and intense grief. ^ “Mountain after
mountain of trouble,” remarks Khafi Khan, “thus pressed upon
the heart of Dara, grief was added to grief, sorrow to sorrow, so
that his mind no longer retained its equilibrium.” To add to his
misfortune, the faithless Afghan chief betrayed him and made
him over, with his two daughters and his second son, Sipihr Shukoh,
^ It should be noted that the Mughul princes, in sj>it 0 of their polygamous
habits, showed an intense passion of conjugal lovo. As Dr. Smith points out,
“ A beautiful album in the India Office Library ia a pathotit; moinorial of
Dara Shukoh’s love”. It bears the following ins(;ription in his handwriting:
“This album was presented to his nearest and dearest friend, the Lady
Nfldirah Begam, by Prince Muhtunmad Dara Shukoh, son of the Emperor
Shah Jahan, in the year 1051” (a.d. 1641-1642).
487
JAHlKGlR AND SHlH JAHlN
to Bahadur Khan, who brought the captives to Delhi on the 23rd
August, 1659. On the 29th of the same month they were paraded
throughout the city. “To complete his humiliation,” writes
Sir J. N. Sarkar, “Dara was seated in an uncovered liowdah
on the back of a small female elephant covered with dirt. . . .
Exposed to the full blaze of an August sun, he was taken
through the scenes of his former glory and splendour. In the
bitterness of disgrace, he did not raise his head, nor cast his
glance on any side, but sat bice a crushed twdg.” His tragic
plight excited pity in the hearts of the citizens. Bernier, an eye-
witness of the scene, writes: “The crowd assembled was immense;
and everywhere I observed the people weeping, and lamenting the
fate of Dara in the most touching language. . . . From every
quarter I heard piercing and distressing shrieks . . . men, women
and children wailing as if some mighty calamity had happened
to themselves.” But not a single hand could be raised to rescue
the unfortunate prince, as he was girt round by cavalry and archers.
Then a popular riot, directed against the traitor Malik Jiwan
Khan, broke out on the 30th August. This riot hastened the end
of Dara, whose life could no longer be prolonged by Aurangzeb. His
case was placed before the Doctors of Muslim law, who condemned
him on a charge of deviation from the Islamic faith. On the
night of the 30th August the executioners snatched Sipihr away
from his father’s embrace and beheaded Dara. By Aurangzeb’s
order his corpse was paraded throughout the city to let the people
know that their favourite was no more, and then buried in a vault
under the dome of the tomb of Humayun. Thus the reign of Shah
Jahan, which had begun with high prospects, came to a close
in a series of dark tragedies.
J. A Critical Estimate of Shah JaharCs Character and Beign
Shah Jahan w'-as not essentially an unrelenting or excessively
pleasure-seeking ruler, as European writers like Roe, Terry, Bernier,
and De Laet considered him to be, and, as a modern writer, Dr.
Smith, also holds. There are, of course, certain instances of his
severity. Stern as a conqueror and unsparing to his political
rivals, Shah Jahan indeed acquired his throne by means that
left unpleasant memories; but when we take into consideration
the circumstances in which he had been placed through ^the
ceaseless intrigues of Nur Jahan, “we lose”, as Dow writes,
“half our rage in the pressure of circumstances that drove him
to such a ghastly step”. Further, “for these early crimes he
488
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
made ample amends by the strict justice and clemency of his
government and his solicitude for the weU-being of his subjects”.
Thus he did much to alleviate the sufferings of the people during
the severe famine of 1631-1632 and displayed considerable industry
in the task of administration. Though not as great a warrior as
some of his ancestors, Shah Jahan was not devoid of
military qualities. He was a zealous champion of his faith. He
revived the pilgrimage tax and took steps not only to check the
conversion of the Muslims to other faiths but also to add to their
number. Brought up by Ruqayya Begam, he could read and speak
in Turki, and trained in his early life by such eminent teachers as
MuUa Qasim Beg Tabrezi, Hakim Dawai, Shaikh ‘Abdul Ediair and
Shaikh Sufi, he could speak both Persian and Hindi. Not pitiless by
nature, Shah Jahan was a loving father and a devoted husband. He
had an intense love for Mumtaz Mahal, whom he had married in 1612.
The couple enjoyed a happy life for about nineteen years, and
Mumtaz was her husband’s unfailing friend and prudent adviser
in the days of his adversity. She died in child-birth in 1631, and
to immortalise her name, Shah Jahan built on her grave the famous
Taj Mahal, which stands unrivalled as a memorial of conjugal
attachment.
The reign of Shah Jahan is usually considered to have been
the golden period of Mughul rule in India, which then reached its
climax. There was no serious challenge to the Emperor’s authority
before the war of succession. No grave external menace threatened
India itself. The period saw the development of the export trade
between India and Western Asia and the beginning of the export
trade with Europe, and the finances of the State were flourishing.
It was also marked by pomp and splendour, which were amply
attested by brilliant productions in architecture, lil^e the
magnificent Taj, the Pearl Mosque of Agra, the Diwdn-i-‘ Am, the
Diivdn-i-Jchds, the Jdmi‘ Masjid and the “celebrated Peacock
Throne”. All these lead one to believe that peace and prosperity
prevailed throughout the Empire. But a careful study of the
accounts of the contemporary European travellers, and the records
of the English factories in India, show “that there were shadows in
the picture which were ignored by the court annalists”. Beneath
the surface of outward splendour and apparent prosperity, there
were some grievous anomalies in the economic system of the
country. The factory records of the time bear out the state-
ment of Bernier that the misrule of the provincial governors
“often deprived the peasant and artisan of the necessaries of life”.
Further, the maintenance of an elaborate bureaucracy and a large
UlfZ B EG S Doral/pJ^^-' \ y f
MUGHUL INDIA
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490 m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
army, and the expenses incurred for the splendid architectural
monuments, imposed a heavy burden upon the agriculturists and
the manufacturers, on whose prosperity depended the very existence
of the Empire. Thus began a process of national insolvency, which,
being accelerated during the next reign, proved to be one of the
potent causes of the subsequent disintegration of the mighty
Timurid Empire in India, which had been reared and developed
by the genius of Akbar and his coadjutors. In short, India under
Shah Jahan resembles France under Louis XIV in many respects.
The military system of the State \v7is also growing weaker and the
revenue administration was growing lax.
CHAPTER IV
AuaA.NGZEB ‘alamgir (1658-1707)
I. Two Halves of the Reign
Aubangzeb’s remarkable reign of fifty years can be “naturally
divided into two equal parts”, each having its own well-defined
features distinguishing it from the other. During the first part,
that is from 1658 to 1681, the north remained the centre of mterest
and of aU important developments, civil and military, while the
south “figured as a far-off and negligible factor”. But in the
second half of the reign the centre of political gravity shifted
from Northern India to the Deccan, where the Emperor went in
1681 with his family, his court and the bulk of his army, and the
administration of the north was consequently neglected, plunging
the whole of it into disorder and anarchy. The Emperor was able
to crush the Muslim Sultanates of Bijapur and Golkunda, but
in his struggle with the nascent nationalism of the Marathas, the
issue remained undecided. The Deccan exodus produced disastrous
consequences for the Empire, and the long reign of Aurangzeb, in
spite of his wonderful industry and splendid devotion to duty,
culminated in tragedy.
2 . Accession and Two Coronations
We have already related the story of Aurangzeb’s acquisition
of the throne. He was twice enthroned^ — once on the 21st July
1658, immediately after his occupation of Agra, and again with
great eclat in June, 1659, after his decisive victories at Khajwah
and Deorai. The Khutba was read in his name and he assumed
the title of ‘Alamgir (Conqueror of the World) with the additions
of Padshah (Emperor) and GTmzl (Holy Warrior). Lilse some
other Muslim rulers, Aurangzeb began his reign with attempts to
alleviate the distress of the people, caused by general administrative
disorders during the war of succession and the famine prices of goods.
He remitted many vexatious cesses and taxes, but, as in the case
of earlier rulers, his prohibition j except in one or two cases, “had
no effect”.
491 ^
492
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
3. Territorial Expansion: North-Eastern Push
The territorial expansion of the Mughul Empire, which was a
process continuing through two centuries, went on apace in the
reign of Aurangzeb. If we exclude the losses of the preceding reign
in Qandahar and Central Asia, the conquests of the Emperors had
remained intact, and before the rise of the Maratha kingdom in the
south, Aurangzeb’s “ambitious and enterprising ojB&cers” success-
fully extended thehr master’s dominion. Palamau was conquered in
1661 by Baud Khan, the governor of Bihar. On the eastern frontier
of the Empire the officers of Aurangzeb found ample scope for their
energies. In 1661 Mir Jumla, the governor of Bengal, set out with
a well equipped army towards this frontier to check the aggressions
of the Ahoms. A people of Mongoloid origin, the Ahoms had
migrated from their original home in Upper Burma and occupied a
part of the Brahmaputra vaUey as early as the thirteenth century
A.D, Gradually extending their territories to the west during the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they established a dominion
which by the end of the seventeenth century stretched up to the
Bar Nadi river in the north-west and the Kalang river in the
south-west. Here they were gradually Hinduised and adopted
the Hindu religion and customs. At the same time, the eastern
limit of the Mughul Empire had been extended up to the Bar
Nadi river by the conquest of Koch Hajo, embracing the
present districts of Kamarupa and Goalpara. This made a conflict
between the Mughuls and the Ahoms inevitable. As a matter
of fact, the Mughuls had already had to fight hard with the
Ahoms, when the latter raided the eastern frontier of the Empire
during the reign of Shah Jahan, and a peace was concluded early
in 1639. But taking advantage of the war of succession, the
Ahoms occupied Gauhati in 1658 and seized 140 horses, 40 pieces
of cannon, 200 matchlocks and much property. To punish these
aggressors, Mir Jumla started from Dacca early in November,
1661, with a powerful army of 12,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry,
provided with artillery, provisions for siege and a number of
arnied boats, which were indispensably necessary for carrying on
war in those parts. His early operations were successful. He
conquered both Gooch Bihar and Assam, and sharing with, the
common soldiers all the hardships which the “opposition of Nature
and man” could impose during his “triumphant march”, he reached
Garhgaon, the capital oftheAhom kingdom, on the 17th March, 1662.
The Ahoms now offered little resistance and left their capital and
property to the mercy of the imperialists, who got enormous spoils.
AURAJSTGZEB ‘ALAMGIR 493
But Nature soon fought for the Alioms. With the commence-
ment of the rainy season, Mir Jumla’s army suffered terribly from
the unhealthy climate and lack of provisions and medicine. Em-
boldened by this, the Ahoms, who “had been scared away and
not crushed”, soon resumed the offensive and began to harass
the Mughuls, whose sufferings increased owing to the outbreak
of pestilence and famine in their camp. But, undaunted by the
odds, the Miighul governor continued to fight and resumed the
offensive after the rains. Considering that further resistance
would be of no avail, the Ahoms concluded a treaty of peace with
the imperialists. Thus, “judged as a military exploit”, remarks
Sic J. N. Sarkar, “Mir Jumla’s invasion of Assam was a success”.
The Ahom king, Jayadhvaj, promised to pay an annual tribute,
and a heavy war-indemnity, a part of which was to be delivered
immediately and the rest was to be cleared off during the next
twelve months in three equal instalments. The Mughuls were also
to occupy more than half the province of Darrang, rich in elephants.
But this success was purchased at a great cost. It caused immense
hardships to the Mughuls and the loss of many lives, including that
of M3r Jumla himself, one of Aurangzeb’s best generals, who died
on the 30th March, 1663, on his way back to Dacca. It was also
short-lived. A few years later the Ahoms reoccupied Kamarupa.
The Mughul government carried on a long desultory warfare, but
with no permanent advantage.
Shaista Khan, son of Asaf Khan, and maternal uncle of Aurangzeb,
was appointed governor of Bengal after the short and unsuccessful
administration of an acting viceroy, which immediately followed
the death of Mir Jumla. He held this post for about thirty years,
with a break of less than three years, and died at Agra in 1694,
when he was more than ninety years old. He chastised the Portu-
guese pirates, annexed the island of Sondip in the Bay of Bengal,
which had been a stronghold of pirates, and conquered Chitta-
gong (1666) from their ally, the King of Arakan. But the evil of
piracy could not be wholly eradicated. It continued to harass the
people of eastern Bengal till late in the eighteenth century.
4. The North-West Frontier Policy
Out of political and economic considerations, Aurangzeb had
to follow a forward policy on the north-west frontier, where the
turbulent Mushm tribes had all along proved a source of great
anxiety to the Mughul Empire. The scanty produce of the fields
of that region forced upon the growing numbers of the hardy
494
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Afghan elans living there the habits of highway robberj^ and of
blackmailing the rich cities of the north-western Punjab, In
order to keep the north-w^estem passes open and the valleys at
their foot safe, the government of Aurangzeb first tried to win
over these hillmen by payments of money. But “even political
pensions wnre not always effective in securing obedience”. Troubles
began early in a.d 1667, when the Yusufzais rose in arms under
one of their leaders named Bhagu. A large number of them crossed
the Indus above Attock and invaded the Hazara district, while
other bands began to ravage the western Peshawar and Attock
districts. The Yusufzai rising was, however, suppressed in the course
of a few months.
But in 1672 the Afridis rose in revolt against the Mughuls under
their chieftain Akmal Khan, who crowned himself king and
summoned all the Pathans to organise themselves in a sort of
national war. In the month of May the insurgents inflicted a
crushing defeat on Muhammad Amin Khan at ‘Ali Masjid.
Muhammad Amin, and some of his senior officers, escaped, but
the Mughuls lost everything else. This victory increased the
prestige and resources of Akmal Edian and lured more recruits to
his side so that “the whole of the Pa than land from Attock to
Qandahar” rose in arms. The Khattak clan of the Pathans also
joined the Afridis, and Khush-hal Khan, the poet and hero of the
former, “became the leading spirit of the national rising and
inspired the tribesmen with his pen and sword alfire In Februarj’’,
1674, the Afghans assailed an imperial force under Shuja‘at Khan,
who was killed, though the remnant of his army was rescued by
a Rath or contingent, sent by Jaswant Singh to support the
Mughuls.
This disaster convinced Aurangzeb that more serious efforts
were necessary to restore imperial prestige in the north-west. He
went in person to Hasan Abdal, near Peshawar, early in July,
1674, and by a clever combination of diplomacy and arms achieved
much success. Many Afghan clans were bought over with presents,
pensions, jdgws, and offices, wffiile the more refractory ones w^ere
subdued by arms. When the situation had considerably improved,
the Emperor left .the Punjab for Delhi by December, 1675. The
success of Aurangzeb was confirmed by the wise policy of Amin
Khan, the capable governor of Afghanistan from 1677 to 1698,
who followed a tactful conciliatory policy under the wise advice
of his w'ife, Sahibji, a daughter of ‘Ali Mardan IDian. Thus the
Mughul Emperor was able to suppress the Afghan risings, and
restore imperial prestige, m the north-west “by following the
AURANGZEB ‘iLAJVIGlR 495
policy of paying subsidies, or by setting up one clan against
another — or, to use his own metaphor, breaking two bones by
knocking them together”. The Khattak hero, Khush-hal, con-
tinued to fight for several years more, till his own son proved to
be his worst enemy and betrayed him to the Mughuls,
There is no doubt that the frontier wars of the Mughuls were
brought to a successful conclusion. But their indirect effects were
prejudicial to the interests of the Empire. As Sir J. N. Sarkar
observes: “Ruinous as the Afghan war was to imperial finances,
its political effect was even more harmful. It made the employment
of the Afghans in the ensuing Rajput war impossible, though the
Afghans were just the class of soldiers who could have won victory
in that rugged and barren country. Moreover, it relieved the
pressure on Shivaji by draining the Deccan of the best Mughul
troops for service on the north-west frontier. The Maratha chief
took advantage of this division of his enemy’s strength to sweep
in a dazzling succession of triumphs through Gotkunda to the
Karnatak and back again through Mysore and Bijapur to Raigarh,
during the fifteen months following December, 1675. It was
the climax of his career ; but the Afridis and the Khattaks made
his unbroken success possible.”
5 . Relations with the Muslim World outside India
Between 1661 and 1667 Aurangzeb received “complimentary
embassies” from some foreign Muslim powers, such as the Sharif
of Mecca, the Kings of Persia, Balkh, Bukhara, Kashghar, Urganj
(Khiva) and Shahr-i-nau, the Turkish governors of Basra, Had-
ramaut, Yaman and Mocha, the ruler of Barbary, and the Edng
of Abyssinia. From Constantinople only one embassy came during
his reign, in Jxme, 1590. “His policy at the beginning was,”
remarks Sir J. N. Sarkar, “to dazzle the eyes of foreign princes
by the lavish gifts of presents to them and their envoys, and
induce the outer Muslim world to forget his treatment of his
father and brothers, or at least to show courtesy to the successful
man of action and master of India’s untold wealth, especially
when he w^as free with his money.”
6 , Aurangzeb ’s Religious Attitude and Policy
Aurangzeb was above all a zealous Sunni Muslim, and his
religious policy was not influenced by any consideration of worldly
gain. As one who secured the throne as the champion of Sunni
496
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
orthodoxy against the liberal Dara, he tried to enforce strictly
the Quranic law, according to which it behoves every pious Muslim
to “exert himself in the path of God”, or, in other words, to carry
on holy wars {jihad) against non-Muslim lands {dar-ul-harb) till
they are converted into realms of Islam {ddr-ul-lsldm). This made
him extremely puritanic in temperament, so that he took several
steps to enforce “his own ideas of the morose seriousness of life
and punctilious orthodoxy”. He simplified the customary celebra-
tions on his birthday and coronation day. From the eleventh
year of his reign he discontinued the practice of Jharolcd-darian,
a practice by which his predecessors appeared every morning on
the balcony on the waU of the palace to accept the salute of the
people, who then gathered on the ground iu front. In the same year
he forbade music at court and dismissed the old musicians and
singers. But music, though banned from the court, could not
be “banished from the human soul”. It continued to be secretly
practised by the nobles, and the imperial prohibition had some
force only in important cities. In the twelfth year the ceremony
of weighing the Emperor’s body on two birthdays agamst gold,
silver and other commodities was given up, and royal astronomers
and astrologers were dismissed. But the belief of the Muslims in
astrology was too deeply rooted in their minds to be removed
by an imperial ordinance; it remained active tiU late in the
eighteenth century. In order to avoid the Kalima (Muhammadan
confession of faith) on the coins being defiled by men of other
faiths, he forbade its use. He also abolished the Nauroz, which
the Mughul Emperors of India had borrowed from Persia. He
appointed Censors of Public Morals (Muhtasibs) to “regulate the
lives of the people in strict accordance with the Holy Law”.
Aurangzeb personally practised what he sought to enforce on
others. His private life was marked by a high standard of morality,
and he scrupulously abstained from the common vices of his time.
Thus he was regarded by his contemporaries as a ‘‘darvish born in
the purple” and the Muslims venerated him as a “Zindd Fir” or
living saint. To “promote general morality”, he issued a number
of regulations. He passed an ordinance prohibitmg the production,
sale and public use, of wine and bhang. Manucci tells us that the
dancing girls and public women were ordered either to get them-
selves married or to leave the kingdom. The Emperor also passed
strict orders agamst singing obscene songs, and stopped the burning
of faggots and processions during certain religious festivals. It
is mentioned ha the official “guide-books” of Aurangzeb’s reign
that he forbade (December, 1663), but “the evidence of
AURAJSTGZEB ‘ALAJMGlR 497
contemporary European travellers in India shows that the royal
prohibition was seldom observed”.
The Emperor, however, did not rest satisfied with these regula-
tions only. He issued other firmans and ukases, which marked
the inauguration of a new poHcy m regard to important sections
of the people. The year 1679 saw the reimposition of the jizya
tax on "unbelievers”.
The new regulations and ordinances must have produced a
deep impression on the people affected, and added much to the
difficulties with which the imperial government had to deal. Ho
one can deny the Emperor Aurangzeb the credit of being a sincere
and conscientious exponent of the faith that was in him. But it is
also true that his ardour and zeal made him oblivious of the fact
that the country over which destmy had placed him to rule was
not inhabited by a homogeneous population but included various
elements rich in their religious traditions and ideals, which needed
tactful and sympathetic understanding. Aurangzeb certauily
made a mistake in identifying the interests of the State with those
of his faith and in offending those who differed from it. This
policy generated feelings of discontent among certain sections of
the people, which by distracting his energies during the remainder
of his reign proved to be one of the most potent causes of the
decline and faU of the Mughul Empire.
7 . Reaction against the New Policy
A. The Jdts, the Bundelds and the Satndmis
The fii'st serious outbreak of anti-imperial reaction took place
among the Jats of the Muttra (Mathura) district, where the imperial
faujddr, ‘Abdun-Nabi, had oppressed them greatly. In 1669 the
sturdy Jat peasantry rose under a leader, Gokla, zamindar of Tilpat,
killed the faujddr, and kept the whole district in disorder for a
year, till they were suppressed by a strong imperial force under
Hasan ‘Ali Khan, the new faujddr of Muttra. Gokla was put
to death and the members of his family converted to Islam. But
f.biH did not crush the Jats permanently. They rose once agam
in 1685 under the leadership of Raja Ram and plundered Akbar’s
tomb at Sikandra in 1688. Baja Ram was defeated and slain and
the principal stronghold of the Jats was reduced in 1691. But they
soon found a more formidable leader in Churaman, who welded
the disorganised Jats into a strong military power and organised
an armed resistance agamst the Mughuls after Aurangzeb’s death.
498 m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The second armed protest against Aurangzeb’s policy was led
by the Bundela prince, Chhatrasal. We have already traced the
early relations of the Mughuls with the Bundelas. ChhatrasaFs
father, Champat Rai, had risen against Aurangzeb durmg the
early part of his reign, but hard pressed by the Emperor, he com-
mitted suicide to escape imprisonment. Chhatrasal had served
the Emperor in the Deccan, where, inspired by the example of
Shivaji, he “dreamt of taking to a life of adventure and independ-
ence”. The discontent of the Hindu population of Bundelkhand
and Malwa gave him the opportunity to stand forth “as the
champion” of his faith and Bundela liberty by 1671, He gained
several victories over the Mughuls, and succeeded in carving out
an independent principality for himself in Eastern Malwa with
its capital at Parma, before his death in 1731.
Another revolt occmred in March, 1672, among the Satnamis,
who were originally an inoffensive sect of Hmdu devotees with
their centres at Namol (in the Patiala State) and Mewat (Alwar
region). KhaH Khan writes of them: “These men dress like
devotees, but they nevertheless carry on trade and agriculture,
though their trade is on a small scale. In the way of their religion,
they have dignified themselves with the title of ‘ Good name’,
this being the meaning of Satnam. They are not allowed to acquire
wealth in any but a lawful calling. If any one attempts to wrong
or oppress them by force, or by exercise of authority, they will not
endure it. Many of them have weapons or arms. ” The immediate
cause of the rising of the Satnamis was the murder of one of them
by a Mughul foot-soldier. They occupied Namol, and when the
situation proved to be serious the Mughul Emperor “ordered his
tents to be brought out”. The untrained Satnami peasants were
soon overpowered by a large imperial force. “Very few of them
escaped, and that tract of country was cleared” of them.
B. The Sikhs
The new imperial policy caused discontent among the Sikhs
also. We may conveniently give here a short history of the Sikhs
diuhig the reigns of the predecessors of Aurangzeb before we deal
with his relations with them. The Sikh community, destined to
play an important part in the history of Modem India, came into
being during the period of religious revival which marked
the history of India in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
It was originally founded as a religious sect by Guru Nanak, a
religious preacher of saintly disposition, who emphasised the
AURA^TQZEB ‘ALAMGlR 499
fundamental truth underlying all religions, and the chief features
of whose system were its “non-sectarian character” and its harmony
with secular life. He died in 1538 after nominatmg one of his
disciples, Angad (1538-1552), as his successor, excluding his two
sons. Angad and the next Guru, Amardas (1552-1674), were men of
high character, Amardas was succeeded in the Guru’s office by his
son-in-law, Ramdas (1574r-1581). Akbar, who had a great veneration
for this Guru, granted him a plot of land at Amritsar containing a
pool, which was enlarged and improved and on the side of which
was constructed a famous Sikh temple. It was during Ramdas’
pontificate that the succession to the spiritual headship of the
Sikhs became hereditary. The fifth Guru, Arjan Mai (1581-1606),
was a man of great organising capacity. Under him the Sikh
community grew in numbers and spread far and wide over
the Punjab. He compiled the Adi Granth, or “the First Sacred
Book”, as the origmal Sikh scripture is called, by collecting
select verses from the works of his four predecessors as well
as from those of the Hindu and Muhammadan saints who had
appeared since the days of Jaidev. He did his best to consolidate
the Church, and the prestige and wealth of the Guru increased
considerably. As a contemporary remarked: “The Emperor
(Akbar) and Kings bow before him. Wealth ever cometh to
him,” His predecessors had been content with the “fluctuating
voluntary offerings” of their disciples, but Guru Arjan tried to
organise the finances of his Church by introducing the system of a
more or less compulsory “spiritual tribute” to be collected by a
hand of his agents called masands. The early Gurus were religious
preachers and did not interfere in politics, but Guru Arjan gave
his blessings to the rebel prince Khusrav. Jahangir, who had
probably grown suspicious of the Guru for his great wealth and
influence, put him to death in 1606 on a charge of treason.
This must have offended the Sikhs, whose hostility to the Mughul
Empire was not, however, openly manifested at this time. The
next Guru, Har Govind (1606-1645), son of Arjan, was a man
of warlike and adventurous spirit, and gathered a small army
round him. Though employed under Jahangir, he had to undergo
twelve years’ imprisonment in Gwalior for his refusal to pay the
arrears of the fine that had been imposed on his father. He rose
against Shah Jahan and defeated an imperial army at Sangrama
near Amritsar m 1628. But he was ultimately overpowered and
forced to take refuge at Kiratpur in the Kashmir Hills, where he
died in 1645 after nominating his younger grandson, Har Rai
(1645-1661), as his successor. Har Rai was followed in the Guruship,
500
m ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
after his death in 1661, by his second son, Har Kishan (1661-1664).
Nothing important happened during the regimes of these two
Gurus, but “the jBseal policy of Arjan, and the armed system of
his son, had already formed the Sikhs into a kind of separate state
within the empire”.
Har Kishan died in 1664, and after some quarrels about
succession to the Guruship, Teg Bahadur, second son of Har
Govind, the sixth Guru, was recognised as the spiritual head of
the community by most of the Sikhs. He settled at Anandpur,
six miles from Kiratpur. He lived for a few months at Patna in
Bihar, where his son. Guru Govind, was born (a.d. 1666). He
joined Raja Ram Singh, son of Mirza Raja Jai Singh, in the
Assam war (a.d. 1668), but soon returned to his original abode
at Anandpur and was drawn into hostilities with the imperial
government. He protested against certain measures of the Emperor
and encouraged the Brahmanas of Kashmir to resist these. This
was too much for Aurangzeb to tolerate. He caused the Sikh
divine to be arrested and brought over to Delhi, where he
was offered the choice between death and conversion. Teg
Bahadur preferred his faith to his life and was executed after
five days (a.d. 1675). Thus he gave his head but not his faith
{sir did sar fia did). The martyrdom of the Guru inspired the
Sikhs with feelings of revenge against the Mughul Empire and
made an open war inevitable. The son and successor of Teg
Bahadur, Guru Govind, was one of the most remarkable person-
alities in Indian history. He set himself to the task of organising
his followers with the thoroughness “of a Grecian law-giver”. He
instituted the custom of baptism (Pahul) by water stirred with a
dagger. Those who accepted the new form of baptism were known
as the Khalsa (pure) and were given the appellation of Singhs (lions).
They had to wear the five Ks — Jces (long hair), Icangha (comb),
Jcripdn (sword), kuchcha (short drawers), and (steel bracelet).
They were not to show thek backs to the foe in battle. They were
ever to help the poor and the unfortunate. Guru Govind compiled
a supplementary Granth, known as the Daswen Padshah kd Granth
(‘the Book of the Tenth Sovereign’). He fought against some
neighbouring hill-princes and Mughul officers with remarkable
courage and tenacity. It is said that he assisted Bahadur in his
contest for the throne, and subsequently proceeded with him to the
Deccan. An Afghan fanatic stabbed him to death, towards the end
of 1708, at Nandur on the banks of the Godavari.
AURANGZEB ‘iLAMGlR
601
C. The Rajput War
The comparatively minor anti-imperial risings were suppressed
by Aurangzeb. But more formidable revolts, also originating as
a sort of reaction against the Emperor’s policy, produced disastrous
consequences for his Empire. Failiag to realise the value of the
alliance of the Rajputs, who had previously contributed so much
to the growth of the Empire, he introduced a change in the
policy of the State towards them. Raja Jay Singh of Amber,
whom he considered to be a powerful leader of Rajput opposition
against his own policy, lost his life in the Deccan in 1667.
The conquest of Marwar next engaged his attention from more
than one consideration. It occupied a position of strategic import-
ance as controlling certain military and commercial routes from
the Mughul capital to the rich cities and ports in Western India.
Further, its position as a powerful military State in Northern
India at that time was a standing annoyance to Aurangzeb. He
suspected that its chief, Jaswant Singh, formerly a partisan of
Dara Shukoh, might stand forth as the leader of opposition to
his poUey.
The Emperor soon had a favourable opportunity to give effect
to his designs against Marwar. While commanding the Mughul
frontier posts in the Elhyber Pass and the Peshawar district, Raja
Jaswant Singh died at Jamrud on the 10th December, 1678. On
hearing this news Aurangzeb forthwith took steps to annex
Marwar. He appointed there his own officers a,s faujddr, qildddr, kotwdl
and amln, and brought it under direct Mughul rule. The Rathors,
thrown into confusion and dismay by the death of their chief,
failed to present any united national resistance. In the month
of May, Indra Singh Rathor, the chieftain of Nagor and grand-
nephew of Jaswant, was recognised as the Rana of Jodhpur on
payment of a “succession fee” of thirty-six lacs of rupees. But
he was nothing more than a nominal ruler, surrounded by Mughul
officers.
Thus the Emperor’s policy seemed to have been crowned with
success. But Marwar was not reaUy subdued. Every Rajput
house in that kingdom became determined to undo the imperial
coup de main, and “a new factor now entered the scene to disturb
and eventually to defeat the imperial policy”. Already in the month
of February, 1679, two posthumous sons of Jaswant were born
at Lahore. One of them died soon after birth, but the other, Ajit
Singh, survived and was taken to Delhi by the principal followers
of his father, who requested the Emperor to recognise him as
502
m ADVICED HISTORY OE INDIA
heir to the deceased Raja. But the Emperor oflFered to bring him
up in his harem, or, according to another contemporary account,
“the throne of Jodhpur was offered to AJit on condition of his
turning a Muslim”. This extraordinary proposal of the Emperor
severely wounded the feelings of the Ilathors, who vowed to
sacrifice their lives rather than accept these terms. But devotion
and reckless courage only could be of no avail against the
organised strength of the imperialists. Luckily for the Rathors,
they had, at this critical moment, a worthy leader in Durgadas
(a son of Jaswant’s minister Askaran), “the flower of Rathor
chivalry”.
In the history of Rajputana, Durgadas is justly regarded as
one of the immortals for his selfless devotion to the cause of his
country in the face of terrible odds. “Mughul gold could not
seduce, Mughul arms could not daunt, that constant heart. Almost
alone among the Rathors he displayed the rare combination of
the dash and reckless valour of a Rajput soldier with the tact,
diplomacy and organising power of a Mughul minister of state,”
A band of “death-loving” Rajputs rushed upon the imperial
force that had been sent to seize the Ranis and Ajit Singh, and,
taking advantage of the prevailing confusion, Durgadas rode
away with the intended victims, clad in male attire. He covered
nine miles before the imperialists could overtake him, but here
a small band of Rajputs under Ranchordas Jodha tried to hold
back the pursuers as long as they could, and Durgadas was able
to reach Jodhpur on the 23rd July, 1679, with the Ranis and
Ajit. Aurangzeb now called up heavy reinforcements from different
provinces, and the three princes, Mu'azzam, ‘A'zam and Akbar,
were placed in command of separate divisions of the army. He
himself marched to Ajmer in August, 1679, to direct the military
operations. Jodhpur was captured and pillaged.
But this aggressive policy of the Mughul Emperor led the brave
Sisodias of Mewar to join the desperate Rathors of Marwar. Rana
Raj Singh of Mewar was a relative of Ajit Singh, whose mother was
a Sisodia princess. He also considered that the annexation of
Marwar exposed Mewar to the danger of Mughul conquest.
Further, the revival of the jizya, after many years, incensed hiTm
highly. Through the Rathor-Sisodia alliance, the Rajput war
assumed the aspect of a national rising in defence of liberty.
Aurangzeb at once invaded Mewar, but the Rana, considering
it unwise to meet face to face the superior strength of the
Mughuls, deserted the towns and hamlets of Mewar and retired
with all his subjects to mountain fastnesses after laying waste
AURAlirGZEB ‘iLAMGlR 503
the plains below. The Mughula easily occupied Chitor. Sure of
success, the Emperor started for Ajmer, leaving a strong force in
Chitor under Prmce Akbar, But he was soon disillusioned. The
Rajputs carried on a guerilla warfare and fell on the Mughul out-
posts with so much courage that “the command of Mughul out-
posts went a-begging, captain after captain declining the dangerous
honour and offering excuses”. Emboldened by their successes,
the Rajputs surprised the Mughul army under Prince Akbar in
May, 1680, and carried off its provisions. Reduced to starvation,
the imperial army stood “motionless through fear”, as Prince
Akbar complained. Holding Prince Akbar responsible for this
discomfiture, the Emperor placed the command of the army at
Chitor in the hands of Prince ‘A‘zam and sent Akbar to Marwar.
Smarting under the disgrace of his removal, Prmce Akbar
dreamt of wresting the crown of Delhi from his father in alliance
with the Rajputs, whose worth he must have sufficiently under-
stood during his war with them. The Rajput chiefs pointed out
to him how his father’s policy was destroying the stability of
the Mughul Empire, and hoping thus to “place a truly national
king on the throne of Delhi they promised to back him with the
armed strength of the two greatest Rajput clans, the Sisodias
and the Rathors”. With his army of about 70,000 men, “including
the best blood of Rajputana”, Prince Akbar arrived near Ajmer
on the 16th January, 1681. Auranzgeb’s situation was then
critical, as the two main divisions of his army were quartered
near Chitor and the Rajsamudra lake. Had the Prince promptly
utilised this “ffiae opportunity”, the Emperor might have been
caught at a disadvantage. But he whiled away his time in
indolence and pleasure and thus allowed his shrewd father to
make preparations to defend himself. By writing a letter to
his rebellious son, which the Emperor contrived should reach
the Rajputs, he led Akbar ’s allies to believe that the Mughul
Prince was playing false with them. The stratagem of the
Emperor proved successful, as the Rajput allies of Prince Akbar,
suspecting treachery, deserted him and he hurriedly “rode away
for dear life in the track of the Rajputs”. The Rajputs, however,
soon discovered the fraud played on them, and the chivalrous
Rathor chief, Durgadas, convinced of the Prince’s innocence,
gallantly saved him from his father’s vengeance and escorted
him, through Khandesh and Baglana, to the court of the Maratha
king, Shambhuji. But the self-indulgent successor of Shivaji
could afford no effective aid to the fugitive Mughul prince, whose
dream of an Indian Empire, “based on Hindu-Muslim reconciliation
504
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
and amity, remained an idle one”. About six years later the
disappointed Mughul prince set out for Persia, where he died
in A.D. 1704.
Though Prince Akbar’s rebellion could not change the ruler of
Delhi, it gave great relief to the Rana of Mewar, but his temporary
success agamst the Mughuls caused great misery to his subjects.
The sufferings of the Mughuls had also been considerable, and
they could not gain any definite success against the Rajputs.
These considerations led the Emperor and the Rana, Jay Singh,
son and successor of Raj Singh, to conclude a treaty in June, 1681.
The Rana ceded a few districts in lieu of jizya and the Mughuls
withdrew from Mewar. Marwar, however, had to continue a “thirty
years’ war” before a peace was concluded on honourable terms.
Under the able leadership of Durgadas, the Rathors ceaselessly
carried on a guerilla warfare and harassed the Mughul outposts
so that the Mughul officers were compelled to pay chauth to
their unrelentmg foe to save themselves from his aggression.
The war dragged on tiU, after Aurangzeb’s death, his son and
successor, Bahadur Shah I, recognised Ajit Singh as the Rana of
Marwar in a.d. 1709.
The Rajput wars of Aurangzeb produced disastrous consequences
for his Empire. Thousands of lives were sacrificed and enormous
sums were wasted on the desert land without any lasting success
to the Emperor. “Damaging as this result was to imperial prestige,
its material consequences were worse stiff.” It was an act of
political unwisdom on the part of Aurangzeb to provoke Rajput
hostility and thus forfeit the devoted service of gallant chiefs
and soldiers, so long friends of the Empire, in his wasting wars
in the Deccan, or in the important work of holding under control
the north-western frontier, where the restless Afghan tribes were
still far from being pacified.
8. Aurangzeb and the Deccan
During the first half of Amangzeb’s reign his attention was
engrossed with affairs in the north, and the Deccan was left to
the viceroys. The decadent southern Sultanates had not been
able to recover fully from the blows that had been inflicted on
them, and the Marathas rose at their expense. The rise of the
Marathas, as a sort of challenge to the Mughul Empire, compli-
cated the political situation in the Deccan, the fuff significance
of which the Emperor could not realise at first. During the first
twenty-four years of his reign his viceroys in the Deccan could
AURANGZEB ‘iLAMGlE 505
achieve no dejfinite success either against the Sultanates or against
the Marathas.
The death of Shivaji in 1680 in no way improved the
imperial position in the Deccan, notwithstanding Aurangzeh’s
determination to consolidate his supremacy. The flight of the
rebellious Prince Akbar to the Maratha king, Shambhuji, and
the alhance between the “disturber of India” and the “infemal
son of the infernal father”, as Aurangzeb called these two, brought
a complete change hi his policy towards the Deccan, Having now
realised the necessity of marching there in person to check this
menace to imperial interests, he patched up a peace with Mewar
in June, 1681. Leaving Ajmer for the Deccan on the 8th September,
1681, he arrived at Burhanpur on 23rd November, 1681, and at
Ahmadnagar on the 1st April, 1682. His mind must have been
full of high hopes, and he could not foresee that destiny was
dragging him to the south to dig the graves of himself and his
Empire. The first four years were spent in unsuccessful attempts to
seize Prince Akbar and in rather disastrous campaigns against
the Marathas. Some of the forts of the latter were conquered by
the imperialists, but the sturdy folk whom Shivaji had inspired
with new aspirations could not be thoroughly suppressed.
The conquest of the decayed Sultanates next engaged the
Emperor’s attention. As in the case of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb’s
attitude towards the Shiah Sultanates of the Deccan was influenced
partly by imperial interests and partly by religious considerations.
Bijapur, weakened by party factions and the rise of the Marathas,
submitted to the invaders. The last Mughul siege of the city
began on the 11th .April, 1685, and the Emperor himself went
there in July, 1686. The besieged garrison held out gallantly,
but, exhausted by lack of provisions and the death of countless
men and horses, caused by the outbreak of a famine, they
capitulated m September, 1686. Sikandar, the last of the ‘Adil
Shahis, surrendered to the Emperor and the d3masty founded
by Yusuf ‘Adil Shah ceased to exist. On entering Bijapur the
Emperor destroyed all the fine paintings and frescoes m Sibandar’s
palace. Bijapur not only lost its independence, but was turned
into a desolate city. “A few years later,” writes Sic J. N. Sarkar,
“Bhimsen noticed how the city and its equally large suburb
Nauraspur looked deserted and ruined; the population was
scattered, and even the abundant water-supply in the city wells
had suddenly grown scanty.”
Next came the turn of the Qutb Shahi kingdom of Golkunda.
Early in February, 1687, Aurangzeb himself appeared before
506
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Golkunda and the Mughul troops besieged the local fortress within
a few days. But the citadel was well stocked with food and
ammunition, which enabled the besieged to hold out bravely for
about eight months. In spite of using every possible means —
mines, bombardments and escalades — the besiegers could achieve
no definite success but were harassed by famine and pestilence
and incurred heavy losses from the reprisals of their enemies.
Aurangzeb, however, held on vdth grim tenacity and gathered
fresh reinforcements. On the failme of valour and arms, Aurangzeb,
following the example of Akbar before Asirgarh, made use of “the
golden key”* to capture Golkunda. An Afghan soldier of fortune
named ‘Abdullah Pani, then employed in the service of Abul
Hasan, the Sultan of Golkunda, was suborned by the Emperor
and allowed the Mughuls to pour into the fort by opening its main
gate. But one faithful Golkunda noble, ‘Abdur Razzaq Lari,
spurned the Emperor’s tempting offers of money and fought
single-handed till he fell covered with seventy wounds. He
was nursed back to recovery by the Mughuls and at last accepted
a high rank under the Emperor. ‘Abul Hasan was sent off to the
fortress of Daulatabad to spend his last days on a pension of
Rs. 50,000 a year, and Golkunda was annexed (September, 1687)
to the Mughul Empire.
According to writers like Elphinstone and Smith, the annihilation
of the Southern Sultanates was an impolitic step on the part of
Aurangzeb. They hold that it “freed the Maratha chiefs from
any fear of local rivalry”, which the Mughul Emperor might
have utilised to his advantage against the Marathas. But it is
doubtful if any sincere alliance between the Sultanates and their
aggressor, the Mughul Emperor, was possible and also if they
could check the rise of the Marathas. As Sir J. N. Sarkar observes,
“since Akbar had crossed the Vindhyas, the Deccan Sultanates
could never forget that the sleepless aim of the Mughul Emperors
was the fi,nal extinction and annexation of aU their territories”.
He also points out that it would have been impossible for the
decadent Sultanates to check the Marathas effectively as they had
already organised themselves into a progressive national State.
Having achieved one of the two objects of his Deccan policy,
that is, the annexation of the decadent Sultanates of the Deccan,
Aurangzeb turned towards the other, that is, the suppression of
the renascent Maratha power. His attempts were at first crowned
with success. Shambhuji was executed on the 11th March, 1689,
his capital Raigarh was captured, and though his brother, Raja-
ram, escaped, the rest of his family, including his young son,
AUEANGZEB ‘ALAIIGIR 607
Shahu, were made prisoners. In the course of the next few years
the Emperor extended his conquest further south and levied tribute
on the Hindu States of Tanjore and Trichinopoly.
In fact by the year 1690 Am’angzeb had already reached the
zenith of his power and was the lord paramount of almost the whole of
India— from Kabul to Chittagong and from Kashmir to the Kaveri.
“All seemed to have been gained by Aurangzeb now ; but in reality
all was lost. It was the begimiing of his end. The saddest and most
hopeless chapter of his life was now opened. The Mughul Empire had
become too large to be governed by one man or from one centre.
. . . His enemies rose on all sides; he could defeat but not crush
them for ever. . . . Lawlessness reigned in many places of Northern
and Central India. The old Emperor in the far-off Deccan lost
all control over his officers in Hindustan, and the administration
grew slack and corrupt; chiefs and zamindars defied the local
authorities and asserted themselves, filling the country with tumult.
In the province of Agra in particular, there was chronic disorder.
Art and learning decayed at the withdrawal of Imperial patronage ;
not a single edifice, finely written manuscript, or exquisite picture,
commemorates Aurangzeb’s reign. The endless war in the Deccan
exhausted his treasury; the government turned bankrupt, the
soldiers, starving from arrears of pay, mutinied; and during the
closing years of his reign the revenue of Bengal, regularly sent
by the able diwdn Murshid Quli Khan, was the sole support of
the Emperor’s household or his army, and its arrival was eagerly
looked forward to. Napoleon I used to say, ‘It was the Spanish
ulcer which ruined me’. The Deccan ulcer ruined Aurangzeb.”
The Emperor failed to subjugate the Marathas or conquer their
land. They recovered by 1691 and carried on a war of national
resistance against the Mughuls, first under Rajaram and some other
able Maratha chiefs, and then, after Rajaram’s death in 1700,
under his brave widow Tara Bai.
9. Last Days of Aurangzeb
Thus, as years rolled on, Aurangzeb saw before his eyes failure
piled upon failure and his Empire exhausted. Fear for the future
of the Empne filled his mind with anguish, and made him extremely
unhappy. His advice to his rebellious sons to save the Empire
by partition went unheeded. Conscious of his failure and seriously
apprehensive of the imminent disaster, he wrote to his son ‘A'zam :
“I came alone and am going alone. I have not done well to the
country and the people, and of the future there is no hope.” To
508
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
Kam Bakhsh he wrote: “I carry away the burden of my short-
comings. . . . Come what may, I am launching my boat.” The
deep pathos of these letters is bound to move every human heart
and to rouse in it sympathy for the old monarch on his “lonely
death-bed”. Worn out in mind and body by heavy cares and
hard toil, the Emperor died at Ahmadnagar in the morning of
the 3rd March, 1707, “with the Muslim confession of faith on
his lips”. His body was carried to Daulatabad and was interred
in the compound of the tomb of the famous Muslim saint Burhan-
ud-din.
10 . Aurangzeb as a Man and a Ruler
To judge the character and policy of a personality lilje Aurangzeb
is indeed a perplexing task. Some have taken into consideration
mainly his faults, and not his good qualities, which they have
mostly ignored. There is no reason why he should be singled out
for severe strictures for the manner in which . he secured the
throne. In this, he was simply following the example that had
become almost traditional in the Timurid family in India. It
would be unjust to throw on him the entire responsibility for the
war of succession; it would have come at any rate, as none of
the brothers was willmg to make any compromise. It should not
be forgotten that while Shah Jahan removed aU his possible rivals
Aurangzeb did not put to death all his nephews. It is indeed
hard to defend Aurangzeb’s harsh treatment of his old father, but
in justice to him it should be noted that at least he was not a
parricide, of which we find numerous instances in the history of
India and of other countries.
Aurangzeb’s private life was simple, pious and austere. He
was not a slave to his passions and scrupulously abstained from
indulging in prohibited food, drink or dress. The number of his
wives “fell sWt even of the Quranic allowance of four”, which
was a praiseworthy restraint for an Emperor in those days, though
it was below the standard of Dara Shukoh and Khusrav. He
was an ardent student of Muslim theology, and an expert calli-
graphist, and tried to “educate his children in sacred lore”. But
it is a pity that he seldom encouraged art and letters. The only
literary production which received his patronage was the Fatdwa-
i-Alarngln, which has been regarded as “the greatest digest of
Mushm law made in India”. Aurangzeb was a pious Muslim,
and with the zeal of a Puritan he scrupulously observed the injunc-
tions of the Holy Quran. Once during the Balkh campaign he knelt
down to finish his prayers at the proper time, though the fighting
AURANGZEB ‘iLAIklGIR 509
was going on all around him. No one can deny him the credit
of being sincere in his religious convictions. But this extreme puri-
tanism made him stern and austere and dried up the springs of
the tender quahties of heart. He thus “lacked sympathy, imag-
ination, breadth of vision, elasticity in the choice of means, which
atone for a hundred faults of the head”.
Undaunted bravery, grim tenacity of purpose, and ceaseless
activity, were some of his prominent qualities. His military cam-
paigns give sufficient proof of his unusual courage, and the mamier
in which he baffled the intrigues of his enemies shows him to
have been a past-master of diplomacy and state-craft. His memory
was wonderful, and his industry indefatigable. He personally read
all petitions and passed orders on them with his own hand. The
Italian physician Gemelh-Careri, who visited India during the
reign of Aurangzeb and saw him in 1695 when he was seventy-
seven years old, “admired to see him endorse the petitions with
his own hand, without spectacles, and by his cheerful, smiling
countenance seemed to be extremely pleased with the employment”.
In spite of his vitality and strength of character, Aurangzeb,
as a ruler of India, proved to be a failure. He hardly realised
that the greatness of an Empire depends on the progress of its
people as a whole. In the intensity of his religious zeal he ignored
the feelings of important sections of the people and thus roused
forces hostile to his Empire. Indeed, the history of India since
the days of the Mauryas clearly shows that political progress in
this land is dependent on the policy of religious toleration which
would seek to create harmony in the midst of various discordant
elements. To build up a united India, while accentuating
religious differences, is bound to remain an idle dream. Further,
Aurangzeb ’s plodding industry and capacity for work in one sense
went against him by implanting in his mind a sense of over- confid-
ence, and excessive distrust of his officers. This led him to inter-
fere constantly in the minutest affairs of the State. It resulted
in kee]3ing the local officers in a state of perpetual tutelage, and
crushing their initiative, sense of responsibility, and efficiency,
which could not but produce “administrative degeneration in an
extensive and diversified empire like India”. Khafi Khan gives
the following estimate of the Emperor from the point of view of
an orthodox Sunni: “Of all the sovereigns of the House of Timur
— ^nay of aU the sovereigns of Delhi — no one, since Sikandar Lodi,
has ever been apparently so distinguished for devotion, austerity
and justice. In courage, long-suffering and sound judgment, he
was unrivalled. But from reverence of the injunction of the Law
510
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
he did not make use of punishment, and without punishment the
administration of a country caimot be mamtamed. Dissensions
had arisen among his nobles through rivalry. So every plan and
project that he formed came to little good and every enterprise
which he midertook was long in execution and failed of its object,”
Aurangzeb had many sterling qualities ; but he was not a success-
ful ruler ; he "was a great soldier but not a farseeing leader of men,
a shrewd diplomat but not a sound statesman. In short, he was
not a political genius, such as Akbar alone among the Mughuis
had been, who could initiate a policy and enact laws to mould
the life and thought of his contemporaries or of future generations.
Largely o\nng to the Emperor’s lack of political foresight, the
symptoms of the disintegration of the Mughul Empire appeared
before he left this world. His weak successors only hastened the
process of decay. The reign of the puritan Emperor was a great
tragedy.
II. The Marathas and the Mughuis in the Seventeenth Century
A. Eisc of the Mardthm
The rise of the Maratha power introduced an important factor
in Indian politics during the second half of the seventeenth century,
as that of Vijayanagar had done in a previous age. The Marathas
had brilliant traditions of political and cultural activities in the
early Middle Ages of Indian history, when they upheld the
national cause under the Yadavas of Devagiri. 'They lost their
independence with the fall of the Yadava Ramchandradeva in the
time of ‘Ala-ud-din, but in forty years they began again to play an
important part in the Bahmani kingdom and subsequently in the
succeeding Sultanates. The seventeenth century saw them organised
into a national State. There is no doubt that Shivaji was the hero
of this Maratha national unity, but it has to be noted that the
ground was prepared for his glorious achievements by several
other factors.
Firstly, the geography of Maharashtra exercised a profound
influence in moulding the character and history of its people.
Enclosed on two sides by mountain ranges like the Sahyadri
running from north to south, and the Satpura and the Vindhya
running from east to w^est, protected by the Narmada and
the Tapti rivers and provided with numerous easily defensible
hill-forts, the Maratha, country “could not be annexed or conquered
by one cavalry dash or even one year’s campaigning”. The
AURANGZEB ‘ALAIHGlR 611
rugged and unproductive soil of the land, its precarious and
scanty rainfall, and its meagre agricultural resources, kept the
Marathas immune from the vices of luxury and idleness and helped
them to develop the virtues of “ self-reliance, courage, perseverance,
a stern simplicity, a rough straight-forwardness, a sense of social
equality, and consequently pride in the dignity of man as man”.
Secondly, the Marathi religious reformers, Ekanath, Tukaram,
Ramdas and Vaman Pandit, preaching, through successive cen-
turies, the doctrines of devotion to God and of equality of all
men before Him, without any distinction of caste or position, and
the dignity of action, had so^vn hi their land the seeds of a renais-
sance or self-awakening which is generally the presage of a political
revolution in a country. Ramdas Samarth, Guru of Shivaji, exerted
a profound influence on the minds of his countrymen and inspired
them with ideals of social reform and national regeneration through
his disciples m maths (monasteries) and his famous work known
as Dasabodha. Thirdly, literature and language supplied another
bond of union among the sons of Maharashtra. The devotional
songs of religious reformers were composed in the Marathi language,
and consequently a forceful Marathi literature grew up during the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to inspire the people of the land
with noble aspirations. “Thus,” observes Sir J. N. Sarkar, “a
remarkable community of language, creed and life was attained
in Maharashtra in the seventeenth century even before political
unity was conferred by Shivaji. What little was wanting to the
solidarity of the people was supplied by his creation of a national
State, the long struggle with the invader from Delhi under his
sons, and the imperial expansion of the race under the Peshwas.”
The Marathas had also acquired some previous expmence of
political and military administration through their employment
in the Sultanates of the Deccan. Shahji, father of the famous
Shivaji, began his career as a trooper in the army of the Sultan
of Ahmadnagar. He gradually rose to distinction, acquired vast
territorial possessions in that State, and played the kingmaker
during the last years of the Nizam Shahi rule. But his success excited
the jealousy of others, and after the annexation of Ahmadnagar
by Shah Jahan, he entered the service of the Bijapur State in
1636. Here also he earned considerable fame and received an
extensive fief in the Kamatak, besides his old jdgir of Poona,
which he had held as a servant of the Ahmadnagar State.
512
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
B. Shivdjl’s Career
Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivner near Junnar in 1630,
as the -^Titers of one school hold, or in 1627, as some modern
historians say.^ Shahji removed to his new jdglr with his second
wife, leavmg Shivaji and his mother Jija Bai under the guardian-
ship of an able Brahmana, Dadaji Khonddev. Neglected by her
husband, Jija Bai, a lady of virtuous temperament and extra-
ordmary intellect, infused mto her child’s mind high and inspiring
ideas by reciting stories of heroism, spirituality and chivalry in
past ages, and stimulated his zeal in defence of religion. “If
ever great men owed their greatness to the inspiration of mothers”,
wrote Ranade, “the influence of Jija Bar was a factor of prime
importance in the making of Shivaji’s career.” The influence of
Dadaji Khonddev also combined to make him bold and enterprising.
We do not know if Shivaji received any formal literary education,
but he grew up as a brave and adventurous soldier, “inspired
by a real desire to free his country from what he considered
to be a foreign tyranny, and not by a mere love of plunder”. His
early intimacy with the hillmen of the Maval country, ninety miles
in length and about twelve to fourteen miles in breadth along the
Western Ghats, was of immense value to him in his subsequent
years, as the Mavalis turned out to be “his best soldiers, his
earliest comrades, and his most devoted commanders”. Through
his mother, he was descended from the Yadava rulers of Devagiri,
and on his father’s side he claimed descent from the brave Sisodias
of Mewar. Thus the sentiment of glorious heredity, and the
influence of early training and environment, combined to rouse in
the young Maratha soldier aspirations for founding an independent
kingdom. He chose for himself a “career of independence”,
which, though full of risk, “had undreamt-of advantages to
compensate for the risk, if only he could succeed”.
The growing weakness of the Deccan Sultanates, and the prolonged
campaigns of the imperialists in the north, greatly favoured the
rise of the Maratha power. In 1646 Shivaji captured the fortress
of Torna, five miles east of which he soon built the fort of Rajgarh.
After the death of Dadaji Khonddev (1647), who probably did not
approve of these risky enterprises, Shivaji acquired many forts
from their hereditary owners, or the local oficers of Bijapur, by
’ Sarkar’s Shivaji, p. 26; JJ,E„ 1927, pp. 177-97. Mr. Dasaratha Sharma
has brought to light {J .B.O.R.S., June, 1934) a contemporary record of
Shivajl’s birth (that is, a horoscope of Shivaji preserved in the Bikaner Fort
Library), according to which Shivaji was born in Sanwat 1686.
AURANGZEB ‘iLAMGlR 513
force, bribery or trickery, and also built new ones. He thus came
to possess a considerable estate, protected by a long chain of hill-
forts. He had to suspend offensive operations against Bijapur for
a few years (1649-1655) as his father was put under arrest by the
Bijapur Government and was released on condition of his son’s good
behaviour. But he utilised this time in consolidating his conquests,
and in January, 1656, annexed the small Maratha principality of
Javli, by having its semi-independent Maratha prince, Chandra Rao
More, done to death by one of his agents. The extent and revenue
of Shivaji’s heritage were by this time more than doubled. He
came into conflict with the Mughuls for the first time in 1657,
when, taking advantage of Aurangzeb and his troops being engaged
in the invasion of Bijapur, he raided the Mughul districts
of Ahmadnagar and Junnar and even looted the city of Junnar.
Aurangzeb promptly reinforced his oflflcers in that part and Shivaji
was defeated. "V^en ‘Add Shah concluded peace with Aurangzeb,
Shivaji also submitted to him. Aurangzeb never trusted Shivaji,
but he patched up the peace as his presence in the north
became necessary owing to his father’s illness. Shivaji next turned
his attention to the North Konkan, captured Kalyan, Bhiwandi
and Mahuli, and proceeded as far south as Mahad.
Temporarily relieved from internal strife and immediate Mughul
invasion, the Sultan of Bijapur decided to destroy the power of
Shivaji once for all, and sent a large force against him, early in
A.D. 1659, under Afzal Khan, one of the foremost nobles and
generals of the kingdom, “to bring back the rebel (Shivaji)
dead or alive’’. Afzal Khan reached Wai, twenty miles north of
Satara, within a fortnight. Failing to bring Shivaji out of his strong-
hold of Pratapgarh, the Bijapur general opened negotiations with
him through a Maratha Brahmana, named Krishpaji Bhaskar, and
invited him to a conference. Shivaji received the envoy with
respect, and appealed to him in the name of religion to disclose
the real intention of Afzal EJian. Moved by this, Krishpaji Bhaskar
hinted that the Bijapur general had mischief in Ws mind, which
was confirmed by what Shivaji learnt from Gopinath, his own envoy
to Afzal. This put Shivaji on the alert, and he proceeded to meet
his adversary in a conference, apparently unarmed but with con-
cealed weapons and clad in armour, with a view to meeting craft
with craft if necessary. It has been unanimously alleged by the
Marathas that, as the two embraced each other, the strong and stal-
wart Muslim general held the short and slim Maratha chief’s neck
in his left arm with “ an iron grip ’’ and with his right hand tried to
thrust a dagger into the body of Shivaji, whose hidden armour,
514
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
however, saved him from harm. Shivaji immediately MUed Afzai by
rending his body with his baglumkh or gloves with steel claws. With
the help of his troops, who were lying in ambush, he defeated the
leaderless Bijapur troops and plundered their camp. Khafi lOian
and Duff charge Shivaji with having treacherously murdered Afzai
Khan, who, in their opinion, did not j&rst try to strike Shivaji.
But Maratha writers have justified Shivaji’s treatment of Afzai
as an act of self-defence against the attack of the Bijapur general.
The contemporary factory records accord with the statement of
the Maratha chroniclers.
Shivaji next entered the South Konkan and the Kolhapur district.
But in July, 1660, he was invested in the Panhala fort by a Bijapur
force under Sidi Jauhar and was forced to evacuate it. He was
soon confronted with a new danger. Shaista Klian, the new Mughul
governor of the Deccan, commissioned by Aurangzeb to suppress
the Maratha chief’s activities, occupied Poona, captured the fort of
Chakan and drove away the Marathas from the Kalyan district.
But Shivaji soon patched up a truce with the Bijapur State,
through the intervention of his father, who still held a position
of importance there. Thus he became free to turn his whole
attention to the Mughuls. After about two years’ desultory fighting,
he secretly entered into Shaista Khan’s apartments in Poona with
some attendants on the 15th April, 1663, “surprised and wounded
the Mughul viceroy of the Deccan m the heart of his camp, in
his very bed-chamber, within the inner ring of his body-guards
and female slaves”, slew his son, Abul Path, one captain, forty
attendants and six women of his harem, and then went safely
away to the neighbouring stronghold of Singhagarh. The Mughul
viceroy lost his thumb and barely escaped with his life. This
daring exploit immensely increased the prestige of Shivaji, who
soon performed another feat, not less adventurous than the one
described above. During the period 16th — 20th January, 1664,
he attacked and sacked Surat, the richest seaport on the west,
without hindrance, as the governor of the place had taken to his
heels instead of opposing him. The Maratha chief decamped with
rich plunder exceeding ten million rupees in value. Only the
local English and Dutch factories successfully resisted him and
escaped being plundered.
Indignant at these repeated reverses, which greatly affected
Mughul prestige and influence in the Deccan, Aurangzeb sent,
early in 1665, Jay Singh, Raja of Amber, and Dilir IQian to the
Deccan with an expeditionary force to punish Shivaji. Jay Singh,
a tactful and brave general, who combined with varied military
AURANGZEB ‘iLAMGlR 515
experience, gained during liis campaigns in diSerent parts of the
Empire, mucli diplomatic skill and foresight, proceeded cautiously
against the clever Maratha chief. Raising a ring of enemies round
Shivaji, he besieged the fort of Purandhar, The beleaguered garrison
in the fort maintained a heroic resistance for some time, during
which its “Prabhu” commander, Munar Baji Deshpande of Mahad,
lost his Hfe with 300 Mavlis. The Mughuls also blockaded Raj garb,
the seat of Shivaji’s government. Considering the cost of further
resistance, Shivaji concluded the treaty of Purandhar with Jay
Singh on the 22nd June, 1665, whereby he ceded to the Mughuls
twenty-three of his forts, retaining only twelve for himself,
promised to supply a contingent of 5,000 cavalry to act with the
Mughul army in the Deccan, and was permitted to compensate
himself for his territorial losses by collecting chaviJi and sardesli-
mukhl in some districts of the Bijapur kingdom. He soon joined
the imperialists in a war against Bijapur. But Jay Singh’s BijSpur
campaign ended in failure. He, however, plied Shivaji “with high
hopes”, and using “a thousand devices” prevailed upon him to
visit the imperial court at Agra.
Jay Singh’s object in sending Shivaji to the imperial court
was to remove h im from the troubled area of the Deccan, but
it is very difficult to understand what led Shivaji to agree to his
proposal. Mr. Sardesai writes that the consideration which led
Shivaji to go to the imperial court was his desire to see with his
own eyes the Emperor, his court, and the sources of his strength,
with a view to preparing his plans for future operations against him
properly. We know, on the other hand, that Jay Singh had to
persuade him to take such a risky step by holding out promises
of reward and honour and taking solemn oaths to be responsible
for his safety at Agra. To secure the consent of the Emperor to
the occupation of the island of Janjira, then held by the Siddi,
an imperial servant, might have also been an objective of the
Maratha chief. With the assurance of the astrologers and con-
currence of the majority of his officers, he started for Agra
with his son, Shambhuji, and reached there on the 9th May,
1666.
But Shivaji was coldly received by Aurangzeb and ranked as
a noble commanding 5,000 men, which woxmded his sense of
honour so much that he created a scene and swooned. On being
restored to his senses, he accused the Emperor of breach of faith,
whereupon he was placed under guard. Thus his “high hopes
were dashed to pieces and he foimd himself a prisoner instead”.
An ordinary man would have given way to despair under such
516 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
trying circumstances, but, being gifted with extraordinary resource-
fulness, he resorted to a stratagem to effect his escape. Pretending
to recover from his feigned illness, he began sending out of his
house every evening baskets of fruits and sweetmeats for Brahmanas,
mendicants and nobles, as thanksgivmg offerings for his fictitious
recovery. After a few days, when the guards had relaxed their
vigilance and allowed the baskets to go out unchecked, Shivaji
and his son concealed themselves in two empty baskets and slipped
out of Agra, eluding aU the spies of the Mughul Emperor, He
EAIQARH FOEI
hastened with Shambhuji to Muttra and, leaving his fatigued son
there in charge of a Maratha Brahmapa, reached home, in the
guise of a mendicant, on the 30th November, 1666, by foUowing
a roundabout way, via Allahabad, Benares, Gaya and Telingana.
For three years after this, Shivaji remained at peace with the
Mughuls and utilised the period in organising his internal administra-
tion. Aurangzeb granted him the title of Bdjd and a. jdglr in Berar,
and raised his son Shambhuji to the rank of a noble of 5,000. But
war was renewed in 1670. The position of the imperiaHsts being
weaker than before, owing to a bitter quarrel between the viceroy.
AURANGZEB ‘iLAMGlR 517
Shah ‘llam, and his lieutenant, Dilir Khan, Shiraji recovered almost
all the forts surrendered by him in 1665. In the month of October,
1670, he sacked Surat for the second time and captured immense
booty in cash and kind. He then carried daring raids into Mughul
provinces and repeatedly defeated Mughul generals in open fight.
In 1672 he demanded chauih from Surat.
The tribal risings in the north-west then engaged Aurangzeb’s
attention more than anything else, and a part of the Mughul army
was transferred from the Deccan to that region. The desultory
fighting of the Mughul captains against Shivaji from 1672 to 1678
led to no success. The Maratha hero was then in the full tide of
power. On the 16th June, 1674, he formally crowned himself
king at Eaigarh with great pomp and splendour, and assumed the
title of Chhatrapati (Lord of the Umbrella, or king of kings).
Besides being relieved of pressure from the Mughuls, owing to
their preoccupations in the north-west, Shivaji secured the friendship
of the Sultan of Golkunda, and conquered in one year (1677) Jmji,
Vellore, and the adjoining districts. These greatly enhanced his
prestige and gave him the possession of a vast territory in the
Madras Carnatic and the Mysore plateau, covering sixty leagues
by forty, 3 delding him an annual revenue of 20 lacs of Jiuns and
containing 100 forts. His successful career came to a close with
his premature death at the age of fifty-three (or fifty, according
to some) on the 14th April, 1680. Shivaji’s kingdom extended
roughly along the entire coast from Eamnagar (modern Dharampur
State in the Surat Agency) m the north to Karwar in the south,
excluding the Portuguese, African and English settlements of
Daman, Salsette, Bassein, Chaul, Goa, Janjira and Bombay. On
the east, its boundary ran in an irregular line from Baglana in the
north, through the JSTasik and Poona districts and round the whole
of Satara, to Kolhapur m the south. His last conquests brought
within the limits of his dominions the Western Carnatic, extending
from Belgaum to the banks of the Tungabhadra, opposite to the
Bellary district of the modem Madras Presidency, and also a large
part of the present kingdom of Mysore.
C. 8hivdjl*s Oovemment
Shivaji was not merely a daring soldier and a successful military
conqueror, but also an enlightened ruler of his people. As Mr.
Rawlinson observes: “Like nearly aU great warriors— -Hapoleon
is a conspicuous example — Shivaji was also a great administrator,
for the qualities which go to make a capable general are those
538 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
which are required by the successful organiser and statesman.”
His system, like that of the Muslim rulers of India, was an auto-
cracy, of which he himself was the supreme head. But in the actual
discharge of State business he was helped by a council of eight
ministers — ^the asJitapradhdn — ^whose functions were chiefly advisory.
The eight ministers were: (i) The Peshwd or the Prime Minister,
who had to look after the general welfare and interests of the
kingdom, (ii) the Amdtya or the Finance Minister, whose duty was
to check and countersign all public accounts, (ui) the Mantrl,
who had to preserve a daily record of the king’s acts and the
proceedings of his court, (iv) the Sackiva or the superintendent, who
was in charge of the king’s correspondence and had also to check
the accounts of the mahdls and faraganas, (v) the 8umant or the
Foreign Secretary, (vi) the Sendpati or the Commander-in-chief,
(vii) the Pandit Edo and DdnddhyaTcsha or the Royal Chaplain and
Almoner, and (viii) the NydyddMsa or the Chief Justice. All the
ministers, excepting the NydyddMsa and the Pandit Edo, held
military commands besides their civil duties, and at least three
of them were placed in charge of provincial administration as well.
The ministers were in charge of different departments of the State,
which were no less than thirty in number. Shivaji divided his
kingdom into a number of provinces, each being placed under a
viceroy, who held of&ce at the king’s pleasure and was assisted
like him by a staff of eight chief officers. The viceroy of the
Kamatak had a position somewhat different from that of the
other provincial governors, and he exercised more power and
discretion.
For purposes of revenue collection and administration, ShivaJI’s
kingdom was divided into a number of prants or provinces. Each
prant was subdivided into paragands and tarfs, and the village
formed the lowest unit. Shivaji abandoned the existing practice
of farming out land revenue and substituted for it direct collection
ffom the ryots through State officials, who had “no right to exercise
the powers of a political superior (overlord) or harass the ryots”.
The assessment was made after a careful survey of lands, for which
purpose a uniform unit of measurement was introduced. The
State dues were fixed at 30 per cent of the expected produce, which
was after some time raised by Shivaji to 40 per cent after he had
abolished other kinds of taxes or cesses. The cultivators knew
definitely the amount of their dues, which they could pay without
any oppression. They were given the choice of payment either
in cash or in kind. The State encouraged agriculture by granting
advance loans from the treasury to the ryots for the purchase of
AURANGZEB ‘iLAMGlR 519
seed and cattle, and the latter repaid these by easy anniial instal-
ments. It is wrong to say, as Fryer has done, that the State officers
practised extortions and oppressions on the cultivators, though it
might have been that Shivaji, with a view to making his kingdom
financially sound, was strict in the matter of revenue collection.
Modem researches have amply proved that the revenue adminis-
tration of Shivaji was humane, efficient, and conducive to the
interests of his subjects, as even Grant Duff admitted many
years ago.
As the hilly regions of Maharashtra did not yield much in land
revenue, Shivaji often levied chauth and sardeahmuhM on the
neighbouring tracts, which were completely at his merc3^ and also
on the Mughul provinces as well as some districts of the Bijapur
kingdom. The practice of levying chavth had already been in vogue
in western India, as we find that the Raja of Ramnagar exacted
it from the Portuguese subjects of Daman. Scholars differ in
their opinions regarding the nature of the chauth contribution.
Ranade, who compares it with Wellesley’s subsidiary system,
writes that it was “not a mere military contribution without any
moral or legal obligation, but a payment in lieu of protection
against the invasion of a third power”. Sir J. N. Sarkar expresses
a different opinion when he writes: “The payment of the chauth
merely saved a place from the unwelcome presence of the Maratha
soldiers and civil underlings, but did not impose on Shivaji any
corresponding obligation to guard the district from foreign invasion
or internal disorder. The Marathas looked only to then own gain
and not to the fate of their prey after they had left. The chauth
was only a means of buying off one robber; and not a subsidiary
system for the maintenance of peace and order against aU enemies.
The lands subject to the chauth cannot, therefore, be rightly called
spheres of influence. ” According to Mr. Sardesai, it was a tribute
realised from hostile or conquered territories. Dr. Sen writes that
the chauth was a contribution exacted by a mflitary leader, which
was justified by the exigencies of the situation. Whatever might
be the theory of this burdensome imposition, which amounted to
one-fourth of the government revenue, in practice it was nothing
but a military contribution. The sardeshmukM was an additional
levy of 10 per cent, which Shivaji demanded on the basis of
his claim as the hereditary Sardeshmuhh (chief headman) of
Maharashtra. But this was a legal fiction. The exaction of chauth
and sardeshmuhhi gave to the Marathas influence over the districts
which lay beyond their jurisdiction and was followed by their easy
annexation.
520
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Ttie organisation of the Maratha army by Shivaj! on a new model
is a brilliant proof of his military genius. Previously the Maratha
fighting forces consisted mostly of cavalry, who had been in the
habit of working half the year upon their fields, and engaged
themselves during the dry season in active service, Shivaj i, however,
introduced a regular standing army. His soldiers had to be always
ready for duty, and were provided with pay and quarters during
the rainy season. The strength of this force rose from thirty to
forty thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry. Shivaji built
a considerable fleet, the crews for which were recruited from among
the low-caste Hindus of the Bombay coast. Although the achieve-
ments of the Maratha navy under Shivaji were not very remark-
able, yet in later times the Maratha fleet under the Angrias gave
considerable trouble to the English, the Portuguese, and the Dutch.
According to the Sabhasad Balchar, he maintamed an elephant
corps numbering about 1,260 and a camel corps numbering 3,000
or 1,500. We do not know definitely what was the strength of his
artillery, but Orme writes that “he had previously purchased
eighty pieces of cannon and lead sufficient for his matchlocks from
the !l^ench Director at Surat”.
There was a regular gradation of officers both in the cavalry and
the infantry. The cavalry had two branches — ^the hargls or soldiers
provided with pay and equipment by the State, and the sildhddrs,
who equipped themselves at their own cost and supplied the pay
and equipment of the soldiers whom they brought to the service
of the State, but were paid a stipulated sum by the State to defray
the expense of service in the field. In the cavalry, 25 troopers
formed a unit; over twenty-five men was placed a havalddr, over
five havalddrs one jumladdr, and over ten jumldddrs one hdzdrl^
who received 1,000 huTia a year. Higher ranks over hdzdria were
pdnjhdzdns and the samobat or supreme commander of the cavalry.
In the infantry, nine privates (pdiks) formed the lowest unit under
a ndik. Over five Miks there was one havalddr, over two or three
havalddrs one jumldddr, and over ten jumldddrs one hdzdrl. Instead
of five hdzdris as in the cavalry, there were seven hdzdrls in the
infantry under the command of the sarnobat of the infantry.
Although Shivaji in most cases led the army in person, it was
formally under a sendpati, or commander-in-chief, who was a
member of the council of ministers. Since forts played an important
part in the history of the Marathas, ample precaution was taken
to maintain the garrisons there in an efficient condition. Every
fort was under three officers of equal status, viz. the 'havalddr, the
sabnis, and the saimoto, who were to act together and thus to serve
AURANGZEB ‘ALAMGIR 521
as a check on one another. Further, to prevent treachery on the
part of the fort-officers, Shivaji arranged “that in each garrison
there should be a mixture of castes”.
Though regular and generous in making payments and giving
rewards to the soldiers, Shivaji did not forget to enforce strict
discipline on them. He drew up a set of regulations for their
conduct so that their morals might not be lowered. The more
important of these regulations laid down: “No woman, female
slave, or dancing girl, was to be allowed to accompany the army.^
A soldier keeping any of these was to be beheaded. Cows were
exempt from seizure, but bullocks might be taken for transport
only. Brahmanas were not to be molested, nor taken as hostages
for ransom. No soldier should misconduct himself (during a cam-
paign).” As regards spoils of war, Shivaji ordered that “when-
ever a place was plundered, the goods of poor people, pulsiyah
(copper money), and vessels of brass and copper, should belong
to the man who found them; but other articles, gold and silver,
coined or uncoined, gems, valuable stuffs or jewels, were not to
belong to the finder but were to be given up without the smallest
deduction to the officers and to be by them paid over to Shivaji’s
government”.
D. An Estimate of Shivaji
Both as a ruler and a man, Shivaji occupies a distinguished
place in the history of India. A born leader of men, who could
throw a spell over aU who came in contact with him, he elevated
himself, by dint of his unusual bravery and diplomacy, &om
the position of a jdglrddr to that of a Chhatrapati and became
an irresistible enemy of the mighty Mughul Empire, then at the
zenith of its power. The most brilliant of his achievements was
the welding together of the Maratha race, “scattered like atoms
through many Deccani Kingdoms”, into a mighty nation in “the
teeth of opposition of four great powers like the Mughul empire,
Bijapur, Portuguese India, and the Abyssmians of Janjira”. He
left an extensive kingdom at his death. “The territories and the
treasures, however, which Shivaji acquired, were not so formidable
to the Mughuls,” writes Grant Duff, “as the example he had set,
the system and habits he had introduced, and the spirit he had
infused into a large proportion of the Maratha people.” The
Maratha nation that he built up defied the Mughul Empire during
^ We may contrast with this the influence of the harem that accom-
panied the Mughul army.
522
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
and after Anrangzeb’s reign, and remained the dominant power in
Tndia, during the eighteenth century, so that a descendant of
Aurangzeb became the virtual puppet of a Maratha chief, Mahadaji
Sindhia. The Maratha power also competed with the English for
supremacy in India till it was finally crushed in the time of Lord
Hastings.
It would be unjust to describe Shivaji as '‘an entrepreneur of
rapine or a Hindu edition of ‘Alauddin or Tamaiiene”, as Khafi
Khan and even some modern writers have done. A great
constructive genius, he possessed aU the essential qualities needed
for the national regeneration of a country. ‘ ‘ His system was his own
creation and, unlike Ranjit Singh, he took no foreign aid in his
administration. His army was drilled and commanded by his own
people and not by Frenchmen. Wliat he built lasted long; his
institutions were looked up to with admiration and emulation,
even a century later in the pahny days of the Peshwas’ rule. ” He
was not a relentless conqueror indulging in unnecessary cruelty
and plunder for the sake of plunder. His chivalrous conduct
during his campaigns towards women and children, including
those of the Muslims, has been eulogised even by Khafi Khan, a
hostile critic: “Shivaji had always striven to maintain the honour
of the people in his territories . . . and was careful to maintain
the honour of women and children of Muhammadans when they
fell into his hands. His injunctions upon this point were very strict,
and anyone who disobeyed them received punishment.” Rawlinson
rightly observes: “He was never deliberately or wantonly cruel.
To respect women, mosques, and non-combatants, to stop promis-
cuous slaughter after a battle, to release and dismiss with honour
captured officers and men — these are, surely, no light virtues.”
Shivaji’s ideal was the restoration of an indigenous Empire in
his country, and he pursued it with singleness of purpose. But he
had no time to work it out in Ml.
In his private life, Shivaji remained immune from the prevalent
vices of the time, and his moral virtues were exceptionally high.
Sincerely religious from his early life, he did not forget the lofty
ideals with which he had been inspired by his mother and his guru
Ramdas, in the midst of political or military duties. He sought to
make religion a vital force in the uplifting of the Maratha nation
and always extended his patronage to Hindu religion and learning.
“Religion remained with him”, remarks a modem Marathi writer,
“an ever-fresh fountain of right conduct and generosity; it did
not obsess his mind or harden him into a bigot.” Tolerant of other
faiths, he deeply venerated Muslim saints and granted rent-free
AURANGZEB ‘iLAMGlR 523
lands to meet the expenses of iUmnination of Muslim shrines and
mosques, and his conduct towards the Capuchin fathers (Christian
monks) of Surat, during its first sack by him, was respectM. Even
his bitterest critic, Khafi Khan, writes: “But he (Shivaji) made it
a rule that whenever his followers went plundering, they should do
no harm to the mosques, the Book of God, or the women of any
one. Whenever a copy of the sacred Quran came into his hands
he treated it with respect and gave it to some of his Mussulman
followers. WTien the women of any Hindu or Muhammadan were
taken prisoners by his men, he watched over them until their
relations came with a suitable ransom to buy their liberty.”
E. Shambhuji and Ms Successors
Shivaji was succeeded by his eldest son, Shambhuji, who, though
pleasure-loving, was brave. His chief adviser was a Brahmapa
from Northern India named Kavi-Kulash, whose morals were
not above 'reproach. Under the new king the Maratha power
weakened but did not become entirely inert. Shambhuji him self
realised the nature of the Mughul menace, and fought the mighty
force which Aurangzeb had brought to the Deccan with courage
and resolution till he was surprised and captured (11th February,
1689), at Sangameshwar, twenty-two miles from Ratnagiri, by an
energetic Mughul officer named Muqarrab Khan. His minister,
Kavi-Kulash, and twenty-five of his chief followers, were also
captured with him. The two chief captives were brought to the
imperial camp at Bahadurgarh and were publicly paraded. After
being tortured in various ways for more than three weeks, the
captives were put to death on the 11th March, 1689. The imperialists
quickly captured many of the Maratha forts, and even besieged
the Maratha capital at Raigarh. But Rajaram, younger brother
of Shambhuji, slipped out of the city, disguised as a mendicant,
and after various adventures reached Jinji in the Kamatak. The
capital city had in the meanwhile capitulated, and Shambhuji’s
family, including his infant son, Shahu, had been captured by the
Mughuls. Thus the Maratha power seemed to be completely
overthrown.
But the spirit with which Shivaji had inspired his people could
not die out so easily. The Marathas recovered quickly and again
began a war of national resistance to the Mughuls, which ultimately
exhausted the resources of the latter. In Maharashtra the Maratha
recovery was effected by leaders like Ramchandra Pant, Shankaraji
Malhar, and Parashuram Trimbak. Parashuram became Pratinidhi
624 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
or regent in 1701. In the eastern Carnatic affairs were ably
managed by Pralhad Niraji, the first Pratinidhi. The Maratha
captains now fought and raided in different quarters on their
own account. Aurangzeb was, in fact, confronted by “a people’s
war” and he “could not end it, because there was no Maratha
government or state-army for him to attack and destroy”. Two
able and active Maratha generals, Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji
Jadava, swept on from one area to another, caused great loss
and confusion to the Mughuls, and carried their daring raids,
according to the Maratha chronicles, even to the Emperor’s camp.
Many ofdcers of the Mughul Deccan purchased safety by paying
chauth to the Marathas, and some of them even joined the enemy
in plundering the Emperor’s people. As Sir J. N. Sarkar observes,
“the Mughul administration had really dissolved, and only the
presence of the Emperor with all his troops in the country held it
together, but it was now a delusive phantom. Santa and Dhana
were the heroes of this period; the initiative lay entirely with
them, and they upset every plan and calculation formed by the
imperialists ”.
Jinji, having stood a siege of about eight years, was captured
by Zu’lfiqar Edian in January, 1698. But Rajaram had escaped to
Satara, where he gathered a powerful army and resumed the
struggle in the northern Deccan, where Aurangzeb had assembled
his forces. The imperialists besieged the fort of Satara m December,
1699, but the garrison defended it heroically tUl, after the death
of Rajaram on the 12th March, 1700, it was surrendered on certain
terms by his minister, Parashuram. The Emperor now seized fort
after fort of the Marathas in person, but what they lost one day
was regained by them the next day and the war was protracted
interminably.
After the death of Rajaram, his widow, Tara Bai, a lady of
masterly spirit, guided the destiny of the Maratha nation at this
juncture as regent for her minor son, Shivaji III. She was
as even the hostile critic Khafi Khan admitted, “a clever,
intelligent woman, and had obtained reputation during her
husband’s lifetime for her knowledge of civil and military matters”.
Having organised the administration of the State and suppressed
the quarrels of the rival parties^ for succession to the throne, she,
as Kdiafi Khan tells us, “took vigorous measures for ravaging
the imperial territory and sent armies to plunder the six subahs
^ The party of Tara Bai and her son; that of Rajas Bai, another wife
of Rajaram and mother of Shambhuji II; and that which supported the
cause of Shahu, son of Shambhuji I.
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526
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of the Deccan as far as Sironj, Mandasor and the suhahs of Malwa”.
The Marathas had akeady invaded Malwa in 1699. In 1703 a
party of them entered Berar (a Mughnl province for a century).
In 1706 they raided Gujarat and sacked Baroda, and ha April or
May, 1706, a large Maratha army threatened the Emperor’s camp
at Ahmadnagar, whence they were repulsed after a long and severe
contest. Thus by this time the Marathas, with their resources
enormously increased through raids, practically became masters
of the situation in the Deccan and also in certain parts of Central
India. As an eye-witness, Bhimsen, wrote: “The Marathas became
completely dominant over the whole kingdom and closed the
roads. By means of robbery they escaped from poverty and rose
to great wealth.” Their military tactics also underwent a change, .
the immediate effect of which was good for them. As Manucci
noted in 1704: “These (Maratha) leaders and their troops move
in these days with much confidence, because they have cowed the
Mughul commanders and inspired them with fear. At the present
time they possess artillery, musketry, bows and arrows, with
elephants and camels for all their baggage and tents. ... In short,
they are equipped and move about just like the armies of the
Mughuls. . . . Only a few years ago they did not march in this
fashion. In those days their arms were only lances and long
swords two inches wide. Armed thus, they used to prowl about
on the frontiers, picking up here and there what they could ; then
they made off home again. But at the present time they move like
conquerors, showing no fear of any Mughul troops.” Thus aU the
attempts of Aurangy.ob to crush the Marathas proved quite futile.
Maratha nationalism survived as a triumphant force which his
feeble successors failed to resist.
CHAPTER V
DISINTEGRATION OF THE MUGHUL EMPIRE
I. The Later Mughul Emperors
The death of Aorangzeb on the 3rd March, 1707, was the signal
for the disintegration of the mighty Mughul Empire. Aurangzeb’s
apprehension that a civil war would break out among his sons
after him, to prevent which, it is said, he left a will directing his
three surviving sons, Mu‘azzam, Muhammad ‘A'zam and Muhammad
Kam Bakhsh, to partition the Empire peacefully, was justified.
No sooner had he breathed his last than his three sons entered
into bitter fratricidal quarrels for the possession of the throne
of Delhi. Of the three brothers, Mu'azzam was then governor of
Kabul, ‘A‘zam of Gujarat, and the youngest, Muhammad Kam
Bakhsh, of Bijapur. Kam Bakhsh, though he assumed “all the
attributes of sovereignty”, could not leave the Deccan. But the
eldest, Mu'azzam, hurried towards Agra jfrom Kabul ; and ‘A'zam
also marched towards the same city. Mu'azzam proposed to ‘ A'zam
a partition of the Empire on the lines laid down by their deceased
father, but the latter ^d not accept these suggestions and resolved
to fight for his right to the throne. Nothing but the sword could
now decide the issue, and the two brothers soon resorted to it.
They met at Jajau, a few miles from Agra, in June 1707, and
‘A‘zam lost the day as well as his life. After a brief expedition
to Rajputana, Mu'azzam marched to the Deccan, and Kam Bakhsh,
being defeated near Hyderabad, died of wounds early in 1708.
Mu‘azzam ascended the throne under the title of Bahadur
Shah (also known as Shah ‘Alam I). Though “a man of mild and
equitable temper, learned, dignified and generous to a fault”, he
was too old to prevent the decline of the Empire. His death on
the 27th February, 1712, was followed by a fresh war of succession
among his four sons, Jahandar Shah, ‘Azim-us-Shan, Jahan Shah
and Rafr-us-Shan. The last three were killed in course of the
war, and Jahandar Shah secured the throne with the help of
Zu'lfiqar Khan, who became the chief minister of the State.
Jahandar was completely under the influence of a favourite lady
627 ..' ,
528
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
named Lai Kumari. “In the brief reign of Jahandar”, observes
Khafi Khan, “violence had full sway. It was a fine time for
minstrels and singers and aU the tribes of dancers and actors.”
He was not, however, destined to enjoy power for a long time,
but was deposed and strangled in the fort of Delhi under the order
of ‘Azim-us-Shan’s son, Earrukhsiyar, who proclaimed himself
Emperor in a.d. 1713. The king-maker, Zudfiqar Khan, was also
executed.
Earrukhsiyar owed his elevation to the throne to the two Sayyid
brothers, Husain ‘Ali, deputy governor of Patna, and ‘Abdullah,
governor of Allahabad, who henceforth began to exercise the real
power in the State and placed one prince after another on the
throne. ‘AbduUah became the Wazir and Husain ‘Ali the com-
mander-in-chief of the army; but as the former was a soldier
and had no previous experience of civil administration, the full
burden of administration fell on the latter. Earrukhsiyar was
“feeble, cowardly and contemptible” and “strong neither for
evil nor for good”, and his attempt to assert his own power made
his reign “throughout an agitated and perplexing one, ending in
another Imperial tragedy”. Under the influence of some of his
anti-Sayyid friends, chiefly Mir Jumla, he acted ungratefully, from
the begicming of his reign, towards his Sayyid ministers. Their re-
sentment was so great that they deposed apd blinded the Emperor
and executed him in an ignominious manner. The treatment that
Earrukhsiyar received from the Sayyids was in no way more harsh
than what he had himself meted out to his possible rivals. His worth-
lessness, intrigues, and ingratitude made his removal almost necessary
for his ministers. But for men of position like them “the way
of doing what had become almost a necessity was imduly harsh,
too utterly regardless of the personal dignity of the fallen monarch.
Bhndmg a deposed king was the fixed usage ; for that the Sayyids
are not specially to blame. But the severity of the subsequent
confinement was excessive, and the taking of the captive’s life
was an extremity entirely uncalled-for”.
The kmg-makers, ‘Abdullah and Husain ‘Ali, now raised to
the throne two phantom kings, Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-
daulah, sons of Rafi-us-Shan. But within a few months the Sayyids,
who determined to “rule through the Imperial puppets”, thought
that they had discovered another roi faindant in a youth of
eighteen, named Rohsan Akhtar, son of Jahan Shah (the fourth
son of Bahadur Shah), who ascended the throne as Muhammad
Shah. The new Emperor did not prove to be a docile agent of the
Sayyids, as they had expected, and found many supporters among
529
DISINTEGRATION OE MUGHUL EiyiPIRE
those who had become enemies of the ministers during the seven
years of their power. The ablest of the new allies of the sovereign
was the famous Nizam-ul-mulk of the Deccan. Husain ‘All was
removed by assassination while he was proceeding towards Malwa to
chastise the Nizam. ‘Abdullah made an attempt to retain his power
by placing on the throne a more convenient puppet, Muhammad
Ibrahim, another son of Rafi-us-Shan, but he was defeated and
imprisoned in 1720 and killed by poison in 1722. The new wazlr,
Muhammad Amin Khan, expired in 1721, and the Nizam-ul-mulk
was called upon to accept that post in February, 1722. As he
was essentially a man of action, the atmosphere of the imperial
court did not suit his temperament. He soon left it for the Deccan,
where he established a virtually independent kingdom, though
the fiction of imperial supremacy was maintained tiU the last. The
fall of the Sayyids, and the departure of the Nizam-ul-mulk for
the Deccan, did not, however, serve to increase the power and
prestige of Muhammad Shah. As Ghulam Husain, the author
of Siyar, writes: “Young and handsome, and fond of aU kinds
of pleasures, he addicted himself to an inactive life, which entirely
enervated the energy of the Emperor”. Though destiny granted
him a long reign, yet “in utter unconcern he let the affairs drift
in their own way, and the consequence was most fatal”. Province
after province — ^the Deccan, Oudh and Bengal — slipped out
of imperial control; the Marathas established their power far
and wide; the Jats became independent near Agra; the Ruhela
Afghans founded the State of Rohfikhand (Ruhelkhand) in the
North Gangetic plain; the Sikhs became active in the Punjab;
and the invasion of Nadir Shah dealt a staggering blow to the
Delhi Empire. Thus within about three decades of Aurangzeb’s
death, the vast Empire of the Mughuls ceased to exist as an aU-
India political unit and was split up into numerous independent or
semi-independent states.
The next Emperor, Ahmad Shah, son of Muhammad Shah,
was unable to cope successfully with the disintegrating forces
that had grown so alarming on aU sides. The Empire rapidly
shrank in extent, being reduced only to a small district round
Delhi. The Emperor was deposed and blinded in 1754 by the
wazlr Ghazi-ud-din Imad-ul-mulk, a grandson of the deceased
Nizam-ul-mulk of the Deccan, who now imitated the Sayyid
brothers in playing the king-maker^ He placed on the throne
‘Aziz-ud-din (son of Jahandar Shah), who had been so long in
confinement, and who now adopted the same title as the
great Aurangzeb, and called him self ‘Alamgir II. But the new ruler
530
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
“found himself as mueh a prisoner upon the throne as he was
formerly in his confinement”. His attempt to free himself from
the control of the aU-powerfiil wazlr only resulted in his ruin,
as he was put to death by the latter’s orders. The malignant
hostility of this ambitious and unscrupulous wazlr compelled
Shah ‘Alam II, the son and successor of ‘Alamgir II, to move
as a wanderer from place to place. Passing through many vicissi-
tudes of fortune, this unlucky sovereign had to throw himself
ultimately on the protection of the EngHsh and live as their pensioner
till his death in a.d. 1806. Shah ‘Alam II’s son, Akbar II, lived
in Delhi with the title of Emperor tiU 1837. The Imperial
dynasty became extinct with Bahadur Shah II, who was deported
to Rangoon by the English on suspicion of assisting the Sepoy
mutineers. He died there in a.d. 1862.
2. Changed Character of the Later Mughul Nobility, and Party
Factions
The deterioration in the character of the nobility during the
eighteenth century had a large share in hastening the decline of
the Mughul Empire. IThe nobles of the time ceased to discharge
the useful functions which some of them had done in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. To the great misfortune of the country,
they became eager only for self-aggrandisement and personal
ascendancy, to achieve which they plunged the land into bitter
civil wars, disastrous conspiracies, and hopeless confusion and
anarchy, j “To the thoughtful student of Mughul history,” remarks
Sir Jadunath Sarkar, “nothing is more striking than the decline
of the peerage. The heroes adorn the stage for one generation only
and leave no worthy heirs sprung from their loins. ‘Abdurrahim
and Mahabat, 'Sa‘duUah and M3r Jumla, Ibrahim and Islam Khan
Rumi, who had made the history of India in the seventeenth century,
were succeeded by no son, certainly by no grandson, even half
as capable as themselves. ’’l-This was partly due to the incapacity
and lack of resolution on the part of the later rulers of the country,/
who had not the ability to select the right type of men for
administration but were guided by the selfish advice of interested
and depraved flatterers. / Thus when the Emperor “was a sluggard
or a fool, he ceased to be the master and guide of the nobility j,
They then naturally turned to win the controUing authority at
court or in the provinces”!
Broadly speaking, the nobles were ranged in two parties. Those
who were children of the soil, or had been long domiciled m the
DISINTEGRATION OF MUGHUL EMPIRE 631
country, formed the Hindustani or Indo-Moslem party. To this
group belonged the Afghan nobles, the Sayyids of Barha, and
Khan-i-Dauran, whose ancestors came from Badakhshan. These
Indian Muslims depended mostly on the help of their Hindu com-
patriots. The foreign nobles of Averse origin, opposed as a class to
the members of the Hindustani party, were indiscriminately called
Mughuls, but they were subdivided into two poups according to
the land of their origin. Those who came from Transoxiana and other
parts of Central Asia, and were mostly of theSunni persuasion, formed
the Turani party. The most prominent members of this poup
were Muhammad Amin lOian and his cousin. Chin Qilich Khan,
better known as the Nizam-ul-mulk. The Irani party was
composed of those who hailed from the Persian territories and
were Shiahs. The most important members of the Irani party
were Asad Khan and Zulfiqar Khan, the king-maker. These were
mere factions and were not hke the political parties of modern
times. Their members had no common principle of action among
themselves except that of self-interest and no firm party allegiance.
The nature of the political struggles of the period can be well
understood when we note that, during the reigns of Bahadur Shah
and Jahandar Shah, the Irani party was in the ascendant under
its leader Zu'lfiqar Khan. But from the beginning of Farrukhsiyar’s
reign the Hindustani party maintained its authority in alliance
with the Turani poup. Then the Turanians and the Iranians
combined to oust the Hindustanis from power.
3. Foreign Invasions
A. Invasion of Nadir Shah
Ab a natural sequel to the notorious incapacity of the unworthy
descendants of Babur, Akbar and Aurangzeb, and the selfish activities
of the nobility, the Mughul State pew corrupt and inefficient.
It lost its prestige not only withm India but also outside it.
The country, famous for its riches, which excited the cupidity
of external invaders from time immemorial, became exposed to
the menace of a foreign invasion, as had been the case during the
dismemberment of the Turko-Afghan Sultanate. This time the
invader came not from Central Asia, but from Persia, which had
already snatched away Qandahar from the Mughuls. The weak
defence of the north-west frontier (the most vulnerable point in
the Empire), since the time of Auranpeb, offered a splendid
opportunity to the Persians, when they had become free from
632
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
internal troubles by 1736, to make a daring pusb into the heart
of Hindustan under the bold adventurer Nadir Shah. The feeble
attempts of Nasir Khan and Zakariya Khan, governors of Kabul
and the Punjab respectively, to guard their provinces were of
no avail, as their appeals to the Delhi court for help passed
unheeded, owing to the machinations of the leaders of the rival
parties who fought for power in the court. Their defenceless
condition has been thus described by Ghulam Husain, one of
the most important Indian writers of the mid- eighteenth century :
“The roads and passes being neglected, everyone passed and
repassed, unobserved; no intelligence was forwarded to court of
what was happening; and neither Emperor nor Minister ever
asked why no intelligence of that kind ever reached their ears.”
Nadir Shah, born of a humble family and originally a robber
chief, was, however, schooled by hardships and privations,
which gave him considerable valour and ability and a restless
energy. He helped in the recovery of Persia from the hands of
the Afghans, who had wrested it from Shah Husain Safavi in
A.D. 1722, and entered the service of its restored ruler, Shah
Tahmasp, son of the deposed king, Shah Husain, in a.d. 1727.
Through the incompetence of his master, Nadir became the de facto
ruler of the State and eventually deposed him in 1732. On the death
of Shah Tahmasp’s infant son and successor. Nadir became the
ruler of Persia in reality as well as in name.
Nadir commenced his march towards India in a.d. 1738. The
alleged violation of promises by Muhammad Shah, and the ill-
treatment of his envoys by the Delhi court, served as the casus
belli for his invasion. As the Mughuls had sadly neglected the
defences of the north-west frontier. Nadir easily captured Ghazni,
Kabul and Lahore in a.d. 1739. The whole province of the Punjab
was thrown into great confusion and disorder, while the pleasure-
loving Emperor and the carpet-knights of his court, whose conduct
during Nadir’s invasion “forms a tale of disgraceful inefficiency
amounting to imbecility”, did nothing to oppose him. They
could think of shaking off their lethargy only when the Persian
army had arrived within a few miles of Delhi. The imperial
troops then marched to check the advance of the Persians and
encamped at Kamal, twenty miles north of Panipat ; but they
were routed in February, a.d. 1739. The vanquished Emperor of
Dellii, almost at the mercy of Nadir as his captive, hurried to sue
for peace.
The victorious Nadir and the humiliated Emperor of Delhi together
entered Delhi, where the former occupied Shah Jahan’s palace-
DISINTEGRATION OF MOGHUL EMPIRE 53S
chambers by the Diwdn-i-KMs. At first there 'was no disorder
in the imperial city, but a rumour of Nadir’s death, spread by some
mischievous persons, gave rise to a tumult in which some Persian
soldiers were slain. Nadu at first merely took steps to quell
the disturbance, but the sight of his murdered soldiers infuriated
him and, burning with feelings of revenge, he ordered a general
massacre of the citizens of the doomed city of Delhi. A contem-
porary account teUs us that the slaughter lasted from eight in
the morning till three in the afternoon. “Within the doomed
areas, the houses were looted, all the men killed without regard
for age, and aU the women dragged into slavery. The destroyers
set fire to many houses, and several of their victims, both dead
and wounded, Hindus and Muhammadans, were indiscriminately
burnt together,” The survivors, blockaded within the city, were
reduced to extreme misery, for, besides plundering the market-
places, Nadir caused the granaries to be sealed up, placed guards
over them and sent detachments to plunder the villages. The
Persian soldiers deliberately tortured the principal citizens for
money, and three crores of rupees were realised by force from
the helpless and starving inhabitants of the wretched city, which
presented for eight weeks a dreadful scene of arson and carnage.
At the earnest appeal of Muhammad Shah, Nadir at last called
off his soldiers, but peace was not restored tiU the invader left the
city for his own country, Muhammad Shah retained the throne,
but he had to sustain irreparable losses. The ruthless conqueror
carried away aU his crown jewels, including the famous Koh-i-nur
diamond, the costly Peacock Throne of Shah Jahan, and the
celebrated illustrated Persian manuscript on Hindu music written
under the command of the Emperor Muhammad Shah. According to
the estimate of Nadir’s own secretary, he exacted at Delhi fifteen
crores of rupees in cash, and a vast amount in jewels, apparel,
furniture and other valuable articles from the imperial store-house.
He also took away with him 300 elephants, 10,000 horses, and the
same number of camels. Thus the Persian invasion entailed a heavy
economic drain on the resources of the decadent Delhi Empire.
The trans-Indus provinces (Sind, Kabul and the western parts of
the Punjab) had to be surrendered to the Persians. Further, the
Mughul Empire lost the little prestige that it had stiU retained,
and its decline now became patent to the world. In short. Nadir’s
invasion left it “bleeding and prostrate”. Internally exhausted, it
could get no time for recuperation and revival, as the invasion
of 1739 set a precedent for further invasions from outside and Ahmad
Shah Abdali invaded India as the successor to Nadir’s empire.
534 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
JB. Invasiom of Ahmad Shah Abddll
After the assassination of Nadir ia 1747, one of his officers named
Ahmad Shah, an Afghan chief of the Ahdali clan, rose to power
and succeeded in establishing himself as the independent ruler of
AfghEniatan. He styled himself Durr-i-Durrdn, “the pearl of the
age”, and his clan was henceforth known as the Durrani. Ahmad
Shah Ahdali, while accompanying Nadir to India, had seen with
his own eyes “the weakness of, the Empire, the imbecility of the
Emperor, the inattentiveness of the ministers, the spirit of inde-
pendence which had crept among the grandees”. So after establish-
ing his power at home he led several expeditions into India &om
A.D. 1748 till A.D. 1767.1 These were something more than mere
predatory raids. They indicated the revival of the Afghans, outside
and within India, making a fresh bid for supremacy on the ruins
of the Mughul Empire. As a matter of fact, the Afghan bid for
supremacy was an important factor in the history of India during
a considerable part of the eighteenth century. Ahmad Shah
Abdali must have entertained the desire of establishing political
authority over at least a part of India, though there were other
motives, as Elphinstone points out, which led him to undertake
these expeditions. He sought to consolidate his authority at
home by mcreasing his reputation through successful foreign
adventures, and he also hoped to utilise the booty derived from
his Indian campaigns in defraying the expenses of his army and
in showering favours and rewards on the Afghan chiefs.
After having conquered Qandahar, Kabul, and Peshawar, Ahmad
Shah Abdali invaded India for the ffist time, in January 1748, with
12,000 veteran troops. But he was defeated at the battle of Manpur
by Ahmad Shah, the Mughul heir-apparent, and Mir Mannu, son of
the deceased wazlr Qamar-ud-din, and was put to flight. Mir Mannu
was appointed governor of the Punjab. But before he could settle
down, Ahmad Shah AbdaH invaded the Punjab for the second time
in A.D. 1750 and conquered it after defeating him. Unsupported by
the Delhi court, the Punjab governor found all resistance futile and
submitted to the invader.
The Abdah invaded India for the third time in December, 1761,
when he again defeated Mir Mannu, conquered Kashmir, and forced
the Mughul Emperor, Ahmad Shah, to cede to him the country
as far east as Sirhmd. Thus the Mughul Empire was further
^ Some English records refer to an invasion of the Punjab b,y Ahmad
Shah Abdali in a.I>. 1769. Indian Historical Qwrterly, December 1934.
535
DISINTEGEATION OE MUGHUL BIVIPIRE
reduced in extent. Slir Mannu was now left as the Abdali’s governor
in Lahore. He promised to send to the victor the surplus revenue
of the Punjab and not to transact important matters without
final orders from him. But the Abdali led another expedition in
the time of Emperor ‘Alamgir II (1754-1759). After the death
of Mr Mannu in November, 1753, and that of his infant son
and successor in May, 1754, the province of the Punjab fell into
disorder and anarchy due largely to the wilfulness and caprice of
the regent-mother, Mughlani Begam. In response to an appeal
from her for help, Imad-ul-mulk, the all-pow^erful wazlr at Delhi,
marched to the Punjab, which he himself coveted, in 1756, brought
it under his authority, and appointed Mir Mun'im, “the leading
nobleman of Lahore”, governor of the province. Enraged at
this, Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India for the fourth time in
November, 1756, with greater determination, and arrived before
Delhi on the 23rd January, 1757. The imperial city was “plimdered
and its unhappy people again subjected to pillage”. Imad-ul-mulk
surrendered and was pardoned by the invader, who obtained from
the Mughul Emperor the formal cession of the Pimjab, Kashmir,
Sind and the Sirhind district. After plundering the Jat country,
south of Delhi, the Abdali retired from India in April, 1757, with
immense booty and many captives, leaving his son, Timur Shah,
as his viceroy at Lahore with Jahan Khan, the able Afghan general,
as the latter’s wazlr.
The administration of Timur Shah for one year, from May 1767
to April 1758, was a period of utter lawlessness and disorder.
The Sikh community, infuriated by the maltreatment of one
of its leaders, rose in rebellion on all aides. Adina Beg Khan,
governor of the J ullundur Doab, revolting against the Afghans, called
in the Marathas to help him* A large army of the Marathas under
the command of Raghunath Rao invaded the Punjab in April,
1768, occupied Lahore and expelled the Afghans. They retired
from the Punjab leaving Adina Beg Khan as their governor there.
But the occupation of Lahore by the Marathas did not last
for more than six months. To avenge their expulsion of Timur
Shah, Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India for the fifth time
in October, 1759, and finally conquered the Punjab. A more
severe collision of the Afghans with the Marathas was inevitable,
because both had been, more or less, contending for political
supremacy in Hindustan. This took place on the field of Panipat
on the 14th January, a.d. 1761. Ahmad Shah Abdali departed from
India towards the close of a.d, 1762. He ordered the Indian chiefs
to recognise Shah ‘Alam II as Emperor. Najib-ud-daulah and
636 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
Mmilr-ud-daulah agreed to pay to the Abdali, on behalf of the
Indian Government, an amraal tribute of forty lacs.
The Sikhs, who had revived by this time, slew Ehwaja Abid, the
Durrani governor of Lahore, and occupied the city. This brought
back the Abdali to Lahore in March, 1764. He had, however, to
return to his own country, after a fortnight’s stay at Lahore,
owing to the outbreak of a civil war there and a mutiny among
his troops. Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India again in 1767. He
could not succeed in effectively thwarting the Sikhs and had to
retreat soon “with a consciousness of his ultimate failure”, owing
to some internal troubles, chiefly the mutiny of his troops clamouring
for pay which they had not received regularly. No sooner had
he turned back than the Sikhs reocoupied Lahore and the entire
open coimtry. Ahmad Shah Abdali “retained hold of Peshawar
and the country west of Attock, while he abandoned the Manjha
districts and central Pmijab including Lahore to the Sikhs; but
the Sind-Sagar and Jech Doab in the western Punjab remained
a debatable land which finally came into their possession in the
days of his unworthy successors”.
Though Ahmad Shah Abdali had to return hurriedly from
India, his invasion affected the history of this country in several
ways. Pirstly, it accelerated the dismemberment of the tottering
Mughul Empire. Secondly, it offered a serious check to the rapidly
spreading Maratha imperialism. Thirdly, it indirectly helped the
rise of the Sikh power. “His career in India,” observes a modern
writer, “is very intimately a part of the Sikh struggle for inde-
pendence.” Lastly, the menace of Afghan invasion kept the
English East India Company in great anxiety, both during the
lifetime of Ahmad Shah Abdali and for some time after his death,
4 . Rise of New Muslim States
On the decline of the central authority at Delhi, the inevitable
centrifugal tendency was manifest in different parts of the Empire,
and the provincial viceroys made themselves independent of the
titular Delhi Emperor for all practical purposes, merely pretending
to own a theoretical allegiance to his nominal authority. The
most important of them were the subahdars of the Deccan, Oudh
and Bengal.
A. The Deccan
The Deccan mbah became independent under Mir Qamar-ud-din
Chin Qillch Khan, better known as the Nizam-ul-mulk. His
DISINTEGRATION OF MUGHUL EMPIRE
537
grandfather, Khwaja Abid Shaikh-nl-Islam of Bukhara, migrated
to India about the middle of the seventeenth century and entered
the service of Aurangzeb. Ghazi-ud-din Firuz Jang, father of the
Nizam, also came to India during the reign of Aurangzeb and rose
to fame by holdmg several posts in the Mughul imperial service.
Mr Qamar-ud-din himself was appointed to a small command in his
thirteenth year but he was promoted quickly and given the title of
Chin Qilich Khan. At the time of Aurangzeb’s death. Chin Qilich
lOian was at Bijapur, and observed perfect neutrality during the
war of succession among the sons of the Emperor. Bahadur Shah
removed him from the Deccan and made him governor of Oudh.
He retired from public service for some time but entered it again
towards the close of Bahadur Shah’s reign with the title of his
father, Ghazi-ud-din Firuz Jang. Farrukhsiyar appointed him
governor of the Deccan (1713) and invested him with the titles
of Elhan Khanan and Nizam-ul-mulk Bahadur Fath Jang, as a
reward for his having espoused his cause. From the very outset
of his viceroyalty the Nizam-ul-mulk tried to check the growing
strength of the Marathas in the Deccan. But owing to party
cliques at the DeM court, he had to lose his viceroyalty of the
Deccan by the end of 1713, and it was then conferred on Sayyid
Husain *Ali. The Nizam-ul-mulk was transferred to Muradabad
and subsequently his removal to Bihar was also thought of. But
before he took charge of the new province, Farrukhsiyar’s regime
came to a close, and he was transferred to the government of
Malwa. It was in Malwa that the Nizam-ul-mulk was able to lay the
foundation of his future greatness. His activities there roused the
suspicions of the Sayyids, who, in disregard of a previous promise,
again issued orders for his transfer. But instead of submitting to
these orders, he prepared to defend his position ’by arms. He
defeated and slew Dilwar ‘ Ali Kkan and ‘Alim ‘Ali Khan ; and Husain
‘All, while getting ready to march against him, was stabbed to death.
After the fall of the Sayyids, he again made himself master of the
Deccan towards the end of 1720. On the death of his cousin, the
wazlr Amin Khan, in 1721, the Nizam-ul-mulk was summoned
to Delhi and was appointed to the office of wazlr in February,
1722. But he did not find himself happy in the vitiated atmosphere
of the Delhi court, where the frivolous courtiers of Muhammad
Shah rejected his advice and poisoned the Emperor’s mind against
him. So he left for the Deccan without the Emperor’s permission
in the third week of December, a.d. 1723. His enemies led
their credulous ruler to believe that he was in rebellion and
induced the Emperor to send secret instructions to Mubariz Khan,
638 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
governor of Hyderabad, to fight against him, promising him the
viceroyalty of the Deccan in the event of his success. But the
Nizam-ui-mulk not only defeated and slew Mubariz Khan at
Sakhar Kheda in Berar on the 11th October, 1724, but also indirectly
compelled the wretched Emperor of Delhi to recognise him as
the viceroy of the south and confer on him the title of Asaf
Jah, which his descendant still bears. “From this time may be
dated the Nizam-ul-mulk’s virtual independence and the foundation
of the present Hyderabad State.” The Nizam-ul-mulh’s efficient
administration of the Deccan has been highly praised by Khaf!
Khan. Ghulam Husain also observes: “It is an extensive tract
{the Deccan subah) that he governed with an absolute authority
for the space of seven and thirty years.” He died at the grand
old age of ninety-one on the 21st May, 1748, when the quarrels
for succession to the Deccan government gave opportunities to
the European trading companies to interfere vigorously in the
politics of the subah.
B. Oudh
The subah of Oudh then comprised not only modem Oudh
but also Benares to the east of it, a part of the territory to
its west and some districts near Allahabad and Cawnpore. The
founder of the kingdom of Oudh was Sa'adat Khan, an immigrant
from Khurasan. Appointed governor of Oudh in 1724, he rapidly
rose to power and fame, and was summoned to Delhi at the time
of Nadir’s invasion; but he committed suicide the same year.
The next governor of Oudh was Sa'adat Khan’s nephew and
son-in-law, Safdar Jang. Appointed wazir of the Delhi empire in
1748, Safdar Jang played an important part in the contemporary
history of India till some time before his death in 1754, in spite
of the opposition of Asaf Jah Nizam-ul-mulk’s son and grand-
son. He was succeeded in the government of Oudh by his son,
Shuja-ud-daulah, who also became the wazlr of the empire and was
one of the principal figures in the history of Northern India till he
died in a.d. 1775.
G. The Bengal 8vhah
Murshid Quli Jafar Khan, appointed governor of Bengal by
Aurangzeb in 1705, proved to be a strong and able ruler, though
he occasionally adopted severe measures to collect revenues from
the local zamindars. He transferred the capital of Bengal from
Dacca to Murshidabad. FuEy aHve to the economic interests of
639
DISINTEGRATION OF MUGHBL EMPIRE
his province, he made attempts to prevent the abuse of dmtaJcs
by the servants of the English East India Company and wanted
to collect from them the same amount of duties on trade as the
Indian merchants had to pay. After his death in a.d. 1727, his
son-in-law, Shuja-ud-din Khan, succeeded him in the government
of Bengal. It was during the regime of Shuja-ud-din that the BOiar
subah, the eastern limit of which extended up to Teliagarhi (near
SahebganJ on the E.I. Ry. Loop Line), was annexed to Bengal
about A.D. 1733 and ‘^ivardi was sent as its ndib ndzim.
Shuja-ud-din died in 1739, after which his son, Sarfaraz Khan,
became the Nawab of Bengal. But the new Nawab’s regime was
not destined to last long. ‘Alivardi, his brother Haji Ahmad,
the rdyrdydn ‘Alamchand and Jagat Seth Fateh Chand, organised
a conspiracy against him. ‘Alivardi marched from Bihar, defeated
and slew Sarfaraz at Giria, near Rajmahal, on the 10th April,
A.D. 1740, and occupied the masnad of Bengal. He secured imperial
confirmation of his new authority through questionable means,
and began to govern the province in an independent manner,
Traiped in the school of adversity, ‘Alivardi had developed some
good qualities, which helped him to become an able administrator.
Ghulam Husain observes : “ A prudent, keen and a valorous soldier,
there are hardly any qualifications which he did not possess.”
His attitude towards the European traders was strict but impartial,
and he exacted occasional contributions from them only under
the pressure of extraordinary circumstances. But destiny allowed
him no rest to enjoy peacefully the masnad that he had seized by
force. The Maratha invasions of Bengal from year to year during
the greater part of his regime were a source of keen anxiety,
and the rebellions of his Afghan generals, in alliance with their
compatriots of Darbhanga in Bihar, proved to be a serious menace
to his authority. ../Unable to repel the Marathas, even by assassina-
ting one of their generals, Bhaskhar Pandit, at Mankarah near
Cassimbazar, ‘Alivardi concluded a treaty with them in May or
June, A.D. 1751, whereby he agreed to pay them an annual tribute
of twelve lacs of rupees as ckauth and also ceded to them the
revenues of a part of Orissa. This opened the way for ultimate
Maratha supremacy over Orissa, which could not be done away
with by the English till about a.d. ISOS.^ ‘Alivardi died in April,
A.D. 1756, when the masnad of Bengal passed to his heir-designate
and favourite®- grandson, Mirza Muhammad, better known as
Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah, whose brief regime of about one year and
two months forms a turning-point in the history of Bengal and
also of India.
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
5 . Political Revival of the Hindus
One prominent factor in the history of India during the
eighteenth century was the revival of the Hindus. It was not,
however, characterised by any spirit of an aU-India national, religious
or cultural renaissance, but by isolated attempts on the part of
the different Hindu or semi-B^du powers, such as the Rajputs,
the Sikhs, the Jats and the Marathas, to establish their respective
political supremacy on the ruins of the Mughul Empire.
A. The Rajputs
The principal Rajput states like Mewar (Udaipur), Marwar
(Jodhpur) and Amber (Jaipur), whose sympathy for the Empire
had been alienated by Aurangzeb, tried to throw off their allegiance
to it after the death of that Emperor. They were first brought to
submission by Bahadur Shah. But very soon, Ajit Singh of
Jodhpur, Jay Singh II of Amber and Durgadas Rathor departed
from the Emperor’s camp on the 30th April, 1708, and formed
a league against him. In view of the Sikh rising in the north
of Sirhind, Bahadur Shah pacified the Rajputs by conciliatory
measures. But during the disorder that followed his death, Ajit
Singh invaded the imperial territories. Sayjdd Husain ‘Ali was sent
to subdue the Marwar chief, but the court-politics of the time
had become so vitiated that the Emperor and the anti-Saysdd
clique secretly urged the Rajput ruler “to make away with Husain
‘All m any way he could, whereupon the whole of the Bakhshi’s
property and treasure would become his ; and he would, in addition,
receive other rewards”. Ajit Singh, however, could not carry
out these instructions. He came to terms with Husain ‘Ah without
a single battle, and in 1714 concluded peace with the Emperor by
agreeing to give him one of his daughters in marriage. The marriage
was celebrated the next year.
Henceforth, the chiefs of Jodhpur and Jaipur played important
parts in Delhi politics and “by opportune aloo&ess or adherence
they had added to their possessions a large portion of the Empire”.
The Sayyids tried to attach them to their party and they were
rewarded with some appointments besides holding their own
dommious in full sovereignty. Ajit Singh remained governor of
Ajmer and Gujarat till 1721. During the reign of Muhammad Shah,
Jay Singh II of Jaipur was appointed governor of Surat, and
after the fall of the Sayyids, he received also the government of
Agra. “In this way the country from a point sixty miles south
DISINTEGRATION OF MUGHUL EMPIRE
541
of Delhi to the shores of the ocean at Surat was in the hands of
these two Rajas, very untrustworthy sentinels for the Mughuls
on this exposed frontier.” Ajit Singh secretly assisted the Marathas
in their activities in Western India, and was removed from, the
government of Gujarat. He met with a tragic and mysterious
death at the hands of his son, Bhakt Singh. The revival of the
Rajputs was only temporary. Woeful days of internal disorder
and foreign exploitation were in store for their land.
JS. The Sikhs
Guru Govind was stabbed by an Afghan in 1708. After his
assassination the Sikhs found a leader in Banda. Proceeding to the
north, Banda organised a large number of Sikhs and captured
Sirhind after killing its faujdur, Wazir Khan, the murderer of Gilru
Govind’s children. The country between the Sutlej and the Jnmna
next fell under his control. He established the stronghold of
Lohgarh (or Blood and Iron Fort) at Mukhlispur, half-way
between Nahan and Sadhaura, where he “tried to assume some-
thing of regal state” and struck coins in his own name. The
Emperor marched against him and besieged the fort of Lohgarh,
whereupon he fled away with many of his followers into the
hills north of Lahore. However, after the death of Bahadm
Shah, Banda came out of hiding, occupied the town of Sadhaura,
recovered the fort of Lohgarh and again plundered the province
of Sirhind. But in 1715 he was besieged in the fortress of
Gurudaspur. The Sikhs fought desperately “contending among
themselves for martyrdom, and many of them were captured after
a fierce resistance”. Banda and his followers were sent to Delhi
and were relentlessly treated. “A reward was given for every Sikh
head.” Taunted by a noble, Banda replied that he had been “a
mere scourge in the hands of God for the chastisement of the
wicked and that he was now receiving the meed of his own crimes
against the Almighty His own son was MUed before his eyes ; and
he himself “was tormented to death under the feet of elephants”.
Thus “the fortunes of the Sikh nation sank to the lowest ebb in
1716”.
But the military power of the Sikhs could not be completely
destroyed. The tenets of Nanak and Govind had “taken deep
root in the hearts of the people; the peasant and the mechanic
nursed their faith in secret, and the more ardent clung to the
hope of ample revenge and speedy victory”. The Sikhs began
to organise themselves gradually, and Kapuy Smgh, a resident of
642
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OE INDIA
EyziiUapur, started an organisation wMeh developed later into
the celebrated Dal Khalsa or the theocracy of the Sikhs. The
disorders and confusion in the Punjab, following the invasion
of Nadir Shah, were utilised by the Sikhs to augment their
financial resources and increase their military strength. “The
suppression of the Sikhs, difficult under all okcumstances, became
even more difficult now.” They built a fort at Dalewal on the
Ea’vo, and plundering the country around, carried their depredations
to the vicinity of Lahore. The invasions of Ahmad Shah Abdali
also helped the rise of the Sikh power to a great extent. Though
they met with some reverses after 1762, they ultimately gained
complete victory. Especially after the third battle of Panipat,
they took advantage of the disturbed political condition of the
country to organise and strengthen themselves sufficiently, and
greatly harassed the Abdali on his return march. They opposed
the Abdali in his subsequent invasions, and after his invasion in
1767 reoccupied the entire open country.
0. The Jdts
Towards the close of the reign of Aurangzeb, predatory bands of
the Jats under individual village headmen like Eajaram, Bhajja
and Churaman carried out depredations round Delhi and Agra and
increased their power. But whatever they could achieve was lost
when in 1721 Sawai Jay Singh II captured Churaman’s stronghold
of Thun and the latter committed suicide. “Up to the middle of
the eighteenth century,” writes Sir J. N. Sarkar, “there was as
yet no Jat State, no politically united Jat nation, no Jat king
standing clearly above the other village headmen or even recognised
as first among equals ; but only a robber leader whose success had
drawn to his banners many of his peers in social status as partners
in his adventures and plunder.” But the scattered units of the Jats
were subjected to the “grasp of a superior controlling force” by
Badan Singh, the son of Churaman’a brother, Bhao Singh. In
the face of great difficulties, Badan Singh established the authority
of his house over almost the whole of the Agra and MuttrS districts
by “matchless cunning, tireless patience, and wise versatility in
the choice of means”, and also by marriage alliances with some
powerful Jat families. Badan Singh died on the 7th June, 1766.
His adopted son and successor, Suraj Mai, who has been described
by a contemporary historian as "the Plato of the Jat tribe” and by
a modem writer as the “JSt Ulysses”, because of his “political
sagacity, steady intellect and clear vision”, extended the authority
543
DISmTEGRATION OF IVIUGHUL EMPIRE
of the Bharatpur kingdom over the districts of Agra, Dholpur,
Mainpuri, Hathras, ‘Aligarh, Etawah, Meerut, Rohtak, Earrukh-
nagar, Mewat, Bewari, Gurgaon and Muttra. Surajmal, the
greatest warrior and the ablest statesman that the Jats have
produced, died on the 25th December, 1763. “The reputation of the
Jat race reached its highest point under him and after him it was
sure to decline.”
D. The Mardthas
The Marathas were the most formidable of the Hindu powers
who made a bid for supremacy on the dismemberment of the
Mughul Empire. They could not, indeed, form any strong deter-
mination of founding an empire immediately after the death of
Aurangzeb, but were absorbed for a few years in internal quarrels.
‘A‘zam Shah released Shivaji II, better known as Shahu, in 1707
at the suggestion of Zu'lfiqar Khan. Zu‘lfiqar Khan pointed out
that Shahu’s return to his kingdom would inevitably cause a
division among the Marathas, who would thus be disabled from
plundering the imperial territories when the main army was absent
from the Deccan. It happened as he had expected. The claims
of Shahu were strongly opposed by Tara Bai, and a protracted civil
war consequently ensued. Shahu ultimately came out victorious,
mainly with the help and advice of a Chitpavan Brahmapa from
the Konkan, named Balaji Viswanath.
Born of a poor family, Balaji Viswanath was appointed in 1708
a carcoon or revenue clerk by Dhanaji Jadav, the sendpati or com-
mander-in-chief of Shahu. After Dhanaji’s death, he was associated
with the former’s son, Chandra Sena Jadav, and received from him the
title of Send Karie, organiser or “agent in charge of the army”,
in 1712. Thus he got opportunities to display his ability both as
a civil administrator and a military organiser, before Shahu, in
recognition of the valuable services rendered by him, appointed
him Peshwd or prime minister on the 16th November, 1713. In
theory, the office of the Pratinidhi was higher than that of the
Peshwa, but by virtue of superior talents and abilities, Balaji
Viswanath and his iEustrious son and successor, Baji Rao I, made
the Peshwa the real head of the Maratha Empire, the GhTiatrapati
or the king being,’ in the coiu’se of a few years, relegated to the
background.
The Marathas did not fail to utiliae the distractions of the tottering
Empire to their advantage. Balaji Viswanath obtained important
concessions in reality from Husain *Ali when the latter came
to the Deccan and in form only from the puppet Emperor of
544 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Delhi. To win over the Marathas to his party, Husain ‘Ali concluded
a treaty with them in 1714 on the following terms : (i) Shahu was
to get back all the territories that had once belonged to Shivaji
but had been conquered by the Mughuls, and to these were to be
added the provinces of Khandesh, Gondwana, Berar, and the dis-
tricts in Hyderabad and the Kamatak, conquered by the Marathas,
(ii) the cTiauth and sardesJimuhM of the six subahs of the Deccan
were assigned to Shahu, who was required, in return, to maintain
15,000 horse for imperial service, to pay an annual tribute of ten
lacs of rupees, and to preserve peace and order in the Deccan.
The acknowledgment of the overlordship of the Emperor of Delhi
by Shahu meant a complete departure from the ideal of absolute
independence cherished by Shivaji, and the concessions secured
by the Marathas did not in any way affect the suzerainty of Delhi.
But it should be noted that these were of much practical value.
The treaty of 1714 has been rightly regarded as “a landmark in
Maratha history”, as by it the Marathas were recognised “as
co-partners in the revenues of the Imperial provinces, and, as
a corollary, in political power there”.
To destroy the ascendancy of the anti-Sayyid party at the
Delhi court, Sayyid Husain ‘Ali marched to Delhi with his new
allies, and after deposing Earrukhsiyar placed another puppet on
the throne, who was constrained to confirm the treaty already
concluded between Husain ‘Ali and the Marathas. The march
of the Marathas to Delhi in 1719 was a significant event in their
history. “The prestige of their presence at the imperial capital,
not as mercenaries, but as the allies and supporters of the king-
makers, held out to them a promise that they might some day
make and unmake Emperors. Indeed, it was the surest basis on
which Balaji Viswanath could confidently build his policy of
founding a Maratha Empire.” The power of the Marathas also
inoreased in other ways. Through the revival of the Jagrar system
in the troubled days of Rajaram, the Maratha adventurers had
splendid opportunities to carve out independent principalities for
themselves. In addition to this, the Marathas secured the right
of collecting chavih and sardeshmuhMy for which distinct areas
were distributed by Balaji Viswanath among the chief Maratha
ojQS^cers, who also took part in the wars of contending Muslim nobles
as paid partisans.
After Balaji Viswanath’s death in 1720, his son, Baji Rao I,
a pronaising young man, was invested with the office of the Peshwa.
The Peshwaship eame to be hereditary in the family of Balaji
Viswanath.
DISINTEGRATION OF MUGHDL EMPIRE
645
Baji Rao I was not merely an able soldier but also a wise states-
man. He at once perceived that the Mughul Empire was nearing
its end and that the situation could be well utilised to enhance
the power of the Marathas by securing the sympathy of the Hindu
chiefs. Bold and imaginative, he definitely formulated the policy
of Maratha imperialism, initiated by the first Peshwa, by launching
a policy of expansion beyond the Narmada with a view to striking
at the centre of the imperial power. So he suggested to his master
Shahu: “Let us strike at the trunk of the withering tree. The
branches wall fall of themselves. Thus should the Maratha flag
fly from the Kiishna to the Indus.” This policy of Baji Rao was
not supported by many of his colleagues, who urged on him the
advisability of consohdating the Maratha power in the south before
undertaking northern conquests. But by eloquence and enthusiasm,
he persuaded his master to sanction his plan of northern expansion.
To evoke the sympathy and secure the support of the Hindu
chiefs, Baji Rao I preached the ideal of Hindu-Pad-PadshaM or
a Hitidu Empire. When he invaded Malwa in December, 1723,
the local Hindu zamindars assisted him greatly although they had
to make thereby enormous sacrifices in life and money. Taking
advantage of a civil war in Gujarat, the Marathas established their
hold in that rich province. But the intervention of Baji Rao I
in its affairs was strongly resented by a rival Maratha party under
the leadership of the hereditary sendpati or commander-in-chief
Trimbak Rao Dhabade. Raja Shambhuji II of the Kolhapur branch
of Shivaji’s family and the Nizam-ul-mulk, jealous of Baji Rao
I’s successes, joined Trimbak Rao Dhabade. But Baji Rao I,
by force of his superior genius, frustrated the plans of his enemies.
Trimbak Rao Dhabade was defeated and slain in a battle, fought
on the 1st April, 1731, on the plains of Bilhapur near Dhaboi
between Baroda and that town. This victory of Baji Rao I “forms
a landmark in the history of the Reshwas”. It left him without any
serious rival at home and “with all but nominal control of the
Maratha sovereignty”. With the Nizam-ul-mulk also he arrived
at a compromise in August, 1731, by which the former “was to
be at liberty to gratify his ambitions in the south, the Peshwa
in the north”.
Baji Rao I fortunately secured the friendship of Jay Singh II
Sawai of Amber and Chhatrasal Bundela. La 1737 he marched on
to the vicinity of Delhi but did not enter it in order to avoid hurting
the Emperor’s sentiments. To get lid of this Maratha menace,
the Emperor summoned the Nizam-ul-mulk, the arch-enemy of Baji
Rao I, to Delhi for help. The Nizam-ul-mulk had no scruple in
546
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
ignoring tlae compromise of 1731 and at once responded to the
Emperor’s call, which he considered to give a favonrabie opportunity
of checking the rising power of Baji Rao I. The two rivals met near
Bhopal. The Nizam-ul-mulk was defeated and compelled to
submit to terms by which he promised “to grant to Baji Rao
the whole of Malwa, and the complete sovereignty of the territory
between the Narmada and the Chambal; to obtain a confirmation
of this cession from the Emperor ; and to use every endeavour to
procure the payment of fifty lakhs of rupees, to defray the Peshwa’s
expenses”. These arrangements being sanctioned by the Emperor,
Maratha supremacy, already established de facto in a part of
Hindustan proper, became also de jure. On the west coast, the
Marathas captured Salsette and Bassein from the Portuguese in
1739. But soon Baji Rao I was somewhat perturbed by the news of
Nadir Shah’s invasion. By sinking aU his differences with his Muslim
neighbours, the Peshwa made an attempt to present a united
opposition to the Persian invader, but before anything could
be done, he died a premature death in April, 1740, at the age of
forty- two. Thus passed away one of the greatest Maratha statesmen,
who, in spite of some blots in his private character, tried his
utmost to serve the cause of the Maratha State. He may very
well be regarded as the second founder of the Maratha Empire.
Though Baji Rao I enhanced the power and prestige of the
Marathas to a considerable degree, the State which he ruled in his
master’s name lacked compactness. Through the revival of the
§dgir system in Rajaram’s time, some semi-independent Maratha
principalities grew up within it. The natural consequence of this
was the weakening of the Maratha central government and “its
ultimate collapse”. One of the earliest and most important of
such principalities was Berar, then under Raghuji Bhonsle, related
to Shahu by marriage. His family was older than that of the
Peshwa, as it had become prominent during Rajaram’s reign.
The Dhabades originally held Gujarat, but after the fall of the
hereditary seridpati, his former subordinates, the Gaikwars, estab-
lished their authority at Baroda. Ranoji Sindhia, founder of the
Sindhia house of Gwalior, served creditably under Baji Rao I, and,
after the annexation of Malwa to the Maratha State, a part of
the province fell to his share. Maihar Rao HoUvar of the Indore
family also served with distinction under Baji Rao I and obtamed
a part of Malwa. A small fief in Malwa was granted to the Pawars,
who made Dhar their headquarters.
Baji Rao I was succeeded as Peshwa by his eldest son, Balaji II,
commonly known as Nana Saheb and Balaji Baji Rao, in spite of
DISINTEGRATION OE MUGHUL EMPIRE 547
the opposition of some Maratha chiefs. Balaji was a youth of
eighteen at the time, fond of ease and pleasure, and did not
possess the superior talents of his father. But he was not devoid of
ability, and, “after the manner of his father, engaged vigorously in
the prosecution of hostilities, the organisation and equipment of a
large army, and the preparation of all the munitions of war”. He
secured the services of some able and experienced officers of his
father. Shahu, on the eve of his death in 1749, left a deed giving the
Peshwa supreme power in the State, with certain reservations. The
Peshwa, was to perpetuate the name of the Raja and to preserve
the dignity of the house of Shivaji through the grandson of Tara
Bai and his descendants. He was also required to regard the
Kolhapur State as independent and recognise the existing rights
of the jagirddrSi with whom he could enter into such arrangements
“as might be beneficial for extending Hindu power; for protecting
the temples of the gods ; the cultivators of the soil, and whatever
was sacred or useful”. This arrangement was challenged by
Tara Bai, who, acting in concert with Damaji Gaihwar, rose in
arms against the Peshwa and threw the young Raja into confine-
ment. The Peshwa, however, defeated his opponents. The Raja
remained a virtual prisoner in the hands of his “Mayor of the
Palace”, the Peshwa, who became henceforth the real head of
the Maratha confederacy.
Balaji Baji Rao was determined to further the cause of Maratha
imperialism; but he unwisely departed from the policy of his
father in two respects. Firstly, the army underwent a revolu-
tionary change in his time. The light infantry formed the chief
source of strength in the days of Shivaji. Though Baji Rao I
engaged a large number of cavalry, he did not give up the old
tactics of fighting. But Balaji admitted into the army many
non-Maratha mercenaries of all descriptions with a view to intro-
ducing Western modes of warfare. The army thus lost its national
character, and it did not become easy to maintain a number of
alien elements under proper disciphne and control. The old method
of fighting was also partly abandoned. Secondly, Balaji dehberately
gave up his father’s ideal of HiTidu-Pdd-PddshdM, which aimed at
uniting all the Hindu chiefs under one flag. His followers resorted
to the old plan of predatory warfare, and the ravages that they
committed indiscriminately against the Muslims as well as the Hindus
alienated the sympathies of the Rajputs and other Hindu chiefs. Thus
Maratha imperialism ceased to stand for an India-wide nationalism,
and it became no longer possible for it to organise the Hindu powers
under one banner against the Muslim powers, internal or external.
648
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
These defects in Balaji’s policy did not, however, immediately
check the expansion of the Maratha power both in the south
and in the north. A large number of Marathas appeared before
Seringapatam in March, 1757, and forcibly levied tribute from
most of the principalities south of the Krishna. The Nawab of
Arcot promised to pay “two lakhs in ready money, and two and
a half lakhs in assignments ” for the arrears of chauth. The Marathas
also invaded Bednore and the Hindu kingdom of Mysore and
assisted the English under Clive and Watson in suppressing the
sea-captain Angria. No doubt their progress was somewhat checked
by Hyder, the rising general of Mysore, by Bussy the clever French-
man, and by Nizam ‘Ali of Hyderabad. But the Peshwa’s cousin,
Sadasiv Rao, inflicted a defeat on Nizam ‘All at Udgir in 1760.
Ibrahim Khan Gardi, a brave Muslim artilleryman trained in
Western methods of fighting under Bussy in the Nizam’s army,
joined the Marathas. A treaty was concluded by the latter with
Nizam ‘All by which they got the whole province of Bijapur, nearly
the whole of Aurangabad and a portion of Bidar, together with some
forts including the famous fortress of Daulatabad. These were
valuable gains of the Marathas at the cost of Mughul possessions in
the Deccan, which thus came to be “ confined to an insulated space”.
More striking and significant was the expansion of the Marathas
in the north. At the end of the year 1766 Malhar Rao Holkar,
and, some weeks later, Raghunath Rao, were again sent to the
north. Though Raghunath Rao was detained for about four
months in Rajputana, a force of 20,000 men sent by him under
Sakharam Bapu cleverly secured the fidendship of the Jats and
once more asserted Maratha supremacy in the Doab. The Marathas
then entered into an alliance with the Delhi court against Najib-
ud-daulah, who had been left by the Abdali as his “supreme agent”
at Delhi and dictator over the Emperor. They attacked Delhi
in August, A.D. 1767, and compelled Najib-ud-daulah to surrender
and make peace in September on terms dictated by them. Placing
Delhi in the friendly hands of the wazzr Imad, Raghunath Rao
and Malhar Rao directed their efforts towards conquering the Punjab
from the AbdaK’s son, Timur Shah. They captured Sirhind in March
and Lahore m April, 1758, and retired from the Punjab after
appointing there the experienced local noble, Adina Beg Khan,
as their viceroy, who promised to pay an annual tribute of seventy-
five lakhs of rupees. They left, however, no adequate force for
the defence of the newly acquired province. Thus Raghunath
Rao’s policy seemed to have “carried the Hindu paramountcy
up to Attook”. But “on a cahn examination”, remarks Sir J. N.
DISINTEGRATION OE MUGHUL EMPIRE 549
Sarkar, “ Ragkunatli’s vaunted achievement is found to be poKticaliy
a hoUow show and financially barren”. It secured not a pice for
the Poona treasury but "saddled it with a debt of eighty lakhs to
bankers, besides the arrears due to troops”. Politically, it made
another war with the Abdali inevitable.
The Maratha domination over the Punjab could give no peace
to the province. Adina Beg died on the 13th October, 1758, and
the whole of the Punjab fell into anarchy and confusion affecting
Maratha interests. To remove this, the Peshwa sent a strong
force to that province under Dattaji Sindhia in 1759, and the latter
placed Sabaji Sindhia as governor there. But the province was
soon invaded by a strong Durrani army, and by the end of November,
1759, the Punjab was finally lost to the Delhi Empire, Ahmad
Shah Abdali then marched towards Delhi. He had this time
the advantage of securing the co-operation of the Ruhelas, who
had been harassed by the Marathas, and that of the Nawab of
Oudli, who believed that the Marathas were then the greatest
enemies of the Muslim position in India. The Marathas, on the other
hand, could not act in combination with the Rajputs, who were
alienated by the unsympathetic policy of Balaji Baji Rao, and
preferred to remain neutral ; nor could they secure the alliance of
the Sikhs, who had been rising in the Punjab. In fact, the short-
sighted policy of Balaji now reacted in depriving the Marathas
of the support of many of the principal indigenous powers
at a very critical moment, when they were faced with a formidable
opposition from the Durranis and their Indian allies.
The Abdali defeated Dattaji Sindhia at Thanesar towards the
end of December, 1759, and compelled him to fall back towards
Delhi. The Maratha general was killed by the Afghans at Barari
Ghat, about ten miles north of Delhi, on the 9th January,
1760. "Erom the fatal field of Barari Ghat the Maratha army
fled headlong towards the south-west, with the fresh Durrarn
horsemen on their heels.” The attempts of Jankoji Sindhia and
Malhar Rao Holkar to oppose the march of the Abdali also failed.
Sadashiv Rao Bhao, whose recent victory over the Nizam at Udgir
had immensely enhanced his reputation, was sent by the Peshwa
with a large army to recover the lost predominance of the Marathas
in the north. By way of a brake on him, the Peshwa’s son, Vishwas,
a lad of seventeen, was sent as the nominal commander of this
army. At the beginning the Bhao’s head was not "turned by
insolence and pride” ; rather he intended to increase his resources
and strength, t»y addition of arms and munitions and by securing
the support of some North-Indian allies. He captured Delhi on
the 3rd August, 1760, but, unluckily for the Marathas, Surajinal,
“the shrewdest Hindu potentate then aHve”, abandoned their
side owing to some differences of opinion with the Bhao, w’ho
also antagonised Malhar Bao Holkar. Further, “the coveted
capital of India proved a Dead Sea apple” to the Bhao, who
got no adequate resources therefrom but whose difficulties were
much aggravated by its occupation. About the middle of August
he moved north from Delhi, and reached Panipat on the 29th
October, 1760.
In the meanwhile, the Abdali had captured ‘Aligarh, compelled
the Jat Raja to promise tribute, and had been able, through the
support of his most helpful and constant Indian ally, Najib-ud-
daulah, to secure the alliance of Shuja-ud-daulah of Oudh, whose
interests had been affected by Maratha ambition in the north and
north-east. After undergoing some hardships and losses in the
Doab, the Abdali arrived near Panipat on the 1st of November
1760. Thus the Afghans and the Marathas met on the historic
field of Pampat, where decisive contests had been fought in former
ages. The strength of the Afghan army was 60,000, half of which
were the Abdali’s own subjects (23,000 horse and 7,000 foot) and
the other half his Indian allies (7,000 horse and 23,000 foot). The
Maratha army consisted of 45,000 soldiers in cavalry and infantry.
Besides having superior horses, the Abdali had artillery more
efficient and mobile than that of the Marathas, and his officers
were clad in armour which the Marathas hardly wore. In respect
of their manner of campaigning, marching and discipline, the
Afghan army was superior to the Maratha host. “The strict
enforcement of order in camp and battlefield, the rigid punishment
of the least disobedience in any subordinate, the control of every
officer’s movements according to the plan of the supreme chief,
the proper gradation of officers forming an unbroken chain between
the generalissimo and the common soldier, the regular transmission
of his orders by an efficient staff organisation, and above all the
fine control of the troops — ^which distinguished Ahmad Shah’s
army — ^were unapproached by any other Asiatic force of that age.
Above all there was the transcendent genius for war and diplomacy
and the towering personality of the master — ^who had risen like
Nadir from nothing and attained to almost the same pre-eminence
of fortune and invincibility in war.”
After a few minor skirmishes and battles near Pampat for about
two months and a half, durmg which period the Maratha army
suffered some losses and was reduced almost to starvation owing
to lack of provisions, it marched to give battle in the morning of
650
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
ji'rom V. A. Smith; “The Oxford History of India” {Clarendon Frees).
PLAN OP THIRD BATTLE OP PAJSTiPAT
A. Fdnipat town and Maratha camp. B. The Durrani camp. C. Ahmad SMh's
advanced tent. The numbers refer to fhe various divisions.
14th January, 1761. The Abdali kept in the centre 18,000 of his
own national troops in charge of his wazir^ Shah Wall Khan, while
two other corps of about 5,000 each, composed mostly of cavalry,
were placed at his extreme right and left. Najib and Shuja were
placed on the left and the other Ruhelas on the right of Ms centre.
662
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The Mari/thas were arranged by the Bhao in three wings — the
centre being under his personal command, the left one being
composed of the regular sepoys of Ibrahim Khan Gardi, and the
right one of the contingents of Malhar Rao Holkar and Janlioji
Sindhia. The Marathas began the offensive with a cannonade, and
fought with the valour of despair, gaining some initial successes.
Ibrahim Khan Gardi charged the right wing of the Durrani army
so furiously that about eight to nine thousand of the Ruhelas
were wounded or slain. Sadashiv Rao Bhao attacked the Durrani
centre under Shah Wall Khan and pressed it so hard that he
seemed to carry everything before him. But the Abdali reinforced
his centre and right at the psychological hour with about 13,000
fresh troops, which turned the scale decisively against the already
exhausted Marathas- The Bhao, however, continued to fight
with reckless valour against enormous odds, but to no avail. At a
quarter past two in the afternoon Vishwas Rao was shot dead. This
made the Bhao desperate and he made another attempt to retrieve
the fortunes of his people. But this also failed at about a quarter
to three and “in a twi^e of the eye, the Maratha army vanished
from the field like camphor”. Five Durrani horsemen, greedy for the
costly dress of the Bhao, cut his head off. Thus fell Sadashiv
Rao in defence of the honour of his nation, though it must be
admitted that the failure of the Marathas in the field of Panipat
was largely due to his disregard for others’ opinions and miscalculated
plans. The supreme leaders of the defeated Maratha army had fallen
on the field, and thousands of soldiers and other people of aH descrip-
tions, men, women and children, were massacred. “It was, in short,”
writes Sir J. N. Sarkar, “a nation-wide disaster like Flodden
Field ; there was not a home in Maharashtra that had not to mourn
the loss of a member, and several houses their very heads. An
entire generation of leaders was cut off at one stroke.” The victors
captured immense booty. The Marathas lost 60,000 horses,
200,000 draught cattle, some thousands of camels, 500 elephants,
besides cash and jewellery. The news of this awful disaster was
conveyed to the Peshwa in a merchant’s message: “Two pearls
have been dissolved, twenty-two gold mohurs have been lost, and
of the silver and copper the total cannot be cast up.” The
Peshwa, already suffering from a wasting disease, could not
survive this national calamity. He died, broken-hearted, at Poona
on the 23rd June, 1761.
The third battle of Panipat produced disastrous consequences
for the Marathas and seriously deflected the course of Maratha
imperialism. Besides immense losses in men and money, the
DISINTEGRATION OF filUGHUL EMPIRE
553
moral effect of the defeat at Panipat was even greater. It
revealed to the “Indian world that Maratha friendship was a
very weak reed to lean upon in any real danger”. The powerful
Maratha confederacy henceforth lost its cohesion and the Peshwa’s
authority was terribly damaged. The Marathas could never return
to the position they had established before 1761. But it must
not be thought that their power was irretrievably shattered by their
discomfiture at Panipat. They quickly recovered some of their
losses and made fresh attempts to re-establish thefr authority in
Hindustan. The Abdali could not stay in India as a permanent
check on their revival, and he could not retain even the Punjab,
where the Sikhs grew more and more troublesome. The next
Peshwa, Madhava Rao I, a noble figure in Maratha history, “carried
out the aims and objects of the Maratha policy as laid down by the
first Peshwa ” till he died in a.d. 1772. In considering the importance
of the career of Madhava Rao I, Grant Duff observes that “the
plains of Panipat were not more fatal to the Maratha Empire than
the early end of this excellent prmce”. The Marathas restored the
exiled Mughul Emperor, Shah ‘Alam II, to the capital of his
forefathers in 1772; in 1789 Mahadaji Sindhia made himself a
dictator at Delhi; and before being finally crushed, the Marathas
thrice opposed British attempts to establish dominion in India.
But none the less the third battle of Panipat “decided the
fate of India”. “The Marathas and the Muhammadans weakened
each other in that deadly conflict, facilitating the aims of the
British for Indian supremacy.” The rising British power got
thereby the opportunity it needed so much to strengthen and
consolidate its authority in India. “If Plassey had sown the
seeds of British supremacy in India, Panipat afforded time for
their maturing and striking roots.” When the Marathas again
tried to check the supremacy of the English in India, the latter
had been able to effect an immense improvement in their position.
CHAPTER VI
MTJGHUL ADMIOTSTBATION
z. Nature of the Mughul Government
Thu establiskment of the Mughul administration, on ideas and
principles diJfferent from those of the Sultans of Delhi, was
mainly the work of Akbar. Of his two predecessors, Babur and
Humayun, the former had neither time nor opportunity, and the
latter neither inclination nor ability, to elaborate a system of
civil government. While gifted with political genius of a high
order, Akbar was indebted in certain respects to the Sur example
of administrative organisation. The Mughul government was a
“combination of Indian and extra-Indian elements”. It was,
more correctly speaking, “the Perso-Arabio system in an Indian
setting”. It was also essentially mihtary in nature and every
officer of the Mughul State had to be enrolled in the army Hst.
It was necessarily a centralised autarchy, and the king’s power was
unlimited. His word was law, and his will none could dispute.
He was the supreme authority in the State, the head of the govern-
ment, the commander of the State forces, the fountain of justice,
and the chief legislator. He was the Khalifah of God, required
to obey the scriptures and Islamic traditions, but in practice a
strong king could act in defiance of sacred law if he so liked.
There was nothing like a cabinet of ministers in the modem sense
of the term. The ministers could not claim to be consulted as a
matter of right ; it was entirely a matter of the Emperor’s pleasure
to accept their advice or not. Much depended, indeed, on the
personality of the Emperor and his ministers. A wise ruler
like Shah Jahan wanted invariably to consult a Sa'diiUah Khan,
while a minister hke Husain ‘Ali Khan would have Kttle regard,
even open contempt, for his crowned puppets. The first six Mughul
rulers of India possessed, however, a strong commonsense, and
their autocracy did not, therefore, degenerate into an unbearable
tyranny trampling on the rights and customs of the people. Endowed
with the spirit of “benevolent despots”, these rulers worked hard
for the good of their subjects, in one way or another, especially
664
555
MUGHUL ADMINISTRATION
in the regions round the central capital and the seats of viceregal
governments in the provinces. But the State in those days “did
not undertake any socialistic work, nor interfered with the lives
of the villagers so long as there was not violent crime or defiance
of royal authority in the locality”. From one point of view, the
enormous power of the Mughul emperors was strictly limited.
Their orders could not always be easily enforced in the distant
corners of the Empire, not to speak of certain hilly parts of Chota
Nagpur and the Santal Parganas, which most probably never
acknowledged their sway. When we find almost each and every
Emperor issuing orders for the abolition of the same kind of taxes
and cesses in the very first year of his reign, we are led to conclude
that previous attempts to abolish these had proved ineffectual
and inoperative. There are copious references in the records of
the English factories in India to show that even in the days of Shah
Jahan and Aurangzeb, not to speak of the reigns of their weak
successors, the auhahddrs, the provincial diwdns, and the customs-
officers, occasionally acted contrary to the orders of the central
government, mostly out of selfish motives.
2. The Nobility
Owing to several factors, the Mughul nobility was a heterogeneous
body, composed of diverse elements like Turk, Tartar, Persian and
Indian, Muslim and Hindu, and could not, therefore, organise
itself as a powerful baronial class. Some Europeans also received
titles of nobility. In theory, the nobility was not hereditary but
purely official in character. A noble had only a life interest in his
jdglr, which escheated to the crown on his death; and the titles
or emoluments could not usually be transmitted from father to son.
The effect of the system of escheat was, as Sir J. N. Sarkar has
observed, “most harmful”. The nobles led extravagant lives
and squandered away all their money in unproductive luxury
during their life-time. It also “prevented India from having
one of the strongest safeguards of public liberty and checks on
royal autocracy, namely, an independent hereditary peerage, whose
position and wealth did not depend on the kmg’s favour in every
generation, and who could, therefore, afford to be bold in their
criticism of the royal caprice and their opposition to the royal
tyranny”.
3. Public Service and Bureaucracy
To maintain the military strength of the Empire, it was necessary
for the Mughuls to employ a large number of foreign adventurers.
656 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
Though Akbar inaugurated the policy of “India for Indians”
and threw open official careers to the Hindus, yet the foreign
elements predominated in the Mughul public service. The general
character of the public services remamed unaltered during the
reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. But deterioration in their
efficiency began during the reign of the former, and became striking
during the reign of his son and more so in the reign of Aurangzeb.
Thus Prince Akbar wrote to Aurangzeb plainly in 1681: “The
clerks and officers of state have taken to the practice of traders,
and are bu3mig posts with gold and selling them for shameful
considerations. Every one who eats salt destroys the salt-cellar.”
Every officer of the State held a mansab or official appointment
of rank and profit, and, as such, was bound theoretically to supply
a number of troops for the military service of the State. Thus
the mansahddrs formed the official nobility of the country, and
this system was the “army, the peerage, and the civil administra-
tion, all rolled into one’^ Akbar classified the office-holders into
thirty- three grades, rangmg from “commanders of 10” to “com-
manders of 10,000”. Till the middle of Akbar’s reign, the highest
rank an ordinary officer could hold was that of a commander of
5,000 ; the more exalted grades between commanders of 7,000 and
10,000 were reserved for members of the royal family. But towards
the end of his reign this restriction was relaxed, and, under his
successors, the officers rose to much higher positions. The maTisabddrs
were directly recruited, promoted, suspended or dismissed by the
Emperors. Each grade carried a definite rate of pay, out of which
its holder was expected to maintain a quota of horses, elephants,
beasts of burden and carts. But the mansabddrs rarely fulfilled
this condition. Irvine writes that “in spite of musterings and
brandings we may safely assume that very few mansabddrs kept
up at full stren^h even the quota of horsemen for which they
received pay”. ^A mansabddri dignity was not hereditary. The
State Service was not specialised, and an officer might be entrusted
at any moment with an entirely new duty^ Akbar’s wonderful
capacity for “picking the right man for the ri^t job” checked the
evils of this system, but a deterioration set in later on with the
change in the personality of the rulers.
The officers of the Mughul government received their salaries
in two ways. Either they received them in cash from the State,
or occasionally they were granted jdgirs for a temporary period.
They were not, however, given any ownership over the lands in
their jdgirs, but were only allowed to collect and enjoy the land
revenue, equivalent to the amount of their salaries, from the
MUGHUL ABIMINISTRATION 557
assigned tracts. “Any excess collected not only involved injustice
towards the cultivators; it was a fraud against the State as well.”
Jdgirs were frequently transferred from one mansabddr to another.
The jdgir system, however, gave some undue power and independ-
ence to the holders of jdgm ; and Akbar, like Sher Shah, was justified
in trying to remunerate his officers by cash payments, and in
converting jdgh' into hhalsd lands, whenever possible. Whether
paid in cash or in jdglrs, the Mughul public servants enjoyed, as
we know from the Atn-i-Akban, inordinately high salaries,^ which
attracted most enterprising adventurers from Western and Central
Asia. Various evils crept into the Mughul public services after
the reign of Aurangzeb, if not earlier.
4. Departments of Government and Chief Officers
Though the Mughul Emperors had absolute powers, they
appomted a number of officers in the different departments of the
Government for the transaction of its multitudinous affafrs. The
chief departments of the State were: (a) the Imperial House-
hold under the KMn-i-Sdmdn, {b) the Exchequer under the
Diwdn, (c) the Military Pay and Accounts Office under the 3I^r
BakhsM, (d) the Judiciary under the Chief Qdzi, (e) Religious
Endowments and Charities under the Chief Sadr or Sadr-us-Sudur,
and (/) the Censorship of Public Morals under the Muhtasib. The
Diwdn or Wazlr was usually the highest officer in the State, being
in sole charge of revenues and finance. The BakMhl discharged a
variety of functions. While he was the Paymaster- General of all
the officers of the State, who “theoretically belonged to the milit-
ary department”, he was also responsible for the recruiting of the
army, and for maintaining lists of mansabddrs and other high
officials ; and when preparing for a battle he presented a complete
muster-roll of the army before the Emperor. The Khdn-i-Sdmdn
or the Lord High Steward had charge of the whole imperial house-
hold “in reference to both great and small things”. The 3Iuhtasibs
or Censors of PubKc Morals looked after the enforcement of
the Prophet’s commands and the laws of morality. The other
officers, somewhat inferior in status to those mentioned above,
were the Mir Atish or Ddrogd-i-Tophhdnd (head of the artillery),
the Ddrogd of Ddk chowki (head of the correspondence department),
1 Making deductions for the monthly expenses of maintaining troops and
other incidental expenses, Moreland calculates that a manaabddr of “5,000”
received a net monthly salary of at least Rs. 18,000, one of “1,000” at
least Rs. 6,000, and “a commander of 600” at least Rs, 1,000 a month.
Moreland, Indio oi ilie Death of Akbar, pp, 66 ff.
558 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
the Ddrogd of the Mint, the Mir Mdl or the Lord Privy Seal, the
Mustaufi or the Auditor-General, the Nazir -i-Buyutdt or the Super-
intendent of the Imperial Workshop, the Miishriff or the Revenue
Secretary, the Mir Bdhri or the Lord of the Admiralty, the Mir Barr
or the Superintendent of Forests, the W dqa-i-navis or News-Reporters,
the Mir Arz or the officer in charge of petitions presented to the
Emperor, the Mir Manzil or the Quartermaster- General, and the
Mir Tozak or the Master of Ceremonies.
5 . The Police
So far as the rural areas were concerned, the Mughuls intro-
duced no new arrangements for the prevention and detection of
crimes. These remained, as from time immemorial, under the
headman of the village and his subordinate watchmen. This
system, which afforded a fair degree of security in the local areas
with only occasional disturbances in times of disorder, survived
till the beginning of the rdneteenth century. In the cities and
towns, all police duties, including the task of mamtaining public
order and decency, were entrusted to the Kotwdls, whose duties,
as enumerated in the Ain-i-Akbari, were multifarious : (i) to detect
thieves, (ii) to regulate prices and check weights and measures,
(iii) to keep watch at night and patrol the city, (iv) to keep
up registers of houses, frequented roads, and of citizens, and
watch the movements of strangers,' (v) to employ spies from
among the vagabonds, gather information about the affairs of
the neighbouring villages, and the income and expenditure
of the various classes of people, (vi) to prepare an inventory
of, and take charge of, • the property of deceased or missing
persons who left no heirs, (vii) to prevent the slaughter of
oxen, buffaloes, horse or camels, and (viii) to prevent the
burning of women against their will, and circumcision below the
age of twelve. Sir J. N. Sarkar believes that this long list of
the KotwdVs duties in the Ain represents “only the ideal for the
KotwdV’ dsoA not “the actual state of things”. But Manucci also
gives from personal observation an exhaustive account of the
KotwdVs duties. It is, however, certain that the KotwdVs main
business was to preserve peace and public security in the urban
areas. In the districts or sarkdrs, law and order were maintained
usually by officers like the Faujddrs. “The faujddr, as his name
suggests, was only the commander of a military force stationed
in the country. He had to put down smaller rebellions, disperse
or arrest robber gangs, take cognizance of all violent crimes, and
MUGHUL ADMINISTRATION
659
make demonstrations of force to overawe opposition to the revenue
authorities, or the criminal judge, or the censor.’^ The police
arrangements were in some respects effective, though “ the state
of public security varied greatly from place to place and from
time to time”.
6. Law and Justice
Nothing like modern legislation, or a written code of laws, existed
in the Mughul period. The only notable exceptions to this were
the twelve ordinances of Jahangir and the Fatdwa4-‘ Alarngin, a
digest of Muslim law prepared under Aurangzeb’s supervision.
The judges chiefly followed the Quranic injunctions or precepts,
the Fatdwas or previous interpretations of the Holy Law by
eminent jurists, and the qanuns or ordinances of the Emperors.
They did not ordinarily disregard customary laws and sometimes fol-
lowed principles of equity. Above all, the Emperor’s interpretations
prevailed, provided they did not run counter to the sacred laws.
The Mughul Emperors regarded speedy administration of justice
as one of their important duties, and their officers did not enjoy
any special protection in this respect under anything like Administra-
tive Law. “If I were guilty of an unjust act,” said Akbar, “I
would rise in judgment against myself.” Peruschi writes on the
authority of Monserrate that “as to the administration of justice
he is most zealous and watchful”. The love of justice of the other
Emperors, like Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, has been
testified to by some contemporary European travellers. Though
approach to the Emperor through aU kinds of official obstructions
was not very easy, at least two Mughul Emperors, Akbar and
Jahangir, granted to their subjects the right of direct petitioning
(which was only won in England after a hard fight). The latter
allowed a chain with bells to be hung outside his palace to enable
petitioners to bring their grievances to the notice of the Emperor.
The Qdzi-ul-Qazdt or the Chief Qdzl was the principal judicial
officer in the realm. He appointed Qdzis in every provincial capital.
The QdzU made investigations into, and tried, civil as weU as
criminal cases of both the Hindus and the Muslims; the Muftis
expounded Muslim Law ; and the M%r Adis drew up and pronounced
judgments. The Qdzls were expected to be “just, honest, impartial,
to hold trials in the presence of the parties and at the court-house
and the seat of government, not to accept presents from the people
where they served, nor to attend entertainments given by anybody
and everybody, and they were asked to know p^erty to be their
glory”. But in practice they abused their authority, and, as Sir
J. N. Sarkar observes, “the Qdzi's department became a byword
and reproach in Mughul times”. There were no primary courts
below those of the Qazis, and the villagers and the inhabitants of
smaller towns, having no Qdzla over them, settled their differences
locally “by appeal to the caste courts ov panchdyets, the arbitration
of an impartial umpire {sdlis), or by a resort to force”. The Sadr-
us-sudur or the chief Sadr exercised supervision over the lands
granted by the Emperors or princes to pious men, scholars and
monks, and tried eases relating to these. Below him there was a
local sadr in every province.
Above the urban and provincial courts was the Emperor himself,
who, as the “Khalif of the Age”, was the fountain of justice and
the final court of appeal. Sometimes he acted as a court of
first instance too. Eines could be imposed and severe punishments,
like amputation, mutilation and whipping, could be inflicted by
the courts without any reference to the Emperor, but his consent
was necessary in inflicting capital punishment. There was no
regular jafl. system, but the prisoners were confined in forts.
7. The Revenue System
The revenues of the Mughul Empire may be grouped under
two heads — central or imperial and local or provincial. The
local revenue, which was apparently collected and spent without
reference to the finance authorities of the central government,
was derived from various minor duties and taxes levied on “pro-
duction and consumption, on trades and occupations, on various
incidents of social life, and most of all on transport”. The major
sources of central revenue were land revenue, customs, mint,
mheritanee, plunder and indemnities, presents, monopolies and the
poll-tax. Of these, land revenue formed, as in old days, the most
important source of the State income.
The important revenue experiments of the Surs were undone
in the period of confusion and disorders following the reigns of
Sher Shah and Islam Shah. But the old machinery of government
and the time-honoured customs and procedures must have been
inherited by Akbar, who found at his accession three kinds of
land in the country — ^the Khalsd or crown-lands, the Jdgtr lands,
enjoyed by some nobles who collected the local revenues, out of
which they sent a portion to the central exchequer and kept the
rest for themselves, and the Sayurghdl lands, granted on free
tenure. After seotuing his freedom from the influence of Bairam
and that of the ladies of the harem, Akbar realised the importance
560 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
MUGHUL ADIVUNISTRATION 561
of reorganising the finances of his growing empire, which were
in a hopelessly confused state. Thus in 1570-1571, Muzaffar lOian
Turbati, assisted by Raja Todar Mali, prepared a revised assess-
ment of the land revenue, “based on estimates framed by the
local Qdnungoes and checked by ten superior Qdnungoes at head-
quarters”. After Gujarat had been conquered, Todar Mall effected
there a regular survey of the land, and the assessment was made
“with reference to the area and quality of the land”. In 1575-1576
Akbar made a new and disastrous experiment by abolishing the
old revenue areas and dividing the whole of the Empire, with the
exception of the provinces of Gujarat, Bengal and Bihar, into a
large number of units, each yielding one kror (crore) a year, and
placed over each of them an officer called the Krori, whose duties
were to collect revenues and encourage cultivation. But the Kroris
soon grew corrupt and their tyranny reduced the peasants to
great misery. Their offices were, therefore, abolished and the old
revenue divisions were restored, though the title of Krori continued
to survive at least till the reign of Shah Jahan.
Important- revenue reforms were introduced in 1582, when
Todar Mall was appointed the Diwdn-i-Ashraf. Hitherto assess-
ments were fixed aimuaUy on the basis of production and statistics
of current prices, and the demands of the State thus varied from
year to year. Todar MaU established a standard or “regulation”
system of revenue-collection, the chief features of which were
(i) survey and measurement of land, (ii) classification of land,
(iii) fixation of rates. Lands were carefully surveyed, and for
measurement the old units, whose length fluctuated with the
change of season, were replaced by the IldM Gaz or yard, which
was equal to about thirty-three inches, tanab or tent-rope, and
jarib of bamboos joined by iron rings, which assured a constant
measure. Land was classified into four classes according to “the
continuity or discontinuity of cultivation”: (i) Polaj or land
capable of being annually cultivated, (ii) Parautl or land kept
fallow for some time to recover productive capacity, (ui) Chachar
or land that had lain fallow for three or four years, and (iv) Banjar
or land uncultivated for five years or longer. Only the area actually
cultivated was assessed, and, in order to ascertain the average
produce of land belonging to each class, the mean of the three grades
into which it was divided was taken into consideration. The demand
of the State was fixed at one-third of the actual produce, which
the ryots could pay either in cash or in kind. The cash rates
varied according to crops. This revenue system, as applied to
Northern India, Gujarat, and, with some modifications, to the
562 AH ADVANCED HISTOEY OE INDIA
Deccan, was rayatwdn, tliat is, “the actual cultivators of the soil
were the persons responsible for the annual payment of the
fixed revenue”. In the outlying portions of the Empire, this system
was not applied, but each of these was dealt with as local
circumstances required.
Eor purposes of administration and revenue collection, the
Empire was divided into subahs, which again were subdivided
into aarhdrs, each of which in turn comprised a number oiparagands.
Each 'paragand was a union of several villages. The amalguzdr or
revenue-coUector in charge of a district was assisted by a largo
subord in ate staff. Apart from the village Muqaddam (headman)
and the village Patwdn, who were servants of the village com-
munity and not of the State, there were measurers and hdrhuns,
who prepared the seasonal crop statistics; the Qdnungo, who
kept records of the revenue payable by the villages ; the BitikcM
or accountant; and the Potddr or district treasurer. These officers
were instructed to collect revenue with due care and caution
and “not to extend the hand of demand out of season”. The
Emperors were for ever “issuing orders to their officers to show
leniency and consideration to the peasants in collecting the revenue,
to give up aU abwdbs and to relieve local distress”. There are
instances in the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb of extortionate
revenue officials and even provincial governors being dismissed on
complaints being made against them by the subjects to the
Emperors. Though the lower revenue officers, especially those in
the outlying provinces and districts, were not above corruption
and malpractices, “the highest were, on the whole, just and
statesmanlike” with few exceptions.
The success or failure of the revenue system thus organised must
have depended on the quality and nature of the administration
at the centre, and evils could not but appear when the administra-
tive machinery was getting out of gear in Aurangzeb ’s reign.
But on the whole its principles were sound and “the practical
instructions to the officials all that could be desired”. The ryots
got a certain amount of security and the fluctuations of the State
revenue were prevented, or at least minimised. Further, the ryots
were not evicted from their holdings for default of payment, and the
“custom of payment by the division of the crop ”, on the basis of the
actual produce of a year, was better than the modern money rent
system by which one has to pay the fixed amount irrespective
of the harvest of the year. The demand at the rate of one-third,
though rather high, as compared with one-sixth prescribed by Hindu
law and custom or with what a modem landowner gets, was
MUGHUL ADMINISTRATION 563
not a heavy burden on the peasants, who were compensated by
the State with the abolition or remission of various cesses and
taxes.
8 . The Provincial Government
In 1579-1580 Akbar divided his Empire into twelve provinces,
the number of which rose to fifteen^ towards the close of his reign,
to seventeen in the reign of Jahangir and to twenty-one in the
time of Aimangzeb. “The administrative agency in the provinces
of the Mughul Empire was an exact miniature of the Central
Government.” The Governor (styled the Sipah Sdldr, Commander-
in-Ohief, or Sahib Subah, Lord of the Province, or simply Subaliddr,
and officially described as the Nazim) was the head of the civil as
weU as military administration of each subah. He had a staff
of subordinate officers under him, like the Diwdn, the Bahhshl,
the Faujddr, the Kotiodl, the Qdzl, the Sadr, the ‘Amil, the BitihcM,
the Potddr and the Wdqa-i-tiavis. The Diwdn or revenue-chief
of a province often acted as the rival of the Subaliddr. Each was
enjoined “to keep a strict watch over the other” so that none
of them could grow over-powerful.
9 . The Army
No large standing army was maintained by the State, but
theoretically “all able-bodied citizens of the empire were potential
soldiers of the imperial army”. The history of the Mughul army
is largely the history of the Mansahddrl system, the principal
features of which have already been noted. Besides the Mansabddrs,
there were the Ddhhills or supplementary troopers placed under
the command of Mansabddrs and paid by the State, and Ahadls
or a body of “gentleman troopers, a special class of horsemen, who
were generally round the Emperor’s person, and owed allegiance
to no one else”. The Mansahddrl system was not free from cor-
ruption. “False musters,” writes Irvine, “were an evil from
which the Mughul army suffered in its most palmy days. Nobles
would lend to each other the men to make up their quota, or
needy idlers from the bazars would be mounted on the first baggage
pony that came to hand and counted in with the others as efficient
soldiers”. Steps were taken by Akbar’s Government to remove
these evil practices. Regulations veere introduced for periodical
musters, a chihrdh or descriptive roll of a Mansabddr was drawn
^ Agra, Allahabad, Oudh, Delhi, Lahore, Multan, Kabul, Ajmer, Bengal,
Bih&r, Ahmadabad, Malwa, Berar, Kh&adesh, Ahmadnagar.
664 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
up, “showing Lis name, Lis father’s name, Lis tribe or caste, his
place of origin, followed by details of Lis personal appearance”;
and the system of branding horses, known as Ddgh-o-mahalli or
simply DdgJi, was revived. But these measures could not effectively
check the evils.
To express it in modern terms, the Mughul forces were composed
of (i) cavalry, (ii) infantry, (iii) artillery and (iv) navy. The cavalry
was the most important of all these branches. The infantry was
largely composed of men drawn from ordinary townsmen and
peasants; and “as a part of the fighting strength of the army
it was insignificant”. Guns, manufactured within the country
and also imported from outside, were used in wars by Babur,
Humayun, and Akbar, but “the artillery was much more perfect
and numerous in ‘Alamgir’s reign” than before. The artillery was
wholly state-paid. There was nothing like any strong navy in
the modern sense of the term, but Abul Fazl writes of an “Admiralty
Department”, the functions of which were (i) to build boats of all
kinds for river transport, (ii) to fit out strong boats for transporting
war-elephants, (iii) to recruit expert seamen, (iv) to supervise
the rivers, and (v) to impose, collect or remit river duties and tolls.
A fleet of 768 armed vessels and boats was stationed at Dacca
to protect the coast of Bengal against the Mugs and the Arakanese
pirates. But the naval establishment of the Mughuls does not
seem to have been very formidable.
The Mughul army, though not so inefficient as some writers would
ask us to beheve, was not, however, vrithout certain defects.
Firstly, it was not a national army, but was a mixture of diverse
elements, each trying to follow its own peculiar methods and
manoeuvres. Thus, though its numerical strength increased as
years went on, it grew cumbrous and hard to be controlled and
managed. Secondly, the soldiers did not owe direct allegiance
to the Emperor, but were more attached to their immediate
recruiters and superiors, whose acute jealousies and bitter rivalries
often destroyed the chances of success in campaigns. Lastly, the
pomp and display of the Mughul army in camp, and on the march,
were largely responsible for marring its efficiency. Akbar could
at times depart from this practice. But generally the imperial
army looked like “an unwieldy moving city” and was “encumbered
with all the lavish paraphernalia of the imperial court, including
a proportion of the harem and its attendants, mounted on
elephants and camels, a traveUing audience-hall, musicians’ gallery,
offices, workshops, and bazars. Elephants and camels carried the
treasure; hundreds of buUock-carts bore the military stores; an
TOGHUL ADMimSTBATION 565
army of mules transported the imperial famituie and effects Eefer-
ring to the grand camp of the Emperor Aurangzeb at Ahmadnagar,
Grant Duff comments that “it proved a serious encumbrance to the
movements of his army, while the devouring expense of such
estabhshments pressed hard on his finances, and soon crippled
even the most necessary of his military and pohtical arrangements ”.
This sort of camp life naturally produced luxury and indiscipline
in the army. The inevitable deterioration set in under Jahangir and
Shah Jahan and manifested itself fully in the time of Aurangzeb.
The army became incapable of “svdft action or brilliant adventure”.
In this respect, the then light cavaky of Sliivaji, mamtained by
him under strict discipline, was far better than the Mughul army.
CHAPTER Vn
SOCIAL AND EOONOMIO UM
The real history of the people in Mughul India, that is, of their
social life and economic condition, is of greater interest and
importance for us to-day than mere catalogues of political events
or military campaigns. The sources for studying it are indeed
meagre, but valuable information can be gleaned from the accounts
of contemporary European travellers and records of the European
factories ; and incidental references are available in contemporary
historical works in Persian as well as vernacular literatures of the
period.
I. Social Conditions
A. Structure of Society
Society looked like a feudal organisation with the king at
its apex. Next in rank to the king were the official nobles, who
enjoyed special honours and privileges, which never fell to the
lot of the common people. This naturally produced a difference
in their standard of living. The former rolled m wealth and com-
forts, while the condition of the latter was comparatively pitiable.
With abundant resources at them disposal, the rich naturally
indulged in luxury and intemperance, and the apprehension of
escheat of the wealth and property of the nobles at death destroyed
their incentive to thrift. Excessive addiction to wine and women
was a very common vice among the aristocrats. We are told by
Abul Eazl that the Emperor had a seragUo of 5,000 women, supervised
by a separate staff of female officers. Francisco Pelsaert, the chief
of the Dutch factory at Agra in the time of Jahangir, observes
that “the mahals of the rich were adorned internally with lascivious
sensuality, wanton and reckless festivity, superfluous pomp, inflated
pride, and ornamental daintiness”, and he denounces their
debauchery in strong terms. The food and dress of the wealthy
were rich and costly. They lived in highly decorated palatial
buildings and amused themselves with outdoor sports as weU as
indoor games.
' ■ 666
667
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE
It should be noted that the e3dstence of an alien nobility did
not usually cause any heavy drain of the country’s wealth to
foreign lands, as none of the class was allowed to carry it outside.
The nobles originally possessed qualities which made them
efficient servants of the State so long as it retained its vigour,
but they began to lose their old usefulness, and grew more
demoralised, with the closing years of the reign of Shah Jahan.
Further deterioration set in during the reign of Aurangzeb
and in the eighteenth century. The rivalries and conspiracies
of the selfish and debased nobility of the later period, besides casting
a malign influence on social life, were largely responsible for the
political disorders of the age.
Below the nobles, there was “a small and frugal” middle class,
not given to “ostentatious expenditure” but living on a standard
suited to their respective offices and professions. The merchants
in general led simple and temperate lives. According to some
European writers, the merchants of the western coast, having
made much wealth out of their extensive commerce, lived in a
comparatively rich style and indulged in luxuries. The condition
of the lower orders was hard as compared with that of the two
higher classes. They could have no sufficient clothing ; and wooUen
garments and shoes were above their means. As their other demands
were few, they did not suffer from want of ordinary food under
normal conditions; but, in times of famine and scarcity, their
miseries must have been very great. Francisco Pelsaert writes with
the experience of seven years that there were in his time “three
classes of people who are indeed nominally free but whose status
differs very little from voluntary slavery — ^workmen, peons or
servants and shopkeepers”. Their work was not voluntary, wages
were low, food and houses poor, and they were subject to the
oppressions of the imperial officers. The shopkeepers, though
sometimes rich and respected, generally kept their wealth hidden,
or, as Pelsaert writes, “they will be victims of a trumped-up
charge, and whatever they have will be confiscated in legal form,
because informers swarm like flies round the governors and make
no difference between friends and enemies, perjuring themselves
when necessary in order to remain in favour ”. Towards the end of
Shah Jahan’s reign, the peasants were more harassed by the
provincial governors, their condition became worse, and the evil
of pauperism increased.
068
AJSr ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
B. Social habits and practices
The vice of intemperance was not so common among the ordinary
people as among the rich. “None of the people there,” remarks
Terry, “are at any time seen drunk (though they might find liquor
enough to do it) but the very offal and dregs of that people, and
these rarely or very seldom.” They were temperate in their diet,
and were civil to strangers.
Both Hindus and Muslims believed in the maxims and pre-
dictions of astrology. Prominent social practices of the period
were satt, chfid-mairiage, hulmism and the dowry-system. Akbar
tried to regulate social usages in such a way as to make the consent
of both the bride and the bridegroom, and the permission of the
parents, necessary for marriage contracts. He also sought to check
marriage before puberty by either party, marriages between near
relatives, acceptance of high dowries, and polygamy. But his
attempts do not seem to have been effective in practice. Social
evils increased during the eighteenth century, particularly in
Bengal, and they have been frequently referred to in the .works
of contemporary European writers like Bolts, Craufurd and
Scrafton, and also in contemporary literature. The Maratha
society of the time did not, however, encourage acceptance of
dowries. The Peshwas exercised an effective control over the social
and religious affairs of Maharashtra, and their marriage regulations
“evinced”, remarks Dr. Sen, “a liberal spirit that may be profitably
imitated by then? modern descendants”. They were opposed to
forcible marriages, but informal marriages were occasionally
permitted by them if the motives of the contracting parties were
correct. Widow-remarriage was prevalent among the non-
Brahmapas of Maharashtra, as also among the Jats of the Punjab
and the J umna valley ; and polyandry was not unknown
among the latter. In the middle of the eighteenth century. Raja
RajbaUabh of Dacca made an unsuccessful attempt to introduce
widow-remarriage. Though the women were generally “subject to
the will of their masters”, instances of their taking an active part
in political affairs are not rare.
<7. Deterioration in the eighteenth century
In general, however, we notice a regrettable deterioration in
social life during the eighteenth century, which forms, from many
points of view, one of the darkest periods in the history of India.
A modern writer has justly remarked that by the end of this century
B. Economic condition after the days of Akbar
So far as the economic condition of the country during the
reigns of the great Mughuls, and those of the later Mughuls, is
concerned, we get copious information from the Aln-i-Akbarl and
and the beginning of the next “in social usage, in polities, in the
realm of religion and art, we had entered the zone of unereative
habit, of decadent tradition, and ceased to exercise our humanity”.
One redeeming feature in this period of all-round decline was
the continuity of the process of Hindu-Muslim rapprochement and
amicable contact between the members of the two communities,
in spite of the bitter political rivalries of several centuries. Akbar’s
reign is remarkably important and instructive for the existence of
Hindu-Mushm harmony. Illustrations of this are not lacking even
in the reign of Aurangzeb. Alawal, a Muhammadan poet, who
translated in the seventeenth century the Hindi poem Padmdvat
into Bengali, was the author of several poems on Vaishnava sub-
jects. ‘Abdullah Khan, one of the Sayyid brothers, observed the
Basant and HoU festivals, and Siraj-ud-daulah and Mir Jafar enjoyed
Holi festivals along with their friends and relatives. It is said that
on his death-bed Mir Jafar drank a few drops of water poured in
libation over the idol of Kiriteswari near Murshidabad. Daulat
Rao Sindhia and his officers joined Muharram processions in green
dress like Muhammadans. It has been noted by a modern Indian
writer on the authority of Jdm-i-Jahdn Numd, a Persian w^eekly
of the early nineteenth century, how the Durga Puja was celebrated
at the Delhi court so late as a.d. 1825.
2 . Economic Conditions
A. Economic condition in pre-AJcbarid days
We have very meagre information about the economic condition
of India during the reigns of the first two Timurids. Most of the
historians have questioned the accuracy of the description of
Hindustan given by Babur in his Memoirs. The Eurmyun-ndvmh
of Gulbadan Begam refers incidentally to the low prices
prevailing in Hindustan; for example, at Amarkot, the birth-
place of Akbar, the price of four goats was one rupee. The compre-
hensive economic reforms of Sher Shah must have effected an
improvement in the economic condition of the people m his king-
dom, which was not very much disturbed at least so long as the
Sur administration retained its vigour.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE 569
570
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
some incidental references in 'some other works in Persian; j&rom
the accounts of contemporary European merchants, travellers and
writers ; from the records of the European factories in India ; and
also JBrom contemporary Indian literature, We can only attempt
here to give a brief survey of the important aspects of the economic
condition of India during the centuries of Mughul rule.
C. Prosperous cities
Prosperity and plenty prevailed in the chief cities of India
in the age of the great Mughuls. Writing in a.d. 1585, Pitch
observed: “Agra and Patebpore are two very great cities, either
of them much greater than London and very populous. Between
Agra and Patehpore are twelve miles, and all the way is a market
of victual and other things, as full as though a man were still in
a town, and so many people as if a man were in a market. ” Terry
refers to the Punjab as “a large province, and most fruitful.
Lahore is the chief city thereof, bmlt very large, and abounds
both in people and riches, one of the principal cities for trade
in all India”. Monserrate asserted that in 1581 Lahore was
“not second to any city in Europe or Asia”. Burhanpur in
Khandesh was “very great, rich and full of people”. Ahmadabad
in Gujarat has been described by Abul Pazl as “a noble city in
a high state of prosperity”, which “for the pleasantness of its
climate and display of the choicest productions of the whole globe
is almost unrivalled”. In Eastern India there was much opulence
in cities like Benares, Patna, Rajmahal, Burdwan, Hugh, Dacca
and Chittagong.
D. Communications
There was no want of communications, along roads and
rivers, for the purposes of the vast mercantile traffic, though they
compare unfavourably with those of the present day improved
under scientific conditions. Of course, with the exception of
certain highways, the roads were generally unmetalled, but the
“main routes of land travel were clearly defined, in some cases
by avenues of trees, and more generally by walled enclosures,
known as sarais, in which travellers and merchants could pass
the night in comparative security”. The rivers, some of which
were navigable throughout the year and some through a part of
it, afforded excellent means for the carriage of heavy traffic. Of
course, the security of the communications depended greatly on the
efficiency of the administration of the country. But even in the
571
SOCIAL AM) ECONOMIC LIFE
eighteenth century the facility of river communication has been
referred to by such writers as Dow, Rennell and Stavormus, who
had intimate knowledge of the province. There was a tradition
of road-building activity on the part of the State since the early
days of Indian history, which the great Sur rulers imitated and the
Mughuls also followed. A bridge was built at Jaunpur by Munim
KLan early in Akbar’s reign. Jahangir constructed water-works
at Burhanpur, and, under Shah Jahan, ‘Ali Mardan Khan repaired
or built the Ravi canal in 1639, which benefited the people to
a great extent.
E. Agriculture
The agricultural crops of the time were much the same as those
of to-day. It is wrong to say that there was no localisation of
crops as in the present day, for sugar was cultivated in many
parts of Bengal and Bihar and was carried to other parts of India ;
and indigo was cultivated in certain places of Northern India.
Pelsaert definitely tells us of the large-scale production and manu-
facture of indigo in the Jumna valley and Central India. To
meet the demands of widespread manufactures of cotton and silk
goods, both cotton and sfik were cultivated extensively in certain
parts of India. Tobacco, introduced either late in 1604 or early
in 1605, began to be cultivated by the people thereafter. Agri-
cultural implements were also very much the same as those of
the present day, and such was the case with the agricultural system
with the exception of the comparative absence of artificial irrigation.
The tenants were often subjected to the oppression and exactions
of local officials.
F. Famines
The sufferings of the peasants knew no bounds during the
frequent outbreaks of famine, caused by the failure of seasonal
rains, especially because the Mughul State then made no systematic
and prolonged efforts to provide relief and effected no substantial
remissions in revenue eoUection. The little that they did was
insufficient to alleviate the acute miseries of the myriads of people
who died of starvation and the pestilence that closely followed
it. A terrible famine broke out in 1556-1557 in the neighbourhood
of Agra and Biyana, and Badauni “with his own eyes witnessed
the fact that men ate their own kind and the appearance of the
famished sufferers was so hideous that one could scarcely look
upon them. . . . The whole country was a desert, and no husband-
man remained to till the ground”. Gujarat, one of the richest
672
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
provinces in India, w&a stricken witk famine and pestilence in
1573-1574, so that “the inhabitants, rich and poor, fled from the
country and were scattered abroad”. The country was so greatly
affected by the horrors of a severe famine lasting from 1594 to 1598
that “men ate their own kind. The streets and roads were blocked
up with dead bodies and no assistance could be rendered for their
removal”. Akbar made an attempt to relieve the distress of the
people by placing Shaikh Farid of Bukhara, a naturally kind-hearted
man, in charge of relief measures. But the miseries of the people,
due to this catastrophic visitation, were too appalling to be removed
by such steps. An equally horrible famine devastated the Deccan
and Gujarat in 1630-1632. The horrors of this calamity were so
great that, as ‘Abdul Hamid Lahori, the ofiicial historian of the
reign of Shah Jahan, wTites, “men began to devour each other,
and the flesh of a son was preferred to his love ”. A Dutch merchant,
who witnessed the calamity, notes that “men lying in the
street, not yet dead, were cut up by others, and men fed on living
men, so that even in the streets, and still more on road journeys,
men ran great danger of being murdered or eaten”. Shah Jahan
“opened a few soup-kitchens”, distributed lacs of rupees in
charity and remitted one-eleventh of the land-revenue assessment ,*
but this could not suffice to mitigate the sufferings of the starving
people. There were occasional outbreaks of famine during the
succeeding years till the close of Aurangzeb’s reign, but none was
so severe in nature as that of 1630-1632.
G. Industry and Crafts
One of the most important factors in the economic history of
India durmg the period under review was the extensive and varied
industrial activity of the people, which besides supplying the needs
of the local aristocracy and merchants could meet the demands of
traders coming from Europe and other parts of Asia. By far the
most important industry in India during this period was the manu-
facture of cotton cloth. The principal centres of cotton manufacture
were distributed throughout the country, as, for example, at Patan
in Gujarat, Burhanpur in Khandesh, Jaunpur, Benares, Patna
and some other places in the United Provinces and Bihar, and
many cities and villages in Orissa and Bengal. The whole country
from Orissa to East Bengal looked like a big cotton factory, and
the Dacca district was specially reputed for its delicate muslin
fabrics, “the best and finest cloth made of cotton” that was in
all India. Pelsaert notes that at Ohabaspur and Sonargaon in
573
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE
East Bengal “all live by the ■weaving industry and the produce
has the highest reputation and quality”. Bernier observes : “There
is in Bengale such a quantity of cotton and silk, that the Kingdom
may be called the common storehouse for those two kinds of
merchandise, not of Hindoustan or the Empire of the Great Mogul
only, but of all the neighbouring kingdoms, and even of Europe.”
The dyeing industry, too, was in a flourishing condition. Terry
tells us that coarser cotton cloths were either dyed or printed
with a “variety of well-shaped and well-coloured flowers or figures,
which are so fixed in the cloth that no water can wash them out”.
Sfik-weaving, limited in scope as compared with cotton manufac-
ture, was also an important industry of a section of the people.
Abul Fazl ■writes that it received a considerable impetus in the
reign of Akbar due to the imperial patronage. Bengal was the
premier centre of silk production and manufacture and supplied
the demands of the Indian and European merchants from other
parts of India, though silk-weaving was practised in Lahore,
Agra, Fathpur Sikri and Gujarat. Moreland writes on the authority
of Tavernier that, about the middle of the seventeenth century,
the total production of sflk in Bengal was “about 2| million
pounds out of which one million pounds were worked up locally,
I million were exported raw by the Dutch and | million distributed
over India, most of it going to Gujarat, but some being taken
by merchants from Central Asia”. Shawl and carpet- weaving
industries flourished under the patronage of Akbar; the former
woven mainly from hair, having originated from Kashmir, was
manufactured also at Lahore, and the latter at Lahore and Agra.
Woollen goods, chiefly coarse blankets, were also woven. Though
India had lost her old vigorous maritime activity, the ship-building
industry did not die out at this time, and we have references to
it from contemporary literature. Saltpetre, used chiefly as an
ingredient for gunpowder in India and also exported outside
by the Dutch and English traders, was manufactured in widely
distributed parts of India during the seventeenth century, par-
ticularly in Peninsular India and the Bihar section of the Indo-
Gangetic region. Bihar henceforth enjoyed a special reputation
for the manufacture of this article till the first half of the nine-
teenth century, and it was in high demand by the Europeans for
use in wars in their countries. Besides these major industries, we
have testimony regarding various crafts during the Mughul period.
Edward Terry noticed that “many curious boxes, trunks, standishes
(pen-eases), carpets, "with other exceUent manufactures, may be there
had”. Pelsaert also writes that in Sind “ornamental disks, draught-
574
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
boards, writing-cases, and similar goods are manufactured locally
in large quantities; they are pretty, inlaid with ivory and ebony,
and used to be exported in large quantities from Goa, and the
coast towns”. Though the State encouraged manufactures, the
weavers were directly financed in most cases by middlemen, who
must have exploited them greatly. Further, as both Bernier and
Pelsaert tell us, they suffered from harsh treatment at the hands
of the nobles and officers, who forced them to sell goods at low.
prices and exacted from them forbidden abiodbs. This deprived
the weavers and craftsmen of the benefit of economic profit from
their occupations, though the taste of the nobles for high-class
manufactures kept up the tradition of there quality.
H. Prices
We learn from Abul Fazl, and some other writers, that the
prices of articles, especially those of common consumption like
rice, vegetables, spices, meat, livestock and milk, were very low.
Edward Terry observes that “the plenty of provisions was very
great throughout the whole country; . . . and everyone there
may eat bread without scarceness”. Smith writes that “the
hired landless labourer in the time of Akbar and Jahangir probably
had more to eat than he has now”, but Moreland is of opinion
that “speaking generally the masses lived on the same economic
plane as now”. It is certain that there was no golden age of
opulence for the common people under the Mughuls, because
though the prices of articles were cheap, their average income
was proportionately low or perhaps lower. They did not, how-
ever, grovel in misery and smart under discontent, as their needs
were few and 'the problems of life were not so complicated as
those of the present day.
1, Mints and Currency
Akbar, like Sher Shah, tried to regulate the currency of the
State. Towards the end of 1677 he appointed Khwaja ‘Abdus
Samad of Shiraz master of the imperial mint at Detbi, and one
important officer was placed over each of the chief provincial
mints in Bengal, Lahore, Jaunpur, Ahmadabad and Fatna. During
the reign of Shah Jahan, one of the most important mints was at
Surat. Akbar issued gold, silver and copper coins, the first having
no less than twenty-six varieties of different weights and value. In
Akbar’s time, the silver rupee of about 176 grams was equivalent
575
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE
in value to 2s. Sd. sterling. Akbar also issued a square sliver rupee
known as the jaldll. As in Slier Shah’s currency, the chief copper coin
of Akbar ’s time was the dum, also called jiaisa or f ulus, which weighed
323-5 grains, formed the ready money for both the rich and the
poor, and was divided into twenty-five parts, known as jUals, for
purposes of account. Mercantile affairs of the Empire during the
reigns of Akbar and his successors were transacted in round gold
mohurs, rupees and dams. The coins of the Mughul State, especially
those of Akbar, “were escellent in respect of purity of metal, full-
ness of weight, and artistic execution”. The rupee wns equivalent
in value to forty dams up to 1616 and thirty dams, or a little more
or less, from 1627 onwards. But there was no great alteration in
currency after Akbar, though in 1659 the English merchants wrote
to the authorities in England that “the new king, Oran Zeeb
(Aiirangzeb), hath raised his coine (silver) to -| per cent finer than
formerly ; which hath caused much trouble and contention between
the merchants of Surat and Governor”.
J. Foreign Trade
India had an active and considerable foreign trade, during the
greater part of the Mughul period, with different countries of
Asia and Europe. The chief imports of the country were bullion,
raw silk, horses, metals, ivory, coral, amber, precious stones,
velvets, brocades, broadcloth, perfumes, drugs, Chinese porcelain
and African slaves, and her exports were various textiles, pepper,
indigo, opium and other drugs, and miscellaneous goods. There
were two main land routes for export trade on the north-west —
from Lahore to Kabul and from Multan to Qandahar, while there
were a few more in other parts. But the traffic along these routes
was restricted and insecure. The sea and the rivers were more
advantageous for commercial purposes. The chief ports of India
were Lahori Bandar in Sind; the group of Gujarat ports like
Surat, Broach and Cambay; Bassein; Chaul; Dabul (modem
Dabhol) in the Ratnagiri district ; Goa and Bhatkal ; Malabar
ports, the most important of which were Calicut and Cochin ; Nega-
patam, Masulipatam and a few minor ones on the east coast ; and
Satgaon, Sripur, Chittagong and Sonargaon in Bengal. The customs
duties, fixed by the State, were not very high; for example, at
Surat these were 3| per cent on aU imports and exports of goods,
and 2 per cent on money either gold or silver. No merchant was
allowed to “carry any quantity of silver” out of the country. The
important feature of the trade of India from the reign of Akbar
576
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
was the commercial activity of the English and the Dutch, who
gradually established factories in widely distributed centres. As
the demand for the costly European goods was confined to
the wealthy, the European merchants had to import bullion from
home to purchase Indian commodities in spite of strong criticism
m England against this practice. Moreland’s contention that the
European traders in India during the Mughul period had not
“matters all their own way” is supported by numerous references
in the factory records of the time. While they had to experience
difficulty in dealing with Indian merchants and brokers, who were
“generally subtle and clever”, and with commercial monopolies,
the chief obstacle in their way was the interference of the local
governors and other high officers. As an instance, we may note
the evidence of an English letter of 1659 to the effect that Mir
Jumla had caused the doors of the English factory at Oassimbazar
to be closed, and had forbidden anybody to trade with the English,
until they had paid him a formal visit. The European traders
spared no pains to humour and satisfy these officers in a variety
of ways; sometimes they could gain theic objects and sometimes
they were disillusioned.
K. Economic Deterioration after the Beign of Aurangzeb
With the closing years of the reign of Aurangzeb, the economic
prosperity of India deteriorated as a natural sequel to the disappear-
ance of peace and political order. The incessant wars of the reign,
bankruptcy of the administration and exhaustion of the exchequer,
made maintenance of peace and order impossible ; and consequently
agriculture, industries, and trade were so badly affected that for
some time trade came almost to a standstill. During the years
1690-1698, the English could not procure sufficient cloths for their
shipping. “Thus ensued,” observes the historian of Aurangzeb, “a
great economic impoverishment of India — not only a decrease of
the ‘national stock’, but also a rapid lowering of mechanical skill
and standard of civilisation, a disappearance of art and culture
over wide tracts of the country.” Though comparatively free
from wars, Bengal was put to a great economic strain as the
revenues of the subah financed the Deccan wars of Aurangzeb and
were sorely tapped by the rapidly declining Mughul Empire.
The economic decline of the country began much earlier than
1767, but a number of causes accelerated it, especially in Bengal,
during the eighteenth century, which is indeed the “darkest age ”
in the economic history of Bidia. The weakness of the central
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE
577
government, court revolutions and conspiracies, the terrible
Persian inroad of 1738-1739, the ravages committed by the
Marathas, the Himalayan tribes, the Mugs and the Portuguese
pirates, the abuse of dastaks and other trade privileges by the
servants, agents and gomastds of the English Company in their
private trade, the Company’s monopoly of some of the articles of
prime necessity like salt, betelnut and tobacco, the oppression of
merchants and weavers for the sake of a rich return on the invest*
ments of the Company, the huge drain of wealth out of the country
since 1757, the oppressive revenue-farming system, and currency
disorders — all combined to bring about the economic ruin of the
country. To add to these, the gradual supplanting of the Nawab’s
government by the East India Company, and the consequent dis-
bandment of armies and disestablishment of courts and native
secretariats, threw many people out of employment, who joined
the ranks of the professional robbers and criminal tribes, and
produced general lawlessness and insecurity during the post-
Plassey period. In May, 1765, the Select Committee beheld Bengal
as a “presidency divided, headstrong and licentious, a government
without nerves, a treasury without money, and service without
subordination, discipline, or public spirit . . . amidst a general
stagnation of useful industry and of licensed commerce, individuals
were accumulating immense riches, which they had ravished from
the insulted prince and helpless people, who groaned under the
united pressure of discontent, poverty and oppression”.^ The dual
government of Clive and his two inefficient successors, Verelst and
Cartier, made confusion worse confounded, and the terrible famine
of 1770 filled the cup of popular misery. After 1772, when the
Company’s government decided “to stand forth as the Diwan”,
attempts were made by Warren Hastings and Cornwallis to remove
some of these evils, but many years more were to elapse before a
new order could be brought into existence.
1 Letter from the Select Committee in Bengal to the Court of Directors,
dated 19th February, 1767. Vide Verelst, View of Bengal, Appendix, p, 471.
CHAPTER VIII
EDUCATIOIT, UTERATURE AND ART
I. Education and Literature
In Mughul India there was nothing like the modern system of
education established and maintained by the State. But primary
and secondary education of some sort existed. The rulers them-
selves, as weU as many of the grandees, encouraged such education
by grants of lands or money to mosques, monasteries and individual
saints and scholars. Thus almost every mosque had a maJctab
attached to it, where the boys and girls of the neighbourhood
received elementary education. Hindu Sanskritio and vernacular
schools also continued to function for the benefit of students in the
urban as well as rural areas.
The Mughul rulers of India were patrons of education. It is
stated, on the authority of the Tawdrikh of Sayyid Maqbar ‘Ali, a
minister of Babur, that one of the duties of the Public Works
Department {8huhrat-i-Am) of that ruler’s time was the building
of schools and colleges. Humayun, though indolent and addicted
to opium, had. a passion for study, his favourite subjects being
geography and astronomy; and his fondness for books was so
great that he always “carried a select library with him”. He
caused a madrdsd to be established at Delhi and changed the
pleasure-house built by Sher Shah in the Purdna QiVd into a
library. “Akbar’s reign marks a new epoch for the system intro-
duced for imparting education in schools and colleges”. He built
colleges at Eathpur Sikri, Agra and other places. With a view to
improving the state of Muslim education, he effected certain changes
in its curriculum, which it would be unreasonable to say produced
no effect at all. As a matter of fact, Abul Fazl, referring to its
good results, writes that “all nations have schools for the education
of youths ; but Hindustan is particularly famous for its seminaries”.
Prompted by his policy of religious toleration, Akbar arranged in
later years for the education of Hindus in madrdsds. Jahangir,
possessed of some literary taste and well-read in Persian as weU as
Turki, issued a regulation to the effect that on the death of a
■: 678
579
EDUCATIOiSr, LITERATURE AND ART
rich man or traveller without any heir, his property would escheat
to the crown and be utilised for building and repairing madrasds,
monasteries, etc. It is recorded in the Ta'nhh4-Jdn-Jalidn that,
soon after his accession to the throne, Jahangir “repaired even
these madrasds that had for thirty years been the dweUing-places
of birds and beasts, and filled them with students and professors”.
Shah Jahan, though more interested in magnificent buildiags
than in anything else, was educated in his early youth in Turki,
spent a part of the night in his own studies, and encouraged
learning by granting rewards and stipends to scholars. He founded
one college at Delhi and repaired the college named Ddr-ul-Baqd
(Abode of Eternity), which had been almost in ruins. In Dara
Shukoh the Mughul imperial family possessed one of the greatest
scholars that India has ever produced. Well-versed in Arabic,
Persian and Sanskrit, he was the author of some famous works,
including Persian translations of the Upanishads, the Bhagavat Qitd
and the Yoga VdiisMha Rdmdyana; a calendar of Muslim saints;
and several works on Sufi philosophy. Looking at the grave of
this unlucky person, Sir William Sleeman rightly thought that had
he lived to occupy the throne, the nature of education, and there-
with the destiny of India, would have been different. Aurangzeb, " j
though highly educated, did nothing substantial to promote
learning in general, though he extended every encouragement to
Muslim education, and founded, accordmg to Keene, “numerous
colleges and schools”.
Female education of some sort existed during the Mughul period.
The daughters of the imperial household, and of rich nobles, were
given tuition in their houses, and we may assume that the daughters
of the middle-class people among the Hindus received primary
education along with the boys in the ’schools and that some of
them were conversant with religious literature. The Auxiliary
Committee of the Indian Statutory Commission rightly observed
in September, 1929, that there is “nothing inherent either in the
Hindu or in the Muslim religion which militates against the education
of women. In fact, there were in India even in early days many
examples of women possessing wide knowledge, particularly of
sacred and classical literature”. In Akbar’s time “regular training
was given to the ladies of the royal household”. Some of the
ladies so instructed distinguished themselves in the sphere of
literature. Thus Babur’s daughter, Gulbadan Begam, authoress
of the Humdyunndmdh, Humayun’s niece, Salima Sultana, authoress
of several Persian poems, Nur Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal, Jahanara
Begam and Zeb-un-Nisa were highly educated ladies, well-read
580
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
in Persian and Arabic literature. Besides being a fine Arabic and
Persian scholar, Zeb-un-Nisa was an expert in calligraphy and
had a rich library.
As we have already noted, the Timurid rulers of India were
patrons of literature and gave a considerable impetus to its develop-
ment in different branches. Many scholars flourished and wrote
interesting and important works under the patronage of Akbar.
One of Akbar’s contemporaries, Madhavacharya, a Bengali poet of
Triveni and author of Ghmdi-mangal, bestows high praise on
the Emperor as a patron of letters.
The Persian literature of Akbar’s reign may be considered under
three heads : (i) historical works, (ii) translations, and (ui) poetry and
verse. The well-known historical works of the reign are the Ta’nJch-
i-'Alfi of MuUa Daud, the ‘Am-i-Alcban and Ahbarndmdh of Abui
Fazl, the MuntaJchab-ut-Tawdrllch of Badauni, the Tabaqdt-i-Ahban
of Nizam-ud-din Ahmad, the AJcbarndmdh of Faizi Sarhindi, and
the Ma'dsir-i-RaMml of ‘Abdul Baqi, compiled under the patronage
of ‘Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan. The most accomplished writer (in
Persian) of the reign was Abul Fazl, a man of letters, a poet, an
essayist, a critic, and a historian. By order of the Emperor,
many books in Sanskrit and other languages were translated into
Persian. Different sections of the Mahdbhdrata were translated into
that language by several Muslim scholars and were compiled under
the title of Bazm-Ndmdh. After labouring for four years, Badauni
completed the translation of the Bdmdyana in a.d. 1689. Haji
Ibrahim Sarhindi translated into Persian the Atharva Veda ; Faizi
the Lildbatt, a work on mathematics; Mukammal Khan Gujarati
the Tajak, a treatise on astronomy; ‘Abdur Rahim Kkan-i-
Khanan the Wdqidt-i-Bdburl ; and Maulana Shah Muhammad
Shahabadi translated the History of Kashmir. Some Greek and
Arabic works were also translated into Persian. A number of
famous poets or versifiers produced works of merit under the
patronage of Akbar. The most famous among the verse-writers
was Ghizali. Next in importance to him was Faizi, a brother of
Abul Fazl. Other prominent poets were Muhammad Husain
Naziri of Nishapur, who wrote ghazals of great merit, and Sayyid
Jamaluddin Urfi of Shiraj, the most famous writer of Qasidds in
his days.
Jahangir, possessed of an excellent literary taste, also extended
his patronage to scholars. His autobiography is second only to
that of Babur in matter and style. Among the learned men who
adorned his court, of whom the Iqbdlndmdh-i-Jahdnglrl has given
a comprehensive list, we may mention here the names of Ghiyas
581
EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND ART
Beg, Naqib Khan, Mu'tamid Khan, NiamatuUah and ‘Abdul
Haqq Dihlawi. Some historical works were written during
Jahangir’s reign, the most important of these being the Ma‘ds{r~i-
JahdTigln, the Iqhdlndmah-i-Jdhdngin and the Zubd-ut-TawdriJch.
Shah Jahan followed his predecessors in patronising learned
men. Besides many poets and theologians, there flourished in his
court some famous writers of history like ‘Abdul Hamid Lahori,
author of the PddsJidh-ndmdh, Aminai Qazwini, author of another
Pddshdhndmdh, Inayat Khan, author of the Shdh-Jahdnndmdh, and
Muhammad Salih, author of ‘Amal-i-Sdlih, all of whom are
important authorities on the history of Shah Jahan ’s reign. The
scholarly works of Prince Dara Shukoh, to which reference has
already been made, are masterpieces of Persian literature. A
zealous Sunni, Aurangzeb was a critical scholar of Muslim theology
and jurisprudence. He had no taste for poetry. Though opposed to
the writing of histories of his reign, so that the Muntakhab-ul-Lubdb
of Khafi Kh§,n had to be written in secrecy, there are some well-
known works of this kind, such as the ' Alamglrndmdh by Mirza
Muhammad Kazim, the Ma‘dsir-i-‘Alamglrl of Muhammad Saqi,
the Khuldsat-ut-Tawdrlkh of Sujan Rai Khatri, the Nushha-i-
Dilkushd of Bhimsen and the Fatuhdt-i-^Alamgln of Ishwar Das.
The peace and order secured by Akbar, and the cosmopolitan ideas
of the religious movements of the period, preached by a band of
saintly teachers in a language “understanded of the people”, stimu-
lated the genius of the latter, which unfolded itself in manifold
petals. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries consequently
became “the Augustan age of Hindustani literature”. The first
writer of note after 1526 was Mahk Muhammad Jayasi, who in
1540 wrote “the fine philosophic epic entitled the Padmdvat,
which gives the story of Padmini, the queen of Mewar, in an
allegorical setting”. Akbar’s keen interest in, and patronage of,
Hindi poetry gave a great stimulus to Hindi literature. Among
the courtiers of the Emperor, Birbal, who received from him the title
of Kavi Priya, was a famous poet. Raja Man Singh also wrote verses in
Hindi and was a patron of learning. The most distinguished writer
among Akbar’s ministers was ‘Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, whose
doMs are even now read with interest and admiration aU over
Northern India. Narahari, whom the Emperor gave the title of
Mahapatra, Harinath and Ganj were also noted writers of his court.
The greater part of the poetical literature of the time was
religious, marked by an exposition of either Krishpa worship or
the Rama cult. Many writers of the former faith flourished in the
Brajabhumi, corresponding roughly to the Jumna valley, where
582
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
it developed remarkably. Among the eight disciples of Valla-
bhaeharya and his son Bithal Nath, grouped under the name
of “Astachdp”, the most notable was Surdas, “the blind bard of
Agra”, who, writing in Brajabhdshd, described in his Sursdgar the
sports of Krishna’s early life, and composed many verses on the
charm of Krishna and his beloved Radha. The other important
poets of this school were Nand Das, author of the Bds-panchadhydy%
Vithal Nath, author of the Ghaurdst Vaishnava Id vdrtd in prose,
Paramananda Das, Kumbhan Das, and Ras Khan (a Muslim
disciple of Vitchal Nath), author of Premavdrtihd. Among the
writers of the Rama cult, the most illustrious was Tulsi Das
(a.d. 1532-1623), who lived in Benares “unapproachable and alone
in his niche in the temple of Fame”. He was not merely a poet of
a high order, but a spiritual teacher of the people of Hindustan,
where his name has become a household word and his memory
is worshipped by millions. The most famous of his works, known
as Rdmcharitamdnasay or “The Pool of Rama’s Life”, has been
justly described by Sir George Grierson as “the one Bible of a
hundred millions of people” of Hindustan. Growse also observed
in his translation of the Rdrmya'm of Tulsi Das that “his book
is in every one’s hands, from the court to the cottage, and is
read and heard and appreciated ahke by every class of the Hindu
community, whether high or low, rich or poor, young or old”.
This period was also marked by “the first attempts to systematise
the art of poetry itself”, made by writers like Keshava Das (a.d.
1580), a Sandhya Brahmana of Orcha, Sundar Senapati and the
Tripathi brothers, who flourished during the reign of Shah Jahan.
In Bengal, this period was remarkable for a brilliant outburst
of the Vaishpava literature. Its various branches, such as the
Karchds or notes, the padas and songs, and the biographies of
Chaitanya Deva, have not only saturated the minds of the people
of Bengal with feelings of love and liberalism, but have also survived
as a mirror of the social life of the province during that age. The
most prominent Vaishnava writers were Krishpadas Kaviraj
(bom in a.d. 1517 of a Vaidya family of Jhamalpur in Burdwan), the
author of the most important biography of Chaitanya, bearing the
title of Chaitanyacharitdmitra ; Brindavan Das (born in a.d. 1507),
the author o£ Chaitanya Bhdgavata, which besides being a standard
work on the life of Chaitanya Deva, is a store-house of information
concerning the Bengali society of his time ; Jayananda (born in
A.D. 1513), the author of Chaitanya Mangal, a biographical work
giving some fresh information about Chaitanya Deva’s life;
Trilochan Das (bom in a.d. 1523 at Kowgram, a village situated
EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND ART 583
thirty miles to the north of Burdwan), the author of a rery popular
biography of Chaitanya Deva also known as Chaitanya Mangal ;
and Narahari Chakravarty, the author of Bhaktiratndkar, a
voluminous biography of Chaitanya Deva, written in fifteen
chapters and considered to be next in importance only to the
work of Krishnadas KaviraJ. This period also saw the production
of numerous translations of the great epics and the Blidgavata,
and books in praise of Chandi Devi and Manasa Devi. The most
important of these works were the MafidbJidmta of Kasiram Das
and the Kavilcanhan Chandi of Mukundaram Chakravarti, which
enjoys to this day as much popularity in Bengal as the famous
book of Tulsi Das in upper India. Mukundaram’s work depicts
a graphic picture of the social and economic conditions of the
people of Bengal of his time, and it is for this that Prof. Cowell
has described him as “the Orabbe of Bengal”, and Dr. Grierson
considers his poetry “as coming jfrom the heart, and not from the
school, and as full of passages adorned with true poetry and
descriptive power”.
The Emperors’ fondness for books led to the foundation of
libraries, which were stocked with numerous valuable manuscript
works. Akbar’s library had enormous collections, which were
properly classified under different sections. The art of calligraphy
reached a high state of excellence. Among the famous penmen of
Akbar’s court, of whom the ‘Aln-i-Ahban has preserved a list,
the most distinguished was Muhammad Husain of Kashmir, who
got the title of Zarrinqalam (Gold-pen).
The growth of Hindi literature received a setback during the
reign of Aurangzeb, owing to the stoppage of court patronage.
Not much Urdu poetry also was written in Northern India
during this period; but some famous writers of Urdu verse
flourished in the Deccan.
Literary activity did not entirely cease even in the troubled days
of later Mughul rule. Men of letters were patronised by Emperors
likft Bahadur Shah and Muhammad Shah, svbahddrs like Murshid
Quli Jafar Khan and ‘Alivardi Khan, and zamindars like Raja
Krishnachandra of Nadia, Asadullah of Birbhum and some others.
The literature of this period, with the exception of the devotional
songs of Ramprasad, was often of a low tone and a vitiated taste.
Female education, both among the Hindus and the Muslims, was
not unknown to the age. The two daughters of Jan Muhammad, a
converted Hindu and father of the weU-known Koki Jiu, were
“sent to school and attained some proficiency in letters”. Koki
Jiu “excelled her brothers in handwriting' and composition”. In
584 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Bengal, we find several instances of educated ladies; for example,
the wives of Raja Navskrishna of Sobhabazar (in Calcutta) were
famous for their capacity to read, and Anandamayi of East Bengal
was a poetess of no mean repute.
2 . Art and Architecture
A. Architecture
As in literature and religion, so in art and architecture, the
Mughul period was not entirely an age of innovation and renaissance,
but of a continuation and culmination of processes that had their
beginnings in the later Turko-Afghan period. In fact, the art and
architecture of the period after 1526, as also of the preceding period,
represent a happy mingling of Muslim and Hindu art traditions
and elements.
With the exception of Aurangzeb, whose puritanism could not
reconcile itself with patronage of art, aU the early Mughul rulers
of India were great builders. Brief though his Indian reign was,
Babur could make time to criticise in his Memoirs the art of building
in Hindustan and think of constructing edifices. He is said to
have invited firom Constantinople pupils of the famous Albanian
architect, Sinan, to work on mosques and other monuments in
India. “It is, however, very unlikely,” remarks Mr. Percy Brown,
“that this proposal ever came to anything, because had any
member of this famous school taken service under the Mughuls,
traces of the influence of the Byzantine style would be observable.
But there is none. ...” Babur employed Indian stone-masons
to construct his buildings. He himself states in his Memoirs that
“680 men worked daily on his buildings at Agra, and that nearly
1,500 were employed daily on his buddings at Sikri, Biyana,
Dholpur, Gwalior and Edul”. The larger edifices of Babur have
entirely disappeared. Three minor ones have survived, one of
which is a commemorative mosque in the Kabuli Bag at Panipat
(1526), another the Jdmi^ Masjid at Sambhal (1526) in Rohilkhand,
and the third a mosque within the old Lodi fort at Agra. Of the
reign of the unlucky emperor Humayun, only two structures remain
in a semi-dilapidated condition, one mosque at Agra, and the other
a massive well-proportioned mosque at Fathbad in the Hissar
district of the Punjab, built about a.d. 1540 with enamelled tile
decoration in the Persian manner. It should be noted here that this
“Persian” or rather “Mongol” trait was not brought to India
for the first time by Humayun, but had already been present in
EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND ART 585
the Bahmahi kingdom in the later half of the fifteenth century.
The short reign of the Indo- Afghan revivalist Sher Shah is a period
of transition in the history of Indian architecture. The two remain-
ing gateways of his projected walled capital at Delhi, which could
not be completed owing to his untimely death, and the citadel
kno’wn as the Purana QiVd, exhibit “a more refined and artistically
ornate type of edifice than had prevailed for some time”. The
mosque called the QiVa-i-Kuh'm Masjid, buUt in 1545 within the
waUs, deserves a high place among the buildings of Northern
shah’s mausoleum, sasaeam
India for its brilliant architectural qualities. Sher Shah’s mausoleum,
built on a high plinth in the midst of a lake at Sasaram in the
Shahabad district of Bihar, is a marvel of Indo-Moslem architecture,
both from the standpoint of design and dignity, and shows a
happy combination of Hindu and Muslim architectural ideas.
Thus not only in government, but also in culture and art, the
great Afghan prepared the way for the great Mughul, Akbar.
Akbar’s reign saw a remarkable development of architecture.
With his usual thoroughness, the Emperor mastered every detail
of the art; and, with a liberal and synthetic mind he supplied
himself with artistic ideas from different sources, which were
586 AH ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
given a practical shape by the expert craftsmen he gathered
around him. Abul Eazl justly observes that his sovereign
“planned splendid edifices and dressed the work of his mind
and heart in the garment of stone and clay”. Fergusson aptly
remarked that Fathpur Sikri “ was a reflex of the mind of a great
man”. Akbar’s activities were not confined only to the great
OASVED m.TiABS IN STJLTAJSTA’s HOUSE, EATHPUB SIKKI
masterpieces of architecture; but he also built a number of forts,
villas, towers, sardis, schools, tanks and wells. While stOl adhering
to Persian ideas, which he inherited from his mother, born of a
Persian Shaikh, family of Jam, his tolerance of the Hindus, sym-
pathy with their culture, and the policy of winning them over to
his cause, led him to use Hindu styles of architecture in many of his
buildings, the decorative features of which areYopies of those found
nn
:^:j%
LAHORE FORT
588 m ADViySfCED HISTORY OF INDIA
in the Hindu and Jaina temples. It is strikingly illustrated in the
Jahdnglrl Mahal, in Agra fort, with its square pillars and bracket-
capitals, and rows of small arches built according to the Hindu design
without voussoirs; in many of the buddings of Fathpur Sikri,
the imperial capital from 1569 to 1584 ; and also in the Lahore fort.
Even in the famous mausoleum of Humayun at Old Delhi, com-
pleted early in a.d. 1569, which is usually considered to have dis-
played influences of Persian art, the ground-plan of the tomb is
Indian, the free use of white marble in the outward appearance of
?AHAlSrGiBl MAHAL, iGBA FOBX
the edifice is Indian, and the coloured tile decoration, used so much
by Persian builders, is absent. The most magnificent of the
Emperor’s buildings at Fathpur Sikri are Jodh Bai’s palace and
two other residential buildings, said to have been constructed to
accommodate his queens ; the Diwdn-i-^Am or the Emperor’s office,
of Hindu design with a projecting veranda roof over a colonnade;
the wonderful Diwdn-i-Khds or Hall of private audience, of distinctly
Indian character in planning, construction and ornament; the
marble mosque known as the Jdmi‘ Masjid, described by Fergusson
as “a romance in stone”; the Buland Darwdza or the massive
EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND ART 589
triumphal archway at the southern gate of the mosque, built of
marble and sandstone to commemorate Akbar’s conquest of
Gujarat; and the pyramidal structure in five storeys known as
the Panch Mahal, showing continuation of the plan of the Indian
Buddhist viharas which still exist m certain parts of India. Two
other remarkable buildings of the period are the Palace of Forty
PiUars at Allahabad and Akbar’s mausoleum at Sikandara. The
palace at Allahabad, the construction of which, according to
William Finch, took forty years and engaged 5,000 to 20,000
workmen of different denominations, is of a definitely Indian design
with its projecting veranda-roof “ supported on rows of Hindu
pillars”. The colossal structure of Akbar’s mausoleum at Sikandara,
planned in the Emperor’s lifetime but executed between A.D. 1605
and 1613, consists of five terraces diminishing as they ascend with
a vaulted roof to the topmost storey of white marble, and it is
thought that a central dome was originally intended to be built
over the cenotaph. The Indian design in this structure was inspired
by the Buddhist viharas of Lidia and also probably by Khmer
architecture found in Cochin-China.
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
JODH BAl’S PAIAOIS,
EDUCATIOK, LITEEATUEE AETD ART 591
The number of buildings erected during Jahangir’s reign was
poor as compared with the architectural record of his father,
but two structures of his time are of exceptional interest
and merit. One is the mausoleum of Akbar, whose striking features
have been already discussed. The other is the tomb of I‘timad-ud-
daulah at Agra Wilt by his daughter, Nur Jahan, the consort of
Jahangir. The latter was built wholly of white marble decorated
with pietra dura work in semi-precious stones. We have an earlier
specimen of this work in the Qol Mandal temple at Udaipur (from
GOIi MAHDAL OE MAHAL,
A.D. 1600). It was therefore a Eajput style, or, most probably,
an older Indian style,
Shah Jahan was a prolific builder. Many buildings, palaces,
forts, gardens and mosques due to him are to be found at^places
like Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Kabul, Kashmir, Qandahar, Ajmer,
Ahmadabad, MukhHspur, and elsewhere. Though it is not possible
to form a precise estimate of the expenditure on these buildings,
yet there is no doubt that the cost must have run into several
dozen crores of rupees. The structures of Shah Jahan, as compared
with those of Akbar, are inferior in grandeur and originality, but
they are superior in lavish display and rich and skilful decoration,
so that the architecture of the former ■‘becomes jewellery on a
DIWAU-I-AM, DELHI
bigger scale”. This is particularly illustrated in his Delhi
like the Diwdn-i-‘Am and the Diumi-i-KJids. The latter, ^
costly silver ceiling, and mingled decoration of marble, g(
precious stones, justified the inscription engraved on it
“ Agar firdaus bar ru-yi zamin ast
Hamin ast, u hamin ast, u hamin ast”
(If on Earth be an Eden of bhss,
It is this, it is this, none but this.)
MOTI MASJID AT AGRA
The lovely Moti Masjid or Pearl Mosque at Agra deserves a higher
place from the standpoint of true art for its purity and elegance.
Another notable building of the reign is the Jdmi' Masjid at Agra,
otherwise known as the Masjid-i-JaMn Ndmd. The Tdj Mahal, a
splendid mausoleum built, by Shah Jahan, at a cost of fifty lacs of
rupees, over the grave of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, is rightly
regarded as one of the wonders of the world for its beauty and
magnificence. As regards the identity of the architects who designed
and built the Taj, Smith’s contention that it is "the product
of a combination of European and Asiatic genius ” has been
challenged by Moin-ud-din Ahmad, who advances reasonable grounds
IV'
JAMl‘ MASJID, AGRA
596 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
for disbeHeving the supposed participation of Italian or French
architects in the designing or construction of this noble monument
of conjugal fidelity and gives the credit for the design to Ustad
Tsa. While studying the Taj, a student of Indian art should not
fail to note certain points. Firstly, the plan and chief features
of it were not entirely novel, for “from Sher’s mausoleum, and
through Humayun’s tomb and the Bijapur memorials, the descent
of the style can easily be discerned”; even the “lace-work in
marble and other stones, and precious stones inlay {pietra dura)
work on marble ” were already present in Western India and Rajput
art. Secondly, “the lavish use of white marble and some decorations
of Indian character ” lead us to think that there is no reason to
overemphasise the domination of Persian influence in Shah Jahan’s
buildings as is usually done. Thirdly, considering the intercourse of
India with the Western world, particularly the Mediterranean
region, during the Mughul period, it would not be historically
inconsistent to befieve in the influence of some elements of art
of the Western world on the art of India during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, and also in the presence of some European
builders in different parts of contemporary India.
Though not so famous as the Taj, the mausoleum of Jahangir,
built by Shah Jahan at an early date at Shahdara in Lahore, is a
beautiful specimen of art. Another celebrated work of art of this
reign was the Peacock Throne. “The throne was in the form of a
cot bedstead on golden legs. The enamelled canopy was supported
by twelve emerald pillars, each of which bore two peacocks encrusted
with gems. A tree covered with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and
pearls stood between the birds of each pair.” Nadir Shah removed
the throne to Persia in 1739, but unfortunately it is no longer to
be found anywhere in this world.
In Aurangzeb’s reign the style of architecture began to deterior-
ate. If not openly hostile to architecture, the puritanic Emperor
ceased to encourage it, or to erect buildings, like his predecessors.
The few structures of his reign, the most important of which was
the Lahore mosque, completed in a.d. 1674, were but feeble imita-
tions of the older models. Soon the creative genius of the Indian
artists mostly disappeared, surviving partly in Oudh and Hyderabad
iu the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
B. Painting
Like architecture, painting in the Mughul period represented a
happy mingling of extra-Indian as well as Indian elements. A
598
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OE INDIA
provincialised form of Chinese art, which was a mixture of Indian
Buddhist, Iranian, Bactrian and Mongolian influences, was intro-
duced into Persia in the thirteenth century by its Mongol conquerors
and was continued by their Timurid successors, who again imported
it into India. The characteristics of this Indo-Sino-Persian art
were assimilated, mingled and combined, in the time of Akbar,
in products of the contemporary Indian schools of painting, which
flourished, as a renaissance of earlier Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina
styles', in different parts of the country, such as Gujarat,
Rajputana, Vijayanagar, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and some other
places, and led to the development of a style of painting in which
the Mongoloid elements gradually declined and the Indian ones
predominated. This modification can be clearly seen in the paintings
in the copies of the KTidndan-i-Tim%nd and the Pddshdhndmdh,
both of which are preserved in the Khudabakhsh Library of Patna.
It is possible that Babur, who was “always keenly observant
of the beauties of Nature”, patronised the art of painting, like
his Timurid ancestors, according to his limited resources. The
paintings in the Alwar MS. of the Persian version of his Memoirs
probably represent the style that grew up in his time. Humayun,
who, like other Timurlds, possessed a taste for art, spent his hours
of exile in Persia in studying Sino-Persian music, poetry and
painting and came in contact with the leading artists of Persia,
who flourished under the generous patronage of Shah Tahmasp.
Two of them — ^]SEr Sayyid ‘Ali, a pupil of the famous Bihzad of
Herat, who has been styled “the Raphael of the East”, and
Khwaja ‘Abdus Samad — ^were persuaded' to come to his court at ,
Kabul in a.d. 1550. Humayun and his son Akbar took lessons
from them in the art of painting and engaged them in the task
of preparing the illustrations to the Ddstdn-i-Amlr Hamzah. These
two foreign artists, working with their Indian assistants, “formed
the nucleus of the Mughul school of painting”, which became so'
prominent in the time of Akbar. This passed on as a valuable gift .
from Humayun to Akbar, while his political legacy was precarious. >
In the illustrative paintings to Amir Hamzah, done by Sayyid
‘Ali and ‘Abdus Samad between a.d. 1550 and a.d. 1560, the Sino^
Persian influence was still predominant. But in 1562, when the
famous painting showing the arrival at the Mughul Court of the
Vaishnava musician, Tansen, was executed, the fusion of Hindu and
Sino-Persian styles began to manifest itself. From a.d. 1569 to
1585 the walls of Akbar’s new capital at Eathpur Sikri were
embellished with the masterpieces of the painter’s art by the joint
labours of the artists of the Hindu and Persian schools, ]^th being
599
EDUCATION, LITEEATURE AND ART
ready to imbibe and utilise new ideas and thus facOitating the
growth of a new school of art. The Persian or other foreign artists
in Akbar’s court were few in number, the most famous of them
being ‘Abdus Samad, Earrukh Beg, who was of Kalmuck origin,
Khursau Quli and Jamshed. The Hindu artists predominated in
number. Of the seventeen leading artists of Akbar’s reign, no
less than thirteen were Hindus. Abul Fazl thus refers to the
standard of their art: “More than a hundred painters have become
famous masters of the art, while the number of those who attain
perfection, or of those who are middling, is very large. This is
specially true of the Hindus, their pictures surpass our conception
of things. Few indeed in the whole world are found equal to them.”
They worked in collaboration and excelled in portraiture, book-
iUustration and illumination and, animal painting. Chief among
them were Basawan, Lai, Keau, Mukimd, Haribans and Daswanth.
The last-named belonged to the Kahar or palanquin-bearer caste,
while the rest belonged to the Kayastha, Chitera, Shavat and
Khatri castes and were drawn from different parts of the country.
Akbar, who shared with others of his race “an intense apprecia-
tion of the wonder and glory of the world”, encouraged pictorial
art in every possible way and gave it a religious outlook in spite
of the Islamic injunction regarding the representation of living
forms. “It appears to me,” said he, “as ff a painter had quite
peculiar means of recognising God ; for if a painter in sketching any-
thing that has life, and in devising its limbs, one after the other,
comes to feel that he cannot bestow individuality on his work,
he is forced to think of God, the Giver of life, and wiU thus
increase his knowledge.” In this way he sought to remove the
discontent of the orthodox Muslims, who were opposed to the art
of painting. “Bigoted followers of the letter of the law,” writes
Abul Fazl, “are hostile to the art of painting, but their eyes now
see the truth.”
The school of art that grew up under Akbar continued to flourish
in the reign of Jahangir through the enthusiastic support and patron-
age of the latter. Jahan^ was an excellent connoisseur, who paid
high prices for any pictures that satisfied his aesthetic taste, and an
art critic who could tell the names of individual artists in a compo-
site piece. The famous Muslim artists of his court were Aga Reza
and his son, Abul Hasan, of Herat; Muhammad Nadir and
Muhammad Murad from Samarqand, who were among the last
foreign artists to come to India; and Ustad Mansur. Among the
Hindu painters of this reign, Bishan Das, Manohar and Govardhan
were the most eminent. Himself having a fair acquaintance with
600
m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the classical aspects of miniature painting, the Emperor frequently
purchased examples of the best schools of art in India or abroad ;
and his zeal, combined with the skill of his artists, led to the emanci-
pation of Mughul pictorial art from the tutelage of Persian influences
and to the development of an art style essentially Indian.
With Jahangir, however, according to Percy Brown, the real
spirit of Mughul pictorial art declined. Shah Jahan did not possess
the same passion for painting as his father, and his tastes were
more for architecture and jewellery. The court portraiture and
darbdr pictures of his reign were characterised by rich pigments and
a lavish use of gold rather than by the harmonious blend of colours
which was present in Jahangir’s art. He reduced the number of
court painters, and the art of painting was soon deprived of imperial
patronage. In the imperial family only Dara Shukoh was a patron
of art, as is proved by his album now preserved in the India Office,
and his untimely death was a great blow to art as well as to the
Empke. The artists were compelled to seek employment under
nobles, as in Rajputana and the Himalayan states, set up studios
in the bazars and sell their pictures, as a means of livelihood, to
the general public, whose number was, however, limited. Bernier
noted that the artists had no chance of attaining distinction and
worked under adverse circumstances and for poor remimeration.
The reign of Aurangzeb saw a distinct decline of pictorial art,
as the Emperor regarded its patronage as opposed to the precepts
of sacred law. Large numbers of portraits of him in various
situations were indeed drawn, with or without his consent, and he
is said to have inspected at intervals the portrait of his rebellious
son Muhammad Sultan, painted by his order, to know his condition
in prison. But he is reported to have defaced the paintings in the
Asar Mahal at Bijapur, and Manucci writes that under his orders
the figures in Akbar’s mausoleum at Sikandara were whitewashed.
With the disintegration of the Mughul Empire after the death
of Aurangzeb, some of the surviving painters migrated from the
capital to the states of Oudh, Hyderabad, Mysore and Bengal,
which had made themselves practically independent, and some went
to Lucknow and Patna. But both the support that they got and
the work that they executed were far inferior to what had been
the case under the Great Mughuls.
In the eighteenth century a style of painting noted for brilliancy
and decorative effect flourished in Rajputana, particularly in
Jaipur. In the latter half of the century, highly beautiful and
refined pictures were painted by the Kaiigra school, of which the
Tehri-Garhwal school was an offshoot ; and in the early nineteenth
601
EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND ART
century ttiis developed into Sikh portrait painting. Recently,
artists both in India and Europe have begun to appreciate Mughul
and Rajput paintings and are trying to revive the style.
O. Music
Indian rulers like the ‘Add Shahi Sultans of Bijapur and
Baz Bahadur of Malwa, a contemporary of Akbar, and all the
Great Mughuls, with the exception of Aurangzeb, appreciated the
art of music. Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan extended con-
siderable patronage to it, which led to the improvement of its
quality and to its being widely cultivated. According to Abul
Eazl, thirty-six singers enjoyed the patronage of Akbar’s court.
Of them, the most famous were Tansen, about whom Abul Eazl
writes that “a singer like him has not been in India for the last
thousand years”; and Baz Bahadur of Malwa, who was employed
in the service of Akbar, and has been described as “the most
accomplished man of his day in the science of music and in Hindi
song”. Aurangzeb positively discouraged music and placed a
ban upon it.
THE SO-CALLED SLAVE
604
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
THE KHALJI SULTANS OP DELHI, 1290-1320
Qaim KJaan (Tulak Klian of Qunduz)
i
1 I ^ I
Khaljis of Malwa. I. Jalal-ud-dln, Firuz Shah, Masud (Shihab-ud-din).
d. July 21, 1296. |
I , I
II. Ruku-ud-din, Ibrahim, III. Ala-ud-din Sikandar
deposed Nov. 1296. Sani, Muhammad
Shah.
d. Jan. 1316.
L
I ’I I
Prince Khizr Khan. IV. Shihab-ud-din ‘Umar. V. Qutb-ud-din Mubarak
d. April, 1316. d.c. April, 1320.
VI. Nasir-ud-din Khusrav
(usurper),
d.c. Sept. 1320.
THE HOUSE OF TUGHLUQ, 1320-1413
I. (Turk! Slave of Balban)
Ghiyas-ud-din (Ghazi Malik)
Tughluq Shah I.
d. Feb. 1325.
I
II. Muhammad, Jauna
d. March 20, 1351.
Rajab = Bhatti Princess
Sipah Salar.
I
III. Firuz Shah,
d. Sept. 20, 1388.
1 I
Zafar Khan VI. Nasir-ud-din, Muhammad Shah
1 d. Jan. 20, 1394.
V. Abu Baqr,
deposed
Dec. 1390
I
IV. Ghiyas-ud-din
Tughluq (II)
deposed and
kiUed 1389
VIII. Nusrat Shah,
disputed suc-
cession. Set
up in Jan. 1395;
d. 1398 or 1399
1
VII. Ala-ud-din
Sikandar
(Humayun
Khan),
d. March 8,
1394.
I
IX. Mahmud
Shah,
d. Feb.
1413
GENEALOGICAL TABLES TO PAET II
THE SAYYID RULERS OF DELHI, 1414-1451
I. Elhizr Elhan
May 28, 1414; d. May 20, 1421.
II. Mu‘iz-ud-dln, Mubarak.
Killed 1434
I
Farid Khan
I
III. Muhammad Shah
d. 1445.
I .
IV. ‘Ala-ud-din, ‘Alam Shah
d. 1453.
(Removed to Badaun, 1451).
THE LODI DYNASTY OF DELHI, 1451-1526
I. BuhlCil Lodi, d. July, 1489.
I
1 . I
Barbak Shah II. Nizam iOian, Sikandar Lodi
(Jaunpur). d. Nov. 21, 1517.
III. Ibrahim Lodi
d. April 21, 1526
‘Alam
KINGS OF BENGAL
(1) Eastern Bengal
Fakhr-ud-dln Mubarak Shah .
Ikhtiyar-ud-dln Ghazi Shah .
1336 or 1338
1346-1352
(2) Western Bengal and all Bengal
‘A la-ud-din ‘Ali Shah ..... 1339
Haji Shams-ud-din Iliyas Shah, Bhangara . 1345
Sikandar Shah . . . . . . 1357
Ghiyaa-ud-din A‘zam Shah .... 1393
Saif-ud-din Hamza Shah .... 1410
Shihab-ud-din Bayazid ..... 1412
Ganesh of Bhaturia (Kans Narayan) . . 1414
Jadu, alias Jaldl-ud-din Muhammad Shah . 1414
Danuja-mardana ...... 1417
Mahendra ....... 1418
Shams-ud-din Ahmad Shah . . . .1431
Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shah .... 1442
Rukn-ud-din Barbak Shah .... 1460
Shams-ud-dIn Yusuf Shah .... 1474
Sikandar Shah II . . . - . . 1481
Jalal-ud-din Fath Shah . . . . 1481
Barbak the Eunuch, Sultan Shahzada . . 1486
Malik Indil, Firuz Shah . . . . 1486
Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shah II . . . 1489
SidI Badr, Shams-ud-din MuzafEar Shah . . 1490
606 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
KINGS OF BENGAL—confmMecJ.
Sayyid ‘Ala-ud-din Husain Shah ; . . 1493
Nasir-ud-din Nusrat Shah . . . .1518
‘Ala-ud-din Firuz Shah . . . . . 1633
Ghiyas-ud-(hn Mahmud Shah . . . 1633
Humajnun, Emperor of Delhi .... 1538
Sher Shah Sur 1539
Khizr Khan ...... 1540
Muhammad Khan Sur ..... 1545
Khizr Klhan, Bahadur Shah .... 1555
Ghiyas-ud-din Jalal Shah .... 1661
Son of preceding ...... 1564
Taj Khan Kararani . . . . .1564
Sulaiman Kararani . . . . .1572
Bayazid Khan Kararani . . . .1572
Daud Khan Kararani ..... 1572-1576
HOUSE OF ILIYAS
Haji Shams-ud-din Iliyas
i
Sikandar Shah
I
Ghiyag-ud-din A'zam Shah
I
Saif-ud-din Hamza
i
Shams-ud-din II
Shihab-ud-din
Bayazid
Firuz
Nasir-ud-dIn Mahmud Shah I
Rulm-ud-dln Barbak
Shah
Shams-ud-din
Yusuf Shah
Sikandar Shah II
Jalal- ud-din
Fath Shah
Nasir-ud-din
Mahmud II
SAYYID KINGS OF BENGAL
Asraf
Ala-ud-din Husain
Nusrat Shah
I
Ala-ud-din Firuz
Mahmiid Shah
!
Daughter = Khizr Khan
kararAni dynasty
Jamal
I
Taj Khan
I
Sulaiman
I
Iliyas
Bayazid
BAHMANI KINGS OF THE DECCAN
608
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
RANAS of MEWAR (From Ari Simha)
Ari Simha
I
Hartur or Hammira I
I
Kshetra (Kheta) Simha
Laksha (Lakha)
J
I
Chunda
Mokala
I
Rana Sri Kumbhakarna Sarvabhauma
1430-1469
TJdaya Karan Rajmalla (Rayamalla)
1469-1474 1474-1608
I
i
Prithviraja
Banbir
1536-1537
Sangrama (Sanga) X
1509-1527
Ratna Simha
1627-1532
Bilcramajit
1632-1636
TJdaya Simha
(Udayapur)
1537-1572
I
Pratapa Simha 1
1672-1697
I
Amara Simha I
1597-1620
Karan
1620-1628
Jagat Simha I
1628-1652
I
Raja Simha I
1652-1680
l._„.
Bhim Simha Jay Simha
1680-1698
I
Amar Simha II
1699-1711
I
Sangrama Simha H
1711-1734
1
GENEALOGICAL TABLES TO PART II
RAnAS of me war (From Ari Sinoha) — contd.
609
Jagat Simiha II
1734:-1761
I
Pratapa Simha II
1762-1754
Raja Simha II
1754-1761
Ari Simha II
1761-1773
J
Haimr II
1773-1778
BhJm Simha
1778-1828
I
Fateh Simha
1884-1930
1
Bhopal Simha
Princess lirishna
1
Jawan Simha
1828-1838
Sardar Simha (adopted)
1838-1842
Sarup Simha (brother, adopted)
1842-1861
Sambhu (nephew, adopted)
1861-1874
Snjjan Simha (first cousin)
1874-1884
yAdavas of VIJAYANAGAR
il
i I I I
Kampana Bukica I Marappa Muddapa
I Sangama II
Daughter = ? Sister’s
son of Ballala III
1 i I I “I
Malladevi = Harihara II Kumara Vira- Bhaskara Mallinatha
I Kampana Viruppana
1 I
J Jammana
__ j .
Bukka II Virupaksha Deva Raya I
!___
Vira Vijaya
I
7 Daughter == Firuz Bahmani
Deva Raya II Pratap Deva Raya I
Mallikarjuna (Praudha Immadi Deva Raya, 7 Pina Rao) Virupaksha 11
Praudha Deva
610
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
TULUVA AISTD ARAVIDU KINGS OF VIJAYANAGAR, etc.
Timma
1
Isvara
I
Narasa
I
Vira
Narasimha
Krislinadeva
Rava
Ranga I Achyuta,
(Aravidu Family) (brother-in-law
' of Timma)
Venhata I
Ranga
I .
Sadasiva
? daughter = Rama Tirumala
I (Penugonda)
Ranga TV
________ I
Pedda Venkata Chinna Venkata
Ranga VI
I
Venkatadri
i
Ranga V
I
Gopala
Raghu
I
Ranga II
Verikata II
(Penugonda, Vellore
and Chandragiri)
Ranga III
Rama
612
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
TIMCRlD DYNASTY— THE FIRST SIX RULERS
So-called “Barlas Turks”, "Chaghatai Gurgani”, or Mugiiul Emperors
I. Zahir-ud-dln, Babur
d. 1530
!
II. Muhammad Humayun Kamran Hindal ‘As
d. 1556
III. Jalal-ud-din Akbar Mirza Hakim
d. 1605
IV. Nur-ud-din Muhammad, Murad Daniyal
Jahangir, (Salim),
d. 1627
Khusrav Parwez V. Khurram Shihab-ud-din Shaliryar
Muhammad, Shah Jahan,
deposed 1658,
died 1666.
Uara Shukoh Shuja VI. Muhi-ud-din Murad
Muhammad Aurangzeb,
‘Alamgir, d. 1707
6U
AN AD\rANGED HISTORY OF INDIA
BHONSLAS (CHHATBAPATI)
Maloji (claims descent from the Royal
House of Mewar).
Yadavas of Devagiri
Lukhji Jadhav
Jija Bai = Shahji
yhambhuji
(died at Kanakagiri)
Vyankoji
or Ekoji
(Tanjore)
^ 1
Sai Bai = Shivaji I = Soyra Bai
fesu Bai = ShambhujI I i
I Tara Bai == Rajaram = Rajas Bai
Shahu I (Shivaji II) | !
I Shivaji III Shambhuji II
Ram Raja ! (Kolhapur)
j Ram E.aja I
1 (adopted by Shahu) j
Shahli II (adopted) Shivaji IV
1
I
Pratapa Singh Shahji Raja
Shahaji
1
Shivaji V
Rajaram II
i
Shivaji VI
1
Shahu
Chhatrapati
GENEALOGICAL TABLES TO PART II
615
THE PESHWAS
Viswanath
I
I. Balaji Viswanath (1713)
I
II. Baji Bao I (1720)
J
Chimnaji Appa
III. Balaji Baji Rao (1740)
n
Vishwas Rao IV. Madhava Rao V. Narayan Rao
Ballal (1761) (1772)
I
VII. MadJiava Rao
Narayan (1774)
I
VI. Ragliunath Rao
(Raghoba)
(1773)
1 i . J.. - -
Amrita Rao IX. Baji Rao II VIII. Chimnaji Appa
(adopted) (1796-1818) (1796)
Vinayak Rao
Nana Saheb
(adopted)
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART II, BOOK I
General :
1. Cambridge History of India, Vol. III.
2. Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum, Vol. II —
H. Nelson Wright.
3. Historical Inscriptions of Southern India — Sewell and
Aiyangar.
4. Medieval India — Ishwari Prasad.
5. Medieval India under Muhammadan Rule — Lane-Poole.
6. Oxford History of India — ^V. A. Smith.
Chapter I
1. A1 Biruni’s India — Sachau. (Trubner’s Oriental Series.)
2. Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi — Edward Thomas.
London, 1871.
3. Ferishta — ^Briggs.
4. History of India as told by its own Historians, Vols. I and
II (Chachnamah, Al-Biladuri, Ma'sudi and Ta’rikh-i-
Yamini by Al-’Utbi).~H. M. Elliot and J. Dowson.
5. Mihiran of Sind and its Tributaries, in Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal, 1892 — ^Major H. G. Raverty.
6. Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh — ‘Abdul Qadir Badauni. English
translation of Vol. I by Lt. -Colonel G. S. A. Ranking.
7. Tabaqat-i-Nasiri — ^MinhaJ-ud-din Siraj. English translation
by Major H. G. Raverty.
8. The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India — A. B. M. Habibullah.
Chapter II
1. Nos. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 of Chapter I.
2. Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica, 1911-12.
3. Taj-ul-Ma’asir — Hasan-un-Nizami. Elliot and Dowson,
Vol. III.
4. History of Bengal. — Stewart.
5. Indian Historical Quarterly, March, 1937.
6. Riyaz-us-salatin — Ghulam Husain Salim (English transla-
tion).
618
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
7. Ta’rikh-i-Firuz Shahi — Zia-ud-din Barni (Bibliotheca Indica
series of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, 1862,
and Elliot and Dowson, VoL III).
Cha'pter III
1. Nos. 6 and 7 of Chapter II.
2. Amir Khusrav, Ta’rikh-i-’Alai — EUiot and Dowson, Vol.TIl.
3. Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi — ^Thomas.
4. Elliot and Dowson, Vol. IV.
5. Historic Landmarks of the Deccan, 1907 — Major T. W. Haig.
6. Historical Inscriptions of Southern India — Sewell and
Aiyangar.
7. Journal of Indian History, 1929.
8. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1875.
9. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1895.
10. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1909.
11. South India and Her Muhammadan Invaders — S. K.
Aiyangar.
11a. The Khaljis— K. S. Lai.
12. Ta’rikh-i-Eiruz Shahi — Shams-i-Siraj ’Afif. (Kliudabakhsh
Library copy). It is a continuation of Barm’s work
carried down to a.d. 1388.
13. Ta’rikh-i-Mubarak Shahi (English translation of Sir J. N.
Sarkar’s copy by Prof. K. K. Basu).
14. Travels of Ibn Batutah (French edition by C. Defremery
and B. R. Sanguinetti, Vol. III).
15. Travels of Marco Polo — ^Yule.
16. Taziyat-ul-Amsar — ^Wassaf. Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III.
Chapter IV
Same as Bibliography to Chapter III and
1. Calcutta Review, 1874.
2. Eatuhat-i-Eiruz-Shahi— Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III.
3. History of the Qaraunah Turks— Ishwari Prasad.
4. Indian Culture, July 1938.
5. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1874.
6. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1922.
Chapter V
1. The First Afghan Empire in India — A. B. Pandey.
Bengal.
1. Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi — Thomas.
2. Coins and Chronology of the Early Independent Sultans of
Bengal— Nahni Kanta Bhattasali.
619
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART II, BOOK I
3. Dacca Review, 1915.
4. History of Bengal — Stewart.
5. History of Bengal, Part II — ^R. D. Banerjee.
6. Ibn Batutah, Vol. III.
7. Initial Coinage of Bengal — ^Thomas.
8. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1872 and 1873.
9. Riyaz-us-salatin — Ghulam Husain Salim (English translation).
10. Ta’rikh-i-Firuz Shahi — ^Bami.
11. Ta’rikh-i-Firuz Shahi — Shams-i-Siraj * Af Tf.
Independent Sultanates in Nm'them and Western India.
1. Ah Arabic History of Gujarat : Text edited by Sir B. Denison
Ross, Vol. I, 1910, and Vol. II, 1921.
2. Ferishta — ^Briggs.
3. Local Muhammadan Dynasties of Gujarat, Mirat-i-Sikan-
dari — Bayley.
4. Muhammadan Kings of Kashmir, in Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society, 1918 — ^Wolseley Haig.
5. Square Silver Coins of the Sultans of Kashmir, in Journal
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1885 — C. J. Rogers.
6. Ta’rikh-i-Rashidi — Mirza Haidar, translated by Sir E. Denison
Ross, with commentary, notes and map by Key Elias.
7. History of Kashmir — Mohibul Hasan Khan.
8. Journal of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, Vol. XXI.
Khdndesh and the Bdhmanl Kingdom,.
1. Ferishta — Briggs.
2. Historic Landmarks of the Deccan — ^Major T. W. Haig.
3. Indian Antiquary, 1899,
4. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1904.
5. Journal of Indian History, April, 1937.
Vigayanagar.
1. Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagar — H. Heras.
2. Archaeological Survey Report, 1907-8, 1908-9, 1911-12.
3. Beginnings of Vijayanagar— H. Heras.
4. Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts in the Bombay Presi-
dency— J. F. Fleet.
5. Elliot and Dowson, Vol. IV.
6. Ferishta— Briggs.
7. A Forgotten Empire — R, Sewell.
8. Hampi Ruins — A. H, Longhurst.
9. History of Tinnevelly — Dr. Caldwell.
620
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
10. Historical Inscriptions of Southern India — R. Sewell and
S. K. Aiyangar.
11. Indian Antiquary, Nov.-Dee., 1932.
12. Indian Historical Quarterly, June, 1937.
13. Inscriptions of this period in: (i) The Epigraphia Indica;
(ii) The Epigraphia Camatica; (ui) Nellore Inscriptions
by Messrs. Butterworth and Venugopal Chetti.
14. Journal of Indian History, 1927 and 1930.
15. Krishnadeva Raya of Vijayanagar — S. K. Aiyangar.
16. Little Known Chapter of Vijayanagar History — S. K.
Aiyangar.
17. Mysore and Coorg from Inscriptions — B. L. Rice.
18. Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagar Empire, Vols.
I and II — B. A. Saletore.
19. Sources of Vijayanagar History — S. K Aiyangar.
20. South India and Her Muhammadan Invaders — S. K.
Aiyangar.
21. Vijayanagar — Origin of the City and Empire — N. Venkata
Ramanayya.
22. Vijayanagar Sexcentenary Commemoration Volume.
Orissa, Mewdr, Nepal, Kdmarupa.
1. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan — ^Tod (Crooke’s
edition).
2. Dynastic History of Northern India — ^H. C. Ray.
3. History of Assam — ^E. A. Gait.
4. History of Orissa — R. D. Banerjee.
5. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1900.
6. Mughal North-East Frontier Policy — S. N. Bhattacharya.
Administration. Chapter VI
1. Aspects of Muslim Administration — R. S. Tripathi.
2. Gunpowder Artillery in the reign of Iltutmish, in Journal
of Indian History, 1936.
3. Ibn Batutah, Vol. IH.
4. Indian Historical Quarterly, June, 1935, and September, 1937.
5. Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (a.d. 1200-
1550) in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1935,
Letters, Vol. I, No 2. — ^Kunwar Muhammad Ashraf.
6. Mechanical Artillery in Medieval India, in Journal of Indian
History, 1936.
7. Organisation of the Central Government under the Turkish
Sultans of Delhi, in Journal of Indian History, 1935.
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART II, BOOK I 621
8. Procedure of Succession to the Sultanate of Delhi, in Journal
of Indian History, 1936.
9. Travels of Marco Polo — ^Yule.
Social and Economic Conditions.
1. Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (a.d. 1200-
1550) — Kunwar Muhammad Ashraf.
Culture and Art.
1. Ancient and Medieval Architecture in India — E. B. Havell.
2. Archaeology and Monumental Remains of India — Carr
Stephen.
3. Conversion and Re-conversion to Hinduism during Muslim
Rule, in the Calcutta Review, 1934.
4. Development of Cultural Relations between Hindus and
Muslims, in the Calcutta Review, 1935.
5. Early Indo-Persian Literature and Amir Khusrav, in the
Calcutta Review, 1935.
6. Gaur: Its Ruins and Inscriptions — J. H. Ravenshaw.
7. History of Bengali Language and Literature — D. C. Sen.
8. History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon — N. A. Smith.
9. History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, Vols. I and II —
J. Fergusson.
10. Hundred Poems of Kabir — ^Tagore.
11. Indian Architecture — E. B. Havell.
12. Influence of Islam on Indian Culture — ^Tara Chand.
13. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1920.
14. Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (a.d. 1200-
1550) — ^Kunwar Muhammad Ashraf.
15. Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan — Sir George
Grierson.
16. Outlme of the Religious Literature of India — Farquhar.
17. Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule
by Muhammadans — ^N. N. Law.
18. Reports of the Archaeological Survey of India and of different
States.
19. Sharqi Architecture of Jaunpur — ^A. Fuhrer.
20. Sikh Religion — ^MacauHffe.
21. Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagar Empire — Saletore.
22. Textbook of Modern Indian History — Sarkar and Datta.
23. Theism in Medieval India — Carpenter.
24. Vaishnavism and Saivaism — ^Bhandarkar.
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART II, BOOK II
Chapter 1
A. General:
1. Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi — Thomas.
2. Date and Place of Sher Shah’s Birth, in the Journal of the
Bihar and Orissa Research Society, 1934.
3. Date of Sher Shah’s Accession, in the Islamic Review, 1936.
4. An Empire-Builder of the Sixteenth Century — ^L. F. Rushbrook
Williams.
5. Historical Inscriptions of Southern India — Sewell and
Aiyangar.
6. History of India under Babur and Humayun — Erskine.
7. Sher Shah — ^K. R. Qanungo.
Special ;
1. Akbarnamah — ^Abul Fazl. English translation by H.
Beveridge. Vols. I and II, with Elliot and Dowson-
Vol. VI, pp. 1-102.
2. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan — ^Tod (Crooke’s
edition).
3. Ferishta. English Translation by Briggs.
4. History of Bengal — Stewart.
5. Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh — Sujan Rai.
6. Life and Memoirs of Gulbadan Begum: Translation by
Mrs. A. S. Beveridge.
7. Makhzan-i-Afghana — ^Ni‘matullah. Translated by B. Dorn
in History of the Afghans, 1829.
8. Memoirs of Babur: Translation by Mrs. A. S. Beveridge.
9. Memoirs of Jahaur : Translation by Stewart.
10. Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh — ‘Abdul Qadir of Badauni, VoL I.
English translation by Ranking and Lowe.
11. Riyaz-us-salatin — Ghulam Husain Salim (English trans-
lation).
Chapters II-IV and Chapters VI-VIIl
A. General:
1. Akbar the Great Moghul— Smith.
2. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan — ^Tod (Crooke’s edition).
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART II, BOOK II 623 1 1
3. Army of the Indian Moghuls ; Its Organisation and Adminis- |
tration — ^William Irvine. ; |
4. Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV. ' !
5. Dara Shiikoh — K. R. Qanungo. *
6. Emperor Akbar — ^Von Noer.
7. Evolution of Khalsa — ^I. Banerjee. , i
8. History of Aurangzeb, Vols. I-V— Sarkar. I i
9. History of Indian and Eastern Architecture — James Eergusson. j
10. History of Jahangir — ^Beni Prasad. f
11. History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon — ^V. A. Smith. i
12. History of the Great Moghuls, Vols. I and II — ^Kennedy. 1
13. History of the Sikhs — Cunningham. j
14. Indian Sculpture and Painting — E. B. Havell. J
15. India at the Death of Akbar — ^Moreland.
16. India from Akbar to Aurangzeb — ^Moreland.
17. Jahangir — Gladwin.
18. Journal of Indian History, 1928 and 1930.
19. Main Currents of Maratha History — Sardesai,
20. Mediaeval India — ^Lane-Poole.
21. Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan — Sir George
Grierson.
22. Mughul Administration — Sarkar.
23. Mughul Rule in India — ^Edwardes and Garret.
24. Oxford History of India — ^Smith.
26. Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule-
Law,
26. Rise of the Maratha Power, Vol. I — ^Ranade.
27. Shiva Chhatrapati — Sen.
28. Shivaji and His Times — Sarkar.
29. Shivaji the Maratha — ^Rawlinson.
30. Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors—
Macaulifife.
31. Studies in Mughul India — Sarkar.
32. Textbook of Modern Indian History — Sarkar and Datta.
33. Theism in Medieval India — ^Carpenter.
B. Special: — Indian Sources.
1. Ain-i-Akbari — ^Abul Fazl. Translated by Blochmann and
Jarrett and published by A.S.B.
2. Akbarnamah — ^Abul Fazl. Translated into English by
Beveridge and published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
3. Muntakhab-ul-Lubab — ^Khafi Khan. Published by the
Asiatic Society of Bengal in Bibliotheca Indica Series in
624
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1869. Portions dealing with the reigns of Aurangzeb and
his successors are translated in Elliot, Vol. VII, pp. 211-
533.
4. Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh — ‘Abdul Qadir Badauni. Trans-
lated into English by Ranking and Lowe and published
by the A.S.B.
5. ‘ Padshahnamah ’ — ‘Abdul Hamid Lahori. Published by
the A.S.B. in the Bibhotheca Indica Series in two volumes
and partly translated in EUiot, Vol. VII, pp. 5-72,
6. The TaTikh-i-Eirishta, or Eirishta’s History. Translated into
English by Briggs under title ‘History of the Rise of the
Muhammadan Power in India,’ in 1829. Reprinted by
Cambray and Co., Calcutta, 1908.
7. The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri. Translated by Rogers, edited by
H. Beveridge, 2 vols. (R.A.S., London).
C. Contemporary Jesuit Accounts, European Travellers and
Factors :
1. De Laet: ‘De Imperio Magni Mogolis, sive India Vera,
Commentariusex variis Auctoribus congestus ’ (vide Calcutta
Review, October 1870, January 1871, July 1873, and Indian
Antiquary, November 1914). English translation by
Hoyland (Taraporevala).
2. E, D. Maclagan’s article, entitled ‘Jesuit Missions to the
Emperor Akbar’ in J.A.S.B., Part I, Vol. LXV, 1896,
pp. 38-113. Also a new volume published by Burns and
Oates in 1932.
3. Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the Court of the Great
Moghul, 1615-1619, as narrated in his Journal and Corres-
pondence. Edited by Sir William Eorster and published
by the Hakluyt Society.
4. Jahangir’s India (The Remonstrantie of E. Pelsaert).
Translated from the Dutch by Moreland and Geyl.
5. Monserrate: ‘Mongohcae Legationis Commentarius.’ Edited
by Father Hosten and published in Memoirs of the A.S.B,,
Vol. Ill, No. 9, pp. 508-704, English translation by
Hoyland with notes by Banerji.
6. Narrative of Eitch, who left England in 1583 and returned
in 1591.
7. Storia do Mogor, or Moghul India (1653-1708) — Manucci.
Translated by WiUiam Irvine.
8. Travels in India— Tavernier.
9. Travels in the Moghul Empire (1050-lG0S)~Bernier.
625
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART II, BOOK II
10. Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667.
Edited by Sir R. Temple. Published by the Hakluyt
Society, VoL II.
11. Voyages — Hawkins. Purchas: His Pilgrimes, Vol. Ill, pp.
1-50, and Poster, Early Travels in India.
12, Voyages and Travels of John Albert de Mandelslo . . . into
the East Indies. Revised and translated by John Davis,
London, 1669 (vide J.R.A.S., April, 1915).
13, Voyage to East India — Terry (1616-19).
Chapter F
General ;
1. Fall of the Moghul Empire — Keene.
2. Fall of the Moghul Empire — Owen.
3. Pall of the Mughal Empire, Vols. I, II, & III— J. N. Sarkar.
4. Fii'st Two Nawabs of Oudli — ^A. L, Srivastava.
5. History of the Jats, Vol. I — ^K, R. Qamlngo,
6. Later Moghuls, two volumes — Irvine.
7. Muhammadan India, Bk. VI, Ch. 7 — Smith.
8. Nadir Shah — Frazer.
9. New History of the Marathas — G. S. Sardesai.
10. Rise of the Peshwas — H. N. Sinha.
1 1 . Rise of the Sikh Power — N. K. Sinha.
Special : —
1. Aimals and Antiquities of Rajasthan — Tod (Crooke’s edn.).
2. Shahnamah-i-Bahadur Shah — Danishmand Khan. Elliot and
Dowson, Vol. VII.
3. Bayan-i-Waqai’ — EJiwaja ‘Abdul Karim (Kujhua Wakf
Library, Saran). An English translation, wanting the
first chapter and the later additions of the author, was
published by Gladwin under the title of ‘Memoirs of
Khojeh Abdul Kerim’ (Cal, 1788; a copy of this is pre-
served in the Imperial Library, Calcutta). A fuller trans-
lation was made by Lt. H. G. Pritchard for Sir H. M.
Elliot, and is now preserved in MS. (Br. Mus., Addl. 30782),
4. History of Bengal— Stewart.
5. History of the Mahrattas — Duff.
6. History of the Sikhs — Cunningham.
7. ‘Ibratnamah — Md. Qasim Lahori, Elliot and Dowson,
Vol. VII.
8. India Tracts (Trans, of a Persian MS.) (Lond., 1788) — Major
James Browne.
626 AM ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
9. Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh— Kalyan Singh (Khudabakhsh Li-
brary, Patna).
10. Memoir of Central India — ^Malcolm.
11. Muntakhab-ul-Lubab— lOiafi Khan (Bib. Ind., Calcutta
1869). EUiot and Dowson, Vol. VII.
12. Muzaffarnamah (Khudabakhsh Library, Patna).
13. Riyaz-us-salatin— Ghulam Husain Salim (English trails-
lation) .
14. Siyar-ul-Mutakherin — Ghulani Husain. English translation
by Haji Mustafa: Cambray’s Edition, four volumes.
PART III
MODERN INDIA
Book I
THE RISE AND GROWTH OP THE BRITISH POWER
D ihu
)?muz
Macao
- (P0rt.h
(Port)
Bombay'
PHILIPPINE'
.VtJAYjJ
ISLANDS
/Madras
'Pondicherry
.Soootra
(Port)
Calic^
■ CEYLON
Colombof
(Port.)
lalacca
yport)
BORNEO
.UMATRiW
^atindi (Port.)
Mom^
(Port)
JAVA
MEDIAEVAL INDIA
AND THE WEST
St, Helena^
(Port)
JM^®scar
Equatorial Scale
0 100 200 300 400 500 Miles
AUSTRALIA
Ottoman Empire
Portuguese possessions
Vasco da Gama's voyage to India
Tristan da Qunha
Trade routes closed by Turkish & Portuguese wars
Meridian 0° of Greenwich
Loogttljtde 60“ East
CHAPTER I
A.DVBNT OF THE EHKOPBANS
Forbighees could enter India mainly thxougli two routes — the
well-known land-route across the north-west frontier and the
sea-route. The Muslims from Ghazni and Ghur, Samarqand and
Kabul invaded this country through the land-route. The Mughul
Empire took care to maintain a large standing army to buttress
its authority ; but it failed to realise the importance of guarding
the sea- coast by building a strong navy, which, among the Indian
powers of modern times, the Marathas alone tried to do. Evidently
the Mughuls did not aspire to rule the sea, across which came
to India the European trading nations, who ultimately gave a
new turn to the history of this land.
India had commercial relations with the countries of the West
from time immemorial. But from the seventh century a.d, her
sea-borne trade passed into the hands of the Arabs, who began
to dominate the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. It was from
them that the enterprising merchants of Venice and Genoa
purchased Indian goods. The geographical discoveries of the last
quarter of the fifteenth century deeply afiected the commercial
relations of the different countries of the world and produced far-
reaching consequences in their history. Bartholomew Diaz doubled
the Cape of Good Hope, or the Stormy Cape, as he called it, m
1487 ; and Vasco da Gama found out a new route to India and
reached the famous port of Calicut on the 27th May, 1498. “Perhaps
no event during the Middle Ages had such far-reaching repercussions
on the civilised world as the opening of the sea-route to India.”
1 . The Portuguese
The discoveries of Vasco da Gama, who received friendly treat-
ment from the Hindu ruler of Calicut bearing the hereditary title
of Zamorin, brought the merchants of Portugal, who had always
coveted the advantages of eastern trade, into direct maritime
touch with India and opened the way for their commercial relations
with her. On the 9th March, 1600, Pedro Alvarez Cabral sailed
631
632
AH ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
out from Lisbon to India in command of a fleet of thirteen vessels.
Rut the Portuguese, instead of confining themselves within the
limits of legitimate trade, became unduly ambitious to establish
their supremacy in the eastern seas by forcibly depriving the
merchants of other nations of the benefits of their commerce,
and molesting them. This inevitably brought them into hostilities
with the ruler of Calicut, whose prosperity was largely dependent
on Arab merchants. The Portuguese on their side began to
take part in the political intrigues among the States of Peninsular
India and entered into alliances with the enemies of the ruler of
Calicut, the chief of whom was the ruler of Cochin.
It was Alfonso de Albuquerque who laid the real foundation of
Portuguese power in India. He first came to India in 1503 as the
commander of a squadron, and the record of his naval activities
being satisfactory, was appointed Governor of Portuguese affairs
in India in 1509. In November, 1510, he captured the rich port of
Goa, then belonging to the Bijapur Sultanate, and during his
rule did his best to strengthen the fortifications of the city
and increase its commercial importance. With a view to securing
a permanent Portuguese population, he encouraged his fellow-
countrymen to marry Indian wives; but one serious drawback
to his policy was his bitter persecution of the Muslims. The
interests of the Portuguese were, however, faithfully served
by him, and when he died in 1515 they were left as the strongest
naval power in India with domination over the west coast.
A number of important Portuguese settlements were gradually
established near the sea by the successors of Albuquerque. These
were Diu, Daman, Salsette, Bassein, Chaul and Bombay, San
Thome near Madras and Hugh in Bengal. Their authority also
extended over the major part of Ceylon. But in course of time
they lost most of these places with the exception of Diu, Daman
and Goa, which they stiU retain. We have already noted how
Qasim Khan captured Hugh during the reign of Shah Jahan, and
the Marathas captured Salsette and Bassein in a.d. 1739.
Though the earhest “intruder into the East”, the Portuguese
lost their influence in the sphere of Indian trade by the eighteenth
century. Many of them took to robbery and piracy, though a few
adopted more honourable careers. Several causes led to their
dechne. Firstly, their reHgious intolerance provoked the hostility'
of the Indian .powers, which became too strong for them to over-
come. Secondly, their clandestine practices in trade ultimately
went against them. Thirdly, the discovery of Brazil drew the
colonising activities of Portugal to the West. Lastly, they failed
ADVENT OE THE EUROPEANS 633
to compete successfully with the other European Companies,
who had come in their wake. These were jealous of the prosperity
of Portugal due to her eastern trade and would not accept her
policy of exclusion and extravagant claims, though these were
based on priority of occupation and a Papal Bull.
In A.D. 1600 the English East India Company secured a royal
charter granting them “the monopoly of commerce in eastern
waters”. The United East India Company of the Netherlands
was incorpTorated for trading in the East by a charter granted by
the Dutch States General on the 20th March, 1602, which also
empowered the said Company to make war, conclude treaties,
acquire territories and build fortresses. It was thus made “a great
instrument of war and conquest”. The Danes came in A.D. 1616.
The French East India Company, sponsored by the famous French
statesman Colbert and formed under State patronage in a.d. 1664,
was destined to have an important career in the East. The Ostend
Company, organised by the merchants of Flanders and formally
chartered in a.d. 1722, had but a brief career in India. A
Swedish East India Company was formed in a.d. 1731, but its
trade was confined almost exclusively to Chma. A bitter contest
among these trading companies was inevitable, as the object of
their ambition was the same. Their designs of territorial expansion
increased the bitterness of their commercial rivaby. There was
a triangular contest during the first half of the seventeenth
century — between the Portuguese and the Dutch, between the
Portuguese and the English, and between the Dutch and the
English. The Dutch opposition to the growth of English influence
in India finally collapsed owing to the former’s defeat at the battle
of Bedara (Bidorra) in a.d. 1759, but the Anglo-French hostility that
had begun in the meanwhile continued throughout the eighteenth
century.
2 . The Dutch
In 1605 the Dutch captured Amboyna from the Portuguese
and gradually established their influence at the cost of the latter
in the Spice Islands. They conquered Jacatra and established
Batavia on its ruins in 1619, blockaded Goa in 1639, captured
Malacca in 1641 and got pos.session of the last Portuguese settle-
ment in Ceylon in 1658. The Dutch came to the islands of Sumatra,
Java and the Moluccas, attracted by the lucrative trade in pepper
and spices, with which those islands abounded, so that “the
Archipelago was not only the strategic and administrative centre
of their system, it was also their economic centre”.
634 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Commercial interests drew the Dutch also to India, where they
established factories in Gujarat, on the Coromandel Coast and in
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, entering deep into the interior of the
lower Ganges vaUey. The more important of their factories in India
were atPuhcat (1610), Surat (1616), Chinsura (1663), Cassimbazar,
Baranagore, Patna, Balasore, Negapatam (1659) and Cochin (1663).
By supplanting the Portuguese, the Dutch practically maintained
a monopoly of the spice trade in the East throughout the seventeenth
cenijury. They also became the carriers of trade between India
and the islands of the Ear East, thus reviving a very old connection
maintained in the palmy days of the Vijayanagar Empire. At Surat
the Dutch were supplied with large quantities of indigo, manu-
factured in Central India and the Jumna valley, and from Bengal,
Bihar, Gujarat and Coromandel they exported raw silk, textiles,
saltpetre, rice and Gangetic opium.
The Spanish and Portuguese Crowns remained united from a.d.
1580 to 1640. England concluded peace with Spain in a.d. 1604;
but the English and the Portuguese became rivals of each other
in the eastern trade. By allying themselves with the Shah of
Persia, the English captured Ormuz in the Persian Gulf from the
Portuguese in a.d. 1622 and obtained permission to settle in
Gombroon and take half the customs dues. From this time, how-
ever, Portuguese rivalry began to be less acute. The treaty of
Madrid, concluded in 1630, provided for the cessation of commercial
hostilities between the English and the Portuguese in the East,
and in 1634 Methold, the President of the English factory at
Surat, and the Portuguese Viceroy of Goa signed a convention,
which “actually guaranteed commercial inter-relations” between
the two nations in India. The growth of peaceful relations between
the English and the Portuguese was facilitated by the recovery
in A.D. 1640 of Portugal’s independence from the control of Spain,
the old enemy of England. The right of the English to the eastern
trade was recognised by the Portuguese in a treaty, dated July,
A.D. 1654; and another treaty, concluded in a.d. 1661, secured for
the Portuguese from Charles II, who received Bombay as a part of
the dowry of Catherine of Braganza, the promise of English support
against the Dutch in India. In fact, the English were no longer
faced with bitter commercial rivalry from the Portuguese in India,
who came to be too degenerate to pursue any consistent policy, though
individual Portuguese traders occasionally obstructed the collection of
investments by the English in their factories in the eighteenth century.
The Dutch rivalry with the English, during the seventeenth
century, was more bitter than that of the Portuguese. The policy
ADVENT OF THE EUROPEANS
635
of the Dutch in the East was influenced by two motives : one was
to take revenge on Catholic Spain, the foe of their independence,
and her ally Portugal, and the other was to colonise and establish
settlements in the East Indies with a view to monopolising commerce
in that region. They gained their hirst object by the gradual decline
of Portuguese influence, which we have already noted. The realisa-
tion of their second object brought them into bitter competition
with the English. In Europe also the relations between England
and Holland had been hostile under the Stuarts and CromweU,
owing to commercial rivalry, and the French alliance and pro-
Spanish policy of the Stuarts.
The naval supremacy of the Dutch and the negotiation of a
twenty-one years’ truce between Spain and Holland in 1609, by
freeing them from the danger of war in Europe and some restrictions
in the Spice Islands, encouraged the Dutch to oppose English
trade in the East Indies more vigorously than before. During
this period, the activities of the Dutch were mostly confined to
Java and the Archipelago. However, they established themselves
on the Coromandel Coast and fortified a factory at Pulicat in 1610,
to provide themselves with cotton goods for which a ready market
could be found in the Archipelago. Conferences held in London
and at the Hague (a.d. 1611 and 1613-1615) led to an amicable
settlement between the Dutch and the English. They came to
terms in a.d. 1619 but hostilities were renewed after two years,
and the cruel massacre of ten Englishmen and nine Japanese at
Amboyna in 1623 “marked the climax of Dutch hatred” of the
English in the Bast. Though the Dutch began to confine themselves
more to the Malay Archipelago and the English to India, the
former did not cease to be commercial rivals of the latter in India.
During the years 1672-1674 the Dutch frequently obstructed
communications between Surat and the new English settlement of
Bombay and captured three English vessels in the Bay of Bengal.
In 1698 the Dutch chief of Chinsura complained to Prince ‘Azim-us-
Shan, when he visited Burdwan, that while his company paid a
duty of 3| per cent on their trade, the English paid only Rs. 3,000
per annum, and asked that the Dutch might be granted the same
privilege as the English. The commercial rivalry of the Dutch and
the English remained acute till a.d. 1759.
3. The English East India Company
The completion of Drake’s voyage round the world in 1580,
and the victory of the English over the Spanish Armada, inspired
636 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the people of England with a spirit of daring and enterprise in
different spheres of activity and encouraged some English sea-
captains to undertake voyages to the eastern waters. Between 1591
and 1593 James Lancaster reached Cape Comorin and Penang ; in
1596 a fleet of vessels imder Benjamin Wood sailed eastwards;
and in 1599 John Mildenhall, a merchant adventurer of London,
came to India by the overland route and spent seven years in the
East. It was on the 31st December, 1600, that the first important
step towards England’s commercial prosperity was taken. On that
memorable day the East India Company received a charter from
Queen Elizabeth granting it the monopoly of eastern trade for
fifteen years. At first the Company dispatched “separate voyages”,
each fleet being sent by a group of subscribers, who divided among
themselves the profits of their trade, and it had to encounter
various difficulties. “It had to explore and map out the Indian
seas and coasts, it had painfully to work out a system of commerce,
to experiment with commodities and merchandise, to train and
discipline a staff of servants. It had to brave or conciliate the
hostility of England’s hereditary CathoKc enemy and her new
Protestant rival. Further, it had to establish a position even at
home . , . there was no active State support given to England’s
first essays in the East. The East India Company was cradled in
the chfily but invigorating atmosphere of individuahsm. It had
to cope with the lingering medieval prejudice against the export
of bullion and a fallacious theory of foreign trade.”
The early voyages of the English Company were directed to
Sumatra, Java and the Moluccas in order to get a share of the
spice trade. It was in 1608 that the first attempt was made to
establish factories in India. The Company sent Captain Hawkins
to India, and he reached the court of Jahangir in 1609. He was at
first well received by the Mughul Emperor, who expressed his
desire to permit the English to settle at Surat, for which Hawkins
had petitioned. But the hostile activities of the Portuguese, and the
opposition of the Surat merchants, led him to refuse the English
captain’s petition. Hawkins left Agra in 1611 and at Surat met
three English ships under the command of Sir Henry Middleton.
Middleton adopted a policy of reprisals against the Surat
merchants with regard to their Red Sea trade, which alarmed the
latter and led them to admit to Surat two English vessels under
Captain Best in 1612. The force sent by the Portuguese was
defeated by Best, and early in 1613 Jahangir issued a firman
pei’mitting the English to establish a factory permanently at
Surat. Soon the English Company sent an accredited ambassador
ADVENT OF THE EUROPEANS
637
of the King of England, James I, to the Mughul court with a view
to concluding a commercial treaty with the Emperor. The person
chosen was Sir Thomas Roe, who was “of pregnant understanding,
well spoken, learned, industrious, and of a comely personage”.
Roe remained constantly at Jahangir’s court from the end of 1615
till the end of 1618, and though certain factors prevented him
from concluding any definite commercial treaty vdth the Mughul
Emperor, he succeeded in securing several privileges for the Com-
pany, particularly the permission to erect factories in certain
places within the Empire. Before Roe left India in February,
1619, the English had established factories at Surat, Agra, Ahmad-
abad and Broach. All these were placed under the control of the
President and Council of the Surat factory, who bad also the
power to control the Company’s trade with the Red Sea ports
and Persia. English factories were also started at Broach and
Baroda with the object of purchasing at first hand the piece-goods
manufactured in the localities, and at Agra, in order to seU broad-
cloth to the officers of the imperial court and to buy indigo, the
best quality of which was manufactured at Biyana. In 1668
Bombay was transferred to the East India Company by Charles
II, who had got it from the Portuguese as a part of the dowry
of his wife Catherine of Braganza, at an annual rental of £10.
Bombay gradually grew more and more prosperous and became
so important that in 1687 it superseded Surat as the chief settle-
ment of the English on the west coast.
On the south-eastern coast the English had established a factory
at Masulipatam, the principal port of the kingdom of Golkunda,
in 1611 in order to purchase the locally woven piece-goods, which
they exported to Persia and Bantam, But being much troubled
there by the opposition of the Dutch and the frequent demands
of the local officials, they opened another factory in 1626 at
Armagaon, a few miles north of the Dutch settlement of Pulicat.
Here also they were put to various inconveniences, and so turned
their attention again to Masulipatam, and to their great advantage
the Sultan of Golkunda granted them the ^‘Golden Firman^’ in
A.D. 1632 by which they were allowed to trade freely in the ports
belonging to the kingdom of Golkunda on pajment of duties worth
500 pagodas a year. These terms were repeated in another firman of
A.i>. 1634;. But this did not relieve the English traders from the
demands of local officers and they looked for a more advantageous
place. In a.d. 1639 Francis Day obtained the lease of Madras from
the ruler of Chandragiri, representative of the ruined Vijayanagar
Empire, and built there a fortified factory which came to be known
638
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
as Fort St. George. Fort St. George soon superseded Masulipatam
as headquarters of the English settlements on the Coromandel
Coast.
The next stage in the growth of English influence was their
expansion in the north-east. Factories had been started at Hari-
harpur in the Mahanadi Delta and at Balasore in a.d. 1633. A
factory was established at Hugh, under Mr. Bridgeman, in 1651,
and soon others were opened at Patna and Cassimbazar. The
principal articles of the English trade in Bengal during this period
were silk, cotton piece-goods, saltpetre and sugar, but owing to
the irregular private trade of the factory the Company did not
derive much advantage before some time had elapsed. In 1658
all the settlements in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and on the Coro-
mandel Coast, were made subordinate to Fort St. George.
Owing to various reasons, the prospects of the Company’s trade
at Madras and Surat were not very bright during the first half of
the seventeenth century. But its misfortunes disappeared during
the second half of that century, owing to changes in the policy of
the home government. The charter granted by Cromwell in 1657
gave it fresh opportunities. The thirty years following the Restora-
tion of 1660 formed a period of expansion and prosperity. Both
Charles II and James II confirmed the old privileges of the Company
and extended its powers. At the same time, the establishment of
a permanent joint-stock backing greatly relieved the Company
of its past financial difficulties.
The Company’s policy in India also changed during this period.
A peaceful trading body was transformed into a power eager to
establish its own position by territorial acquisitions, largely in
view of the political disorders in the country. The long warfare
between the imperial forces, the Marathas and the other
Deccan states, the Maratha raids on Surat in 1664 and 1670,
the weak government of the Mughul viceroys in Bengal, which
became exposed to grave internal as well as external dangers,
the disturbances caused by the Malabar pirates and the consequent
necessity of defence made the change inevitable. Gerald Aungier,
successor of Sir George Oxenden as President at Surat and Governor
of Bombay since 1669, wrote to the Court of Directors that “the
times now require you to manage your general commerce with the
sword in your hands In the course of a few years the Directors
approved of this change in the Company’s policy and wrote to
the Chief at Madras in December, 1687, “to establish such a
politie of civil and military power, and create and secure such
a large revenue to secure both . . .as may be the foundation
ADVENT OF THE EUROPEANS
639
of a large, well grounded, secure English dominion in India for
aU time to come”. Sir Josiah Child, the dominant personality in
the affairs of the Company in the time of the later Stuarts, was
largely responsible for this new policy, though it did not actually
originate with him. In pursuance of it, in December, 1688, Sir John
CMld, his brother, blockaded Bombay and the Mughul ports on
the western coast, seized many Mughul vessels and sent his captain
to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf “to arrest the pilgrimage traffic
to Mecca”. But the English had underestimated the force of the
Mughul Empire, which was still very strong and could be effect-
ively exercised. Sir John Child at last appealed for pardon to
Aurangzeb, who granted it (February, 1690), and also a licence for
English trade when the English agreed to restore all the captured
Mughul ships and to pay one-and-a-half lacs of rupees in
compensation.
In Bengal, where the staples of commerce could not be purchased
near the coast but had to be procured from places lying far up the
waterways of the province, the Company was subject to payment
of fcoUs at numerous customs-posts and to vexatious demands by the
local officers. In 1651 Sultan Shuja issued a firman granting
the Company the privilege of trading in return for a fixed annual
payment of duties worth Rs. 3,000. Another nishdn, granted in
1666, laid down that “the factory of the English Company be no
more troubled with demands of customs for goods imported or
exported either by land or by water, nor that their goods be
opened and forced from them at under-rates in any places of
government by which they shall pass and repass up and down
the country; but that they buy and sell freely, and without
impediment”. But the successors of Sultan Shuja did not consider
the nishdn to be binding on them and demanded that the English,
in view of their increasing trade, should pay duties similar to
the other merchants. The Company procured a firman from
Shaista Khan in 1672 granting them exemption from the pay-
ment of duties, and the Emperor Aurangzeb issued a firman in
1680 ordering that none should molest the Company’s people for
customs or obstruct their trade, and that “of the English
nation, besides their usual custom of 2 per cent for their goods,
more 1^ jezia, or poll-money, shall be taken”. But in spite of
these firmans, the Company’s agents in aU places — ^Bombay,
Madras and Bengal — could not escape from the demands of the local
customs-officers and their goods were ocoasionaUy seized.
The Company at last decided to protect themselves by force,
for which they thought it necessary to have a fortified settlement
640 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
at Hxigli. Hostilities actually broke out between the Miighuls and
the English, on the sack of Hugh by the latter in October, 1686.
Hijli and the Mughul fortifications at Balasore were also stormed
by the English. The English were repulsed from Hugli, and abandon-
ing it went down the river to a fever-stricken island at the mouth
of the river, whence the wise English agent. Job Oharnock, opened
negotiations which ended in securing permission for the English
to return to Sutanuti in the autumn of 1687. But hostilities were
renewed in the next year when a fresh naval force was sent from
London, under Captain William Heath, with orders to seize Chitta-
gong. The commander, however, failed in his object and then
retired to Madras.
These rash and unwise actions on the part of the English stopped
when the President and Council of Bombay concluded a peace
with the Mughul Emperor in 1690. Job Charnock returned to
Bengal in August, 1690, and established an English factory at
Sutanuti. Thus was laid “the foundation of the future capital of
British India, the first step in the realisation of the half- conscious
prophecy of 1687”. Under the orders of the Mughul Emperor,
Ibrahim Khan, successor of Shaista Khan in the government of
Bengal, issued a firman in February, 1691, granting the English
exemption from the pajrment of customs-duties in return for
Rs. 3,000 a year. Owing to the rebellion of Sobha Singh, a zamindar
in the district of Burdwan, the English got an excuse to fortify
their new factory in 1696, and in 1698 they were granted the
zaminddri of the three villages of Sutanuti, Kalikata (Kalighata =
Calcutta) and Govindapur on payment of Rs. 1,200 to the previous
proprietors. In 1700 the English factories in Bengal were placed
under the separate control of a President and Council, established
in the new fortified settlement which was henceforth named Fort
William, Sh Charles Eyre being the first President of Fort William.
The position of the Company in its Bengal settlement was some-
what peculiar. It held Bombay on behalf of the English Crown,
no Indian prince having any jurisdiction there. At Madras its
powers were based on the acquiescence of the Indian rulers and
also on its English charters. “In Bengal this dual source of the
Company’s position was much more evident.” It owed its authority
over the English subjects here to English laws and charters ; but over
the Indian inhabitants it exercised authority as a zamindar.
The prosperity of the Company under Charles II and James II
roused the jealousy of its enemies who resented its monopoly of
trading privileges after the Revolution of 1688, which gave power
to the Whigs. The Whigs were opposed to a body of traders who
ADVENT OF THE EUROPEANS
641
had been in alliance with the old government. They lent assist-
ance to the interlopers, as the private traders were called. In 1694
the House of Commons passed a resolution to the effect that all
the subjects of England had an equal right to trade in India unless
prohibited by statute. In 1698 a Bill was passed into law
establishing a new Company on the lines of a regulated Company.
This new body came to be called the “General Society” and the
old Company joined it as a member from 1707 in order to preserve
the right of trading in India. About the same time a large number
of other subscribers were incorporated into another joint-stock
Company under the title of the “English Company of Merchants”.
In spite of financial embarrassments, the new Company became
indeed a serious rival of the old one, and sent Sir William Norris
as an ambassador to the court of Aurangzeb to secure trading
privileges for itself. But the mission ended in failure. Under
some pressure from the ministry, the two Companies resolved
upon amalgamation in 1702, which came into effect under the award
of the Earl of Godolphin in 1708-9. The two Companies were hence-
forth amalgamated under the title of “The United Company
of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies” and their
internecine quarrels stopped for ever. The legal monopoly of
the United Company remained untouched till a.d. 1793.
The expansion of the English East India Company’s trade and
influence in India during the first forty years of the eighteenth
century was quiet and gradual, in spite of the political disorders of
the period, which only created occasional, but not very serious,
hindrances for it and were easily overcome. The most important
event in the history of the Company during this period was its
embassy to the Mughul court in 1715, sent with a view to securing
privileges throughout Mughul India and some villages round
Calcutta. It was conducted from Calcutta by John Surman,
assisted by Edward Stephenson. William Hamilton accompanied
it as a surgeon and an Armenian named Khwaja Serhud as an
interpreter. Hamilton succeeded in curing the Emperor Earrukh-
siyar of a pain ful disease, and he, being thus pleased with the English,
issued firmmis complying with their request and directed the
governors of the provinces to observe them. The privilege enjoyed
by the English of trading in Bengal, free of all duties, subject
to the annual payment of Rs. 3,000 per annum, was confirmed ;
they w^ere permitted to rent additional territory round Calcutta ;
their old privilege of exemption from dues throughout the province
of Hyderabad was retained, they being required to pay only the
existing rent for Madras; they were exempted from the payment
642
A2^T ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of all customs and dues at Surat hitherto paid by them, in return
for an annual sum of Rs. 10 , 000 ; and the coins of the Company
minted at Bombay were allowed to have currency throughout
the Mughul dominions.
In Bengal, Murshid Quli Jafar Khan, a strong and able governor,
opposed the grant of the additional villages to the English, Still,
the other rights secured by tine firman of 1716-17 greatly furthered
their interests. It has been aptly described by Orme as the “Magna
Charta of the Company”. The trade of the Company in Bengal
gradually prospered, in spite of the occasional demands and
exactions of the local officials. The importance of Calcutta increased
so that it came to have a population of 100,000 by a.d. 1735, and
the Company’s shipping at the port during the ten years following
the embassy of 1716 amounted to ten thousand tons a year.
For about eighteen years after Farrukhsiyar’s firman, the trade
of the English Company on the western coast suffered from the
quarrels between the Marathas and the Portuguese, and the ravages
of the Maratha sea-captains, notably Kanhoji Angria, who dominated
the coast between Bombay and Goa from two strongholds, Gheria
(or Vijayadrug) and Suvarndrug. During the government of
Charles Boone from 1715 to 1722, a wall was built round Bombay
and armed ships of the Company were increased in order to defend
its factory and trade against hostile fleets. After these eighteen
years, the Company’s trade in Bombay began to increase, its
military strength was developed and Bombay had a population
of about 70,000 in a.d. 1744, though the Maratha sea-captains were
not finally crushed before 1767. The English concluded a treaty with
the Marathas in 1739, and in alliance with the Peshwa, launched
attacks against the Angrias. Suvarndrug was captured by Commo-
dore James in 1765 and in 1757 Clive and Watson captured their
capital, Gheria. At Madras also the English carried on a “peaceful
commerce”, being on “excellent terms” both with the Nawab of
the Carnatic and his overlord, the Subahdar of the Deccan. In
1717 they took possession of five towns near Madras which
Thomas Pitt, Governor of Madras from 1698 to 1709, had originally
obtained from the Nawab of the Carnatic in 1708, and in 1734
they also got Vepery and four other hamlets.
4 . The French East India Company and French Settlements
Though “the desire for eastern traffic displayed itself at a very
early period among the French”, they were the last of the European
powers to compete for commercial gams in the East with the other
643
ADVENT OF THE EUROPEANS
European Companies. Nevertheless leading Frenchmen like Hemy
IV, Richelieu and Colbert realised the importance of Eastern
commerce. At the instance of Colbert, the “Compagnie des
Indes Orientales” was formed in a.d. 1664. Though created and
financed by the State, the French Company’s first movements were
“neither well considered nor fortunate”, because its energies were
then frittered away in fruitless attempts to colonise Madagascar,
which had already been visited by Frenchmen. But in 1667 another
expedition started from France imder the command of Francois
Caron, who was accompanied by Marcara, a native of Ispahan.
The first French factory in India was estabhshed by Francois Caron
at Surat in a.d. 1668, and Marcara succeeded in establishing another
French factory at Masuhpatam in 1669 by obtaining a patent
from the Sultan of Golkunda. In 1672 the French seized San Thome,
close to Madras, but in the next year their admiral, De la Haye,
was defeated by a combined force of the Sultan of Golkunda and
the Dutch and was forced to capitulate and surrender San Thome
to the Dutch. Meanwhile, in 1673 Fran9ois Martin and Bellanger
de Lespinay, one of the volunteers who had accompanied Admiral
De la Haye, obtained a little village from the Muslim governor
of Valikondapuram. Thus the foundation of Pondicherry was laid
in a modest manner. Frangois Martin, who took charge of this
settlement from a.d. 1674, developed it into an important place,
through personal courage, perseverance and tact, “amid the clash
of arms and the clamour of falling kingdoms”. In Bengal, Nawab
Shaista Khan granted a site to the French in 1674, on which they
bunt the famous French factory of Chandernagore in 1690-1692.
The European rivalries between the Dutch (supported by the
English) and the French adversely influenced the position of the
French in India. Pondicherry was captmed by the Dutch in 1693
but was handed back to the French by the Treaty of Ryswick in
1697. Martin, again placed in charge of this settlement, restored its
prosperity so that it came to have a population of about 40,000 at
the time of his death in 1706 as compared with the 22,000 of Calcutta
in the same year. But the French lost their influence in other
places, and their factories at Bantam, Surat and Masulipatam were
abandoned by the beginning of the eighteenth ^ century. The
resources of the French Company were practically exhausted by
this time, and till 1720 it passed through very bad days, even
selling its licences to others. Of the five governors of Pondicherry
who held oflice from 1707 to 1720 none followed the strong and
wise policy of Martin. But with the reconstitution of the
Company, in June, 1720, as the “Perpetual Company of the
644 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Indies”, prosperity returned to it under the wise administration
of Lenoir and Dumas between 1720 and 1742. The French
occupied Mauritius in 1721, Mahe on the Malabar coast in 1725,
and Karikal in 1739. The objects of the French, during this
period, were, however, purely commercial. There “was nothing
in the conduct of Lenoir or Dumas that allows us to credit the
Company with political views and still less ideas of conquest ;
its factories were more or less fortified, but for motives of simple
security against the Dutch and the English; and although it
enlisted troops, it used them only for purposes of defence”. After
1742 political motives began to overshadow the desire for commercial
gain and Dupleix began to cherish the ambition of a French Empire
in India, which bemg challenged by the English opened a new
chapter in Indian history.
CRAPTETl II
RISE OF THE BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
I. The English and the French : The First Carnatic War
Fob nearly twenty years the Carnatic — ^the name given by the
Europeans to the Coromandel Coast and its hinterland — became the
scene of a long-drawn contest between the French and the English,
which led to the ultimate overthrow of the French power in India.
It had its repercussions also in Bengal which produced unexi^ected
and momentous results. In the light of later events, we may justly
regard this struggle as having decided once for aU that the English
and not the French were to become masters of India. For these
reasons the Carnatic war has attained a celebrity in history which
is not fuUy justified either by the immediate issues involved or by
the incidents of the war itself.
In order to understand fuUy the nature of the struggle, we have
to keep in view not only the position of the English and French
Companies in India and the relations of the two nations in Europe,
but also the prevailing political conditions in the Deccan and the
somewhat uncertain relationship subsisting between the English
and French merchants on the one hand and the local Indian powers
on the other. All these important factors shaped the course of
events as they developed from a petty struggle for privileges of
trade into a bold bid for the empire of the Mughuls.
As has already been noted, Madras and Pondicherry were
the chief trading stations of the English and the French on the
Coromandel Coast. Each of these was a fortified city with about
500 Europeans and 25,000 Indians. The English also possessed
in addition the Fort of St. David, a little to the south of Pondi-
cherry. All three cities were situated on the sea-coast and
depended for their safety and fresh supplies of resources from home
upon the command of the sea. This aspect was not indeed fully
realised at first, but its importance was gradually revealed. It
put both the English and the French on a vantage-ground in
respect of the local authorities, who had no navy, and ultimately
made the success of the struggle between the two European
646
646 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Companies dependent upon the power of each to maintain command
over the sea.
Not only did the local Indian authorities possess no navy, but
their condition was such that they shortly ceased to count as
important military powers even on land. Politically, the whole of
the Carnatic was almost in the melting-pot. It formed a province
under the Subahdar of the Deccan, and was ruled by a governor,
called the Nawab, with headquarters at Arcot. But as Nizam-ul-
mulk, the Subahdar of the Deccan, had made himself independent
to all intents and purposes, the Nawab of Arcot, in his turn, behaved
almost like an independent prince. The Nizam, his nominal suzerain,
was so engrossed with the Marathas and the affairs of Northern India
that he could hardly exercise any effective authority in the affairs
of the Carnatic, except when, on rare occasions, he could spare
some time and energy to visit the southern province.
One such occasion arose in the beginning of 1743. Three years
earlier the Marathas had plundered the Carnatic, killed its governor,
Nawab Dost ‘Ali, and taken his son-in-law, Chanda Sahib, as
prisoner to Satara. Safdar ‘Ali, the son of Dost ‘Ali, had saved his
life and kingdom by promising to pay the Marathas a crore of
rupees, but he was soon murdered by a cousin, and his young son
was proclaimed Nawab. All these incidents created a feeling of
panic and uncertainty in the Carnatic and induced the Nizam to
come there in person to restore order. It was, however, beyond his
power to settle affairs in that troubled region, and although he
appointed Anwar-ud-(Bn Khan, a tried servant, Nawab of the
Carnatic, things drifted on almost as hopelessly as in previous
years. The appointment of the new Nawab made things worse as
he was sure to be regarded as an intruder and rival by Nawab Dost
‘All’s relatives, who still held many forts and enjoyed extensive
jdgirs.
While the whole of the Carnatic w^as being convulsed by these
political events, the English and the French settlements were
carrying on their peaceful avocations of trade and commerce,
without any effective hindrance from any of the combatants. The
French and the English had not as yet begun to take any active
part in Indian polities except when it directly affected the interests
of their trade. Nor did the local authorities regard them as of
sufficient importance to be seriously taken notice of. Thus, left
to themselves, they might have gone on pursuing their normal
activities unaffected by what was gomg on around them.
But this was not to be. In 1740 England was involved in a
European war known as the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-
647
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-17G5
1748). Ifcsis not necessary to discuss here either the origin or the
progress of that war, but it will suffice to state that England and
France took opposite sides and fought in the Netherlands for
a period of nearly eight years.
The outbreak of war between England and France also placed
the two mercantile Companies in India technically in a state of
war. But the French authorities, both in Europe and India, at first
tried hard to maintain neutrality in this coimtry. There was
precedent for such a state of things, and Dupleix, the governor of
Pondicherry, opened direct negotiations with the English authorities
, in India for this purpose. But as the authorities in England declined
‘ to accept the proposal, their representatives in India, although
willing to avoid hostilities, were unable to guarantee any neutrality,
especially in seas where they had no control over His Majesty’s
ships.
As a matter of fact, hostilities were opened by the capture of
French ships by the English navy under Barnett. As the French
had no fleet in Indian waters, Dupleix sent an urgent appeal to
La Bourdonnais, the governor of Mauritius, to come to his rescue.
After a great deal of difficulty the latter equipped a squadron and
reached the Indian seas with eight ships of the line.
The arrival of La Bourdonnais changed the course of the war.
The commander of the English ships was either unwilling or unable
to engage in a serious contest with the French and sailed to Hugh
leaving the whole Madras coast at the mercy of the French squadron.
The French now besieged Madras both by land and sea. Within
a week Madras surrendered, after a loss of only six killed. The
English had so far displayed an amazing incapacity to fight the
French on land or sea, and fortune seemed to smile upon the efforts
of Dupleix.
But the greatest surprise of the war was yet in store. Anwar-
, ud-din, the newly appointed Nawab of the Carnatic, was not a
) silent spectator of the contest that was raging within his kingdom.
As the ruler of the country ho was at least a nominal protector
of both the English and the French, and each of them openly
recognised this position in times of need. Thus, when at the out-
break of hostihties the English were all-powerful at sea, Dupleix
had appealed to the Nawab to protect the French ships. The
English, however, did not respect his authority and paid no heed
to his protests and complaints. But when Madras was besieged by
the French, the English in their turn sought the protection of the
Nawab. Aiiwar-ud-din, true to his role of protector, asked Dupleix
to raise the siege of Madras, but the French were no more disposed
648
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
than tho English to respect his authority when it suited their
purpose not to do so. There was, however, one vital difference.
The Nawah was unable to interfere actively in naval affairs as he
possessed no navy. It was quite different in the case of warfare
on land, as here the Nawab was willing and seemed able to back
up his demand by force. Dupleix knew this and sought to pacify
him by diplomacy. He told the Nawab that he was taking Madras
only to place it in his hands. The Nawab was, however, too astute
to believe this, and when his repeated warnings went unheeded
he sent an army against the French force besieging Madras.
Had the English in Madras resisted a little longer, the French
would have been caught between two fires. As it was, the army
of the Nawab found the French in possession of the city, and
blockaded them. But the tiny French force made a sally and scattered
the unwieldy host of the Nawab. The Nawab’s army was forced
to retire to St. Thom6 and was again defeated by a detachment
of the French army which was coming to reinforce the French
in Madras.
The defeat of the Nawab’s troops had far-reaching consequences
which will be discussed in the proper place. For the time being the
success of the French seemed complete and their material gains
and increase in prestige seemed to exceed their highest ambitions.
But the overwhelming success brought in its train discord and
disunion. La Bourdonnais had promised to restore Madras for a
suitable ransom, but Dupleix was strongly against this policy.
After a prolonged quarrel, Dupleix seemed ready to submit, when a
hurricane caused severe damage to the French fleet and forced
La Bourdonnais to rethe with his ships from the Indian seas.
Dupleix now formally denoimced the treaty which La Bourdonnais
had made with the Council of Madras and plundered Madras
“from top to bottom”.
But the success of his policy was dearly purchased. With the
departure of La Bourdonnais the English obtained tho command
of the sea. The first effect of this change was the failure of Dupleix
to take Fort St. David in spite of a prolonged siege of eighteen
months. In June, 1748, a large squadron was sent out from England
under Rear-Admiral Boseawen to avenge the capture of Madras,
and now the English in their turn besieged Pondicherry, both by
land and sea. Fortune again smiled on Dupleix. Pondicherry was
saved by the lack of military skill of the besieging army, and in
October Boseawen was forced to raise the siege on the approach
of the monsoon. Before he could renew the siege the War of the
Austrian Succession had been concluded by the Treaty of Aix-la.-
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765 649
Ohapelle (1748). Under the terms of the Treaty, Madras was restored
to the English, and Boscawen sailed back to Europe. Thus closed
the first stage of the struggle without any territorial gain on either
side.
2 . The Second Carnatic War
Outwardly the two parties were left by the Treaty exactly
where they were before, but events soon proved that the situation
had really changed a great deal. The recent struggle had some
obvious lessons which the quick mind of Dupleix ^d not fail to
grasp. They formed the basis of a new and daring policy which
in its ultimate effects changed the whole course of Indian history.
The war had illustrated the great importance of sea-power. It
demonstrated beyond doubt that, situated as they were, neither the
French nor the EngHsh could hope to obtain a decisive and per-
manent success unless they could control the sea. The recognised
supremacy of the English in this respect offered, therefore, but a
gloomy prospect to the French. Besides, the French power was
practically limited to the Carnatic, whereas the English had important
settlements both in Bombay and Bengal. In any struggle for
supremacy the French would therefore be at a great disadvantage,
as regards both supplies from home and command of resources in
India itself. The chances of ultimate success of the French against
the English appeared thus to be very small indeed.
Any other person would have been dismayed by these sombre
prospects. But the genius of Dupleix shone forth and suggested
to him the only way out of the difficulty. The episode of Anwar-
ud-din’s discomfiture before Madras made a deep impression upon
his mind and suggested immense possibilities in a new direction.
The utter rout of Anwar-ud-din’s huge forces by the small French
army on land proved that m warfare better discipline and up-to-
date equipment counted far more than mere numbers; and that
vast Asiatic armies were no longer a match for even a handful of
European troops. In his small but brave and disciplined army he
thus possessed an effective weapon which would prove a decisive
factor in any quarrel betv/een Wo Indian princes. And in those
days of political unrest, Indian princes would not be wanting who
would be prepared to offer any price to Dupleix for turning the
scale in their favour. Backed by the prestige and resources of such
an Indian authority the French would ultimately be more than a
match for the English.
So argued Dupleix, and as the events showed, reasonably
enough. Fortune favoured him, and placed before him a unique
660
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
opportunity to work out his new policy. We have already referred
to the fact that the appointment of Anwar-ud-din Khan as the
Nawab of the Carnatic gave rise to discontent among the friends
and relations of the late Nawab Dost ‘Ali. This was brought to a
head by Chanda Sahib, the son-in-law of Dost ‘Ali, who had been
taken prisoner by the Marathas in 1741 as related above, but was
set free after seven years. He now conspired to get back the throne
of his father-in-law. A similar contest was then going on for the
throne of the Deccan. Asaf Jah Nizam-ul-mulk, who founded the
Idngdom, died in a.d. 1748, and was succeeded by his son, Nasir
Jang, but his grandson, Miizaffar Jang, laid claim to the throne
on the ground that the Mughul emperor had appointed him
Subahdar of the Deccan.
Dupleix was eagerly waiting for a situation lilce this. He con-
cluded a secret treaty with Chanda Sahib and Muzaffar Jang
with a view to placing them on the thrones of the Carnatic and
the Deccan respectively. On the 3rd of August, 1749, the three
aUies defeated and killed Anwar-ud-din at the battle of Ambur,
to the south-east of Vellore. Muhammad ‘Ali, the son of Anwar-
ud-din, fled to Trichinopoly and a French army was sent to reduce
that town.
The English could not fail to realise the great danger which
threatened them, but they lacked the energy of Dupleix. They
sent urgent invitations to Nasir Jang to come and crush his enemies
in the Carnatic and sent some help to Muhammad ‘Ali at Trichino-
poly. But they could not organise an effective confederacy against
the one headed by Dupleix. The result was that Nasir Jang, in
spite of some initial successes in the Carnatic, was ultimately
killed (December, 1750). Muzaffar Jang, who had been kept a
prisoner, was now set free and proclaimed Subahdar of the
Deccan. The grateful Subahdar suitably rewarded the services
of his French ally. He appointed Dupleix governor of all the
Mughul territories south of the Krishna river and ceded to
him territories near Pondicherry as well as on the Orissa coast,
including the famous market- town of MasuHpatam. In return, at
the request of Muzaffar Jang, Dupleix placed at his disposal the
service of his best officer, Bussy, with a French army. It proved
to be the surest means to guarantee French influence at the court
of the Nizam.
So far, things had gone admirably for the French, and Diipleix’s
policy triumphed beyond his most sanguine expectations. His
proteges, Muzaffar Jang and Chanda Sahib, occupied the thrones at
Hyderabad and Arcot. In less than two years an insignificant body
651
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
of foreign merchants was raised to the position of supreme political
authority in the Deccan and the Carnatic. To friends and foes
alike Dupleix’s success appeared nothing short of a miracle.
In order to complete his success it was necessary for Dupleix
to come to a settlement with Muhammad ‘Ali, who had taken refuge
at the strong fort of Trichinopoly. The French force sent to reduce
that city had wasted its energy in a fruitless effort to reduce Tanjore.
Dupleix, therefore, decided to try the effect of diplomacy. He
would perhaps have succeeded but for the intervention of the
English, whose help and encouragement stiffened the resistance of
Muhammad ‘Ali.
It was now clear, even to the most obtuse mind, that the British
position in Madras would be irrevocably lost if Dupleix were left
free to complete his designs. Fortunately for the EngUsh their
new governor, Saunders, who took over charge in September, 1750,
was more energetic than his predecessor. Under his guidance the
English threw their whole weight into the struggle, and the home
authorities, realising the gravity of the situation, determined to
back him up with aU the resources at their disposal. Thus although
there was then no regular declaration of war or even avowed
hostility between the English and the French nations in Europe,
they engaged in an open war in India, nominally as auxiliaries of
the native powers, but really as the principals in a life-and-death
struggle.
Had Dupleix been able to strike a decisive blow at Muhammad
‘All before the English could come to his rescue he might have
nullified altogether the belated efforts of his rivals. But he was
out-man ceuyred by the clever diplomacy of his opponents. On
the advice of the English, Muhammad ‘Ali kept up the negotiations
opened by Dupleix, simply to gain time till the English were in a
position to send effective assistance to him. Dupleix did not realise
that he was being duped, till in May, 1751, a British detachment
actually set out towards Trichinopoly. He then sent a French
army under Law to capture the place, but Law proved hopelessly
incompetent for the task. The siege of Trichinopoly dragged on,
and by the end of the year the rulers of Mysore and Tanjore and
the Maratha chief, Morari Rao, joined Muhammad ‘Ali and the
English.
In the meantime events were marching rapidly in the north.
Robert Clive, a civilian employee in Madras, had lately joined the
army. He proposed an expedition against Arcot, which had been
already suggested by Muhammad ‘Ali and approved of by the
English governor, Saunders, as the best means of preventing the
652
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
fall of Trichinopoly, for Chanda Sahib was sure to divert an
effective part of his army to the protection of his capital. The
proposal was accepted and Ghve was entrusted with its execution.
With only two hundred Europeans and three hundred sepoys he
occupied Arcot without any serious opposition. As he foresaw,
Chanda Sahib immediately sent a relieving force from Trichin-
opoly to recapture his capital. For fifty-three days CHve heroically
defended the city tiU the besieging forces withdrew (Sept.-Oct. 1751).
The capture of Arcot was the most remarkable achievement
of the war. This daring exploit at once enhanced the reputation
of the English as a fighting power and gave a crushing blow to the
prestige of the French. Law, the French general in charge of the
siege of Trichinopoly, was unnerved by the success of Clive and
took refuge on the island of ^rirangam. At the instance of Robert
Clive the English besieged the island. Dupleix sent reinforcements,
but they surrendered to the English on June 9, 1752. Three days
later Law and his troops became prisoners of the English. To
complete the disaster of the French, Chanda Sahib surrendered
and was beheaded by the Tanjorean general.
Dupleix’s high hopes were now dashed to the ground. By the in-
credible folly and incompetence of his generals he had lost the prize
which was almost witliin his grasp. Still he worked on undaunted
by recent reverses. He won over Morari Rao and the ruler of Mysore
to his side and secured the neutrality of the Raja of Tanjore. He
then began active operations (31st December, 1762) and renewed
the siege of Trichinopoly. Minor military engagements took place
throughout 1753 with alternate success and failure on both sides.
Up to the very end Dupleix did not give up hope of taking Trichin-
opoly.
But the French authorities at home were thoroughly tired of
Dupleix and decided to recall him. They never understood the full
implications of the masterly policy of their gifted governor and
were greatly concerned at the discomfiture of the French troops
and the heavy financial losses which his policy involved. Accord-
ingly they sent Godeheu to investigate the local conditions and
take proper measures to retrieve the situation. Godeheu landed
on 1st August, 1754, superseded Dupleix, and reversed his policy.
He opened negotiations with the English and concluded a treaty.
The English and the French both agreed not to interfere in the
quarrels of the native princes and each party was left in possession
of the territories which it actually occupied at the time of the treaty.
Thus the French lost almost everything that Dupleix had gained
for them. In the Deccan alone Dupleix’s policy still bore some
653
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
fruit. By dint of extraordinary ability and energy, Bussy still
maintained his influence there against the almost universal opposi-
tion of the nobility, who disliked the French and wanted to drive
them out of the Deccan. Often Bussy thought of retiring to the
Carnatic but was prevented by Dupleix, who steadily pursued the
policy of maintaining an effective control at headquarters. By a
masterly stroke of policy Bussy induced the Nizam to grant
him the Northern Sarkars for the payment of his troops. These
consisted of the four districts of Mustafanagar, Ellore, Rajahmundry
and Chicacole, yielding an annual revenue of more than thirty
lacs of rupees. But even this solid acquisition did not enable
Bussy to render any substantial assistance to the French in the
Carnatic in the most critical hours.
The subsequent history of the French in the Deccan and the
Carnatic will be dealt with in due course. But before we leave the
subject we may pause for a while to consider the causes which led
to the failure of Dupleix. It is obviously beyond the scope of
this work to discuss at length the different views held on this
subject, both by contemporaries and later historians. Passions and
prejudices have clouded the issues and an insufficient knowledge
of the relevant material makes it impossible to arrive at any
definite conclusion. We must, therefore, confine ourselves to a broad
general review of the whole situation without descending into
details.
It is agreed on all hands that the immediate and the main
cause of Dupleix’s discomfiture was the failure of the home
authorities to appreciate the merit of his plans and to support
their execution by sending adequate assistance. It is, however,
suggested that Dupleix alone was responsible for this, inasmuch as
he never cared to take his superiors into his confidence or divulge
his plans to them in all details until it was too late. But if this is
true, it only reveals the inherent conviction of Dupleix, justified
in a large measure by later events, that the Glovernment of France
were either unwilling or unable to devote serious attention to
Indian issues and were always apt to view them as minor and
subsidiary parts of their general policy. For while in England there
was a private body, like the East India Company, whose whole
interest was bound up with that of the English factories in India,
the French trading concern was directly controlled by the Govern-
ment, whose policy was naturally dictated by larger political issues.
As a matter of fact, one of the chief reasons which induced them
to settle amicably with the English in India was the fear of com-
plications in America.
G54 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
In the second place, it has been suggested that Dupleix attempted
too much, and the division of his forces in the Deccan and the
Carnatic was the real cause of his failure. It is hard to accept this
view as even substantially correct. In the first part of 1754 Dupleix
had enough military strength at his disposal to force the issue to
a final decision. Even after the Enghsh had advanced to the help
of Muhammad ‘Ali, there was no reasonable apprehension that the
French could be either outnumbered or out-manoeuvred by the English .
On a careful consideration of aU the relevant facts, the failure
of Dupleix seems to be due to two main causes. He failed to
recognise that the game in which he was engaged was one at which
two could play, that the English could imitate his own policy in
retrieving their lost position. Had he recognised this, he would
certainly have come to a final reckoning with Muhammad ‘Ali,
one way or the other, before the English were ready to send any
effective help to him.
Secondly, the hopeless incompetence of the French generals
prevented him from rectifying his initial mistake. It is idle to
deny the fact that the subsequent course of events in the Carnatic
was determined to a large extent by personalities rather than
circumstances. The brilliant genius and bold dash of Clive on the
one hand, and the indecision and lack of energy displayed by
Law and his colleagues on the other, determined the issues. Had
Dupleix had at his disposal a military genius of the type of Clive,
the history of the French in India might have been altogether
different. If Dupleix could have triumphantly ended the war either
at the beginning or even at the end of 1751, the French Govern-
ment would have hailed him as the founder of their Empire in
India and sent abundant supplies to him in men and money. His
failure to do this involved him in disgrace and obloquy. He was
engaged in one of those risky imdertakings where success elevates
a man to the rank of a hero but failure denounces him as an obstinate
and perverse adventurer.
3. English Success in Bengal
The peace between the English and the French continued un-
disturbed till the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War in Europe,
news of which reached India towards the end of 1756. As in the
case of the War of the Austrian Succession, England and France
took opposite sides in this European war, forcing the English and
the French in India to engage in. hostilities which neither of them
probably desired.
655
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
During the interval between the two wars, the relative positions
of the -English and the French had changed considerably, first by
the struggle in the Carnatic which we have described above, and
secondly by the events in Bengal to which we now turn.
Like the Deccan, Bengal was under a Subahdar who nominally
acknowledged the suzerainty of the Mughul Emperor of Delhi, but
was to all intents and purposes an independent king. Take the
Deccan, too, Bengal lacked any political strength or stability.
Conspiracies and revolutions were the order of the day and corrup-
tion and inefficiency sapped the vitahty of the State.
‘Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal, who owed his accession
to the throne in 1740 to a successful revolution against his master,
Nawab Sarfaraz Khan, proved a strong and capable ruler. But
almost his whole regime was spent in an unceasing warfare with the
Maratha plunderers, whose repeated incursions caused untold
miseries to the people o£ Bengal. At last he had to buy peace by the
cession of the revenues of a part of Orissa and an annual payment
of twelve lacs of rupees as Ghauth to them (May or June, 1751).
During the remaining five years of his reign he tried to restore order
and set up a regular system of government, but failed (p. 539) .
The failure was due partly to the ill-health of the Nawab, but
mainly to the uncertainty of succession after his death. ‘Alivardi
had no male heir. His three daughters were married to three sons
of his brother, Siraj-ud-daulah, the son of his youngest daughter,
was his chosen successor, but the arrangement was naturally dis-
liked by the two other sons-ui-law, who were governors respectively
of Dacca and Purnea, It was inevitable that they should be centres
of plots and conspiracies by scheming persons. Although both of
them died tow'ards the close of ‘Alivardi’s reign, Ghasiti Begam,
the widow of the former, and Shaukat Jang, the son of the latter,
pursued their policy up to the very end. Ghasiti was ably supported
by her Diwdn Rajballabh, who really carried on affairs in the
name of the princess.
Amidst these troubles ‘Alivardi died on 9th April, 1756, and
SiraJ-ud-daulah ascended the throne without any difficulty. But
although his succession was unopposed, his troubles indeed were
great. In addition to the hostile activities of Rajballabh and
Shaukat Jang, he found himself implicated in a bitter dispute with
the English Company.
Even when Siraj-ud-daulah was administermg the State during
the iUness of Alivardi, the relations between the Nawab and the
English had been anything but firiendly. The main cause of
the dispute was the additional fortification of Calcutta, which the
656
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
English had recently undertaken, ostensibly as a measure of pre-
caution against the French. The recent events in the Carnatic
were certainly calculated to rouse the suspicion of the Nawab
against any such measure. The manner in which it was done
increased the wrath of the Nawab still further. The English not
only mounted guns on the old fort but also commenced to build
additional fortifications without the permission or even the knowl-
edge of the Nawab. The fact was that the English discounted,
like many others, the chances of Siraj-ud-daulah’s accession to
the throne, and were therefore eager to court the favour of Raj-
ballabh, the leader of the opposing party, with surer chances of
success. This explains why at the request of Watts, their agent
at Cassimbazar, the English agreed to give protection to Raj-
ballabh’s son Krishpadas, who fled to Calcutta with his family and
treasure. They knew full well that this step was calculated to
provoke the wrath of Siraj-ud-daulah against them. There is no
doubt also that Siraj-ud-daulah construed the event as proving
the complicity of the English in the schemes of Rajballabh
against him.
The contemporary historian, Orme, writes: “There remained no
hopes of Alivardy’s recovery; upon which the widow of Nawajis
(i.e. Ghasiti Begam) had quitted Muxadabad (the capital city of
Murshidabad) and encamped with 10,000 men at Moota Ghill
(Moti jhil), a garden two miles south of the city, and many now
began to thinl?; and to say that she would prevail in her opposition
against Surajo Dowla (Siraj-ud-daulah). Mr. Watts therefore was
easily induced to oblige her minister and advised the Presidency
(of Calcutta) to comply with his request.”
Indeed, the rumour was widely spread in Murshidabad that tlie
English had espoused the cause of Ghasiti Begam. Dr. Forth,
attached to the factory of Cassimbazar, visited ‘Alivardi about a
fortnight before his death. While he was talking with the Nawab,
Siraj-ud-daulah came in and reported that he had information to
the effect that the English had agreed to help Ghasiti Begam.
The dying Nawab immediately questioned Forth about this. Forth
not only denied the charge but disavowed on behalf of His nation
any intention to interfere in Indian politics.
This denial had but little effect on the mind of Siraj-ud-daulah
which was already embittered against the English over the question
of fortification. Immediately after his accession to the throne, ho
communicated his views to Watts, the chief of the English factory
at Cassimbazar, in remarkably plain language. The Nawab pointed
out that he looked upon the English only as a set of merchants
657
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1766
and they were welcome as such, hut he disapproved of their
recent fortifications and insisted on their immediate demoli-
tion. The Nawab also sent envoys to Calcutta with similar instruc-
tions and a demand for the surrender of Rajballabh’s family, but
they were dismissed with scant respect by the English governor.
This incredible conduct can only be explained by a tenacious belief
that Rajballabh would ultimately succeed against Siraj-ud-daulah,
The first concern of Siraj -ud-daulah after his accession to the throne
was, therefore, to remove the great internal danger that threatened
his safety. By a masterly stroke, which has not been sufficiently
recognised in history, he succeeded in quietly removing Ghasiti
Begam to his own palace, without any bloodshed. The English
now came to realise their mistake. Excuses and apologies were
offered for their late conduct. But Siraj-ud-daulah was not the
man to be satisfied by mere hollow promises. He wrote a letter to
Mr. Drake, the governor of Calcutta, repeating his orders to demolish
the additional fortifications. For the time being he could do no
more, for although Ghasiti Begam had been suppressed, Shaukat
Jang, the governor of Purnea, still remained the centre of a revo-
lutionary conspiracy against him. The Nawab rightly concluded
that he must remove this danger before he could adopt a strong
policy towards the English. Accordingly he marched towards
Purnea. When he reached Rajmahal, the reply of Governor Drake
reached him. It was couched in polite language, but contained no
indication that he would comply with the Nawab’s request. The
Nawab immediately changed his mind, and returned to Murshidabad,
in order to begin a campaign against the English in good earnest.
The letter of Drake evidently convinced him that he had more to
fear from the inveterate enmity of the British than anjdhing that
Shaukat Jang could do against him.
Once having taken the decision, Siraj-ud-daulah acted with
unwonted energy. The return journey from Rajmahal commenced
on 20th May. He reached Murshidabad on 1st June and on 4th
June seized the English factory at Cassimbazar. On 5th June he
marched against Calcutta and reached there on the 16th. Three
days later. Governor Drake, the Commandant and many prominent
Englishmen abandoned the fort to its fate and sought their own
safety on board the ships. Next day, i.e. on 20th June, Fort WiUiam
surrendered to Siraj-ud-daulah after a feeble resistance.
The capture of Calcutta will ever remain memorable in history
on account of the so-caUed Black Hole episode, which occupies
a prominent place in the narrative of Holwell. According to his
version, 146 EngUsh prisoners were confined during the night in
658
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
a small room, known as the Black Hole, 18 feet long by 14 feet 10
inches wide. One hundred and twenty-three died of suffocation,
and 23 miserable survivors alone remained to tell the tale of that
tragic summer night.
The truth of this story has been doubted on good grounds.
That some prisoners were put into the Black Hole and a number of
them, including those wounded in the course of the fight, died there,
may be accepted as true. But the tragic details, designed to suit a
magnified number of prisoners, must almost certainly be ascribed
to the fertile imagination of Holwell, on whose authority the story
primarily rests. In any case, it is agreed on all hands that Siraj-ud-
daulah was not in any way personally responsible for the incident.
Leaving his general Manikchand in charge of Calcutta, Siraj-ud-
daulah returned to Murshidabad. Shaukat Jang had in the mean-
time procured from the titular Mughul Emperor of Delhi the
formal Sanad for the Subahdarship of Bengal and made no secret
of his intention to make a bold bid for the viceregal throne. He
no doubt relied upon the help of disaffected chiefs of Bengal Uke the
banker Jagat Seth and the general Mir Jafar. But before they could
agree upon any general plan, Siraj-ud-daulah marched against
Shaukat Jang and defeated and killed him.
It reflects no small credit upon the young and inexperienced
Nawab that he could get rid of his three powerful enemies within
a few months of his accession to the throne. A superficial observer
might well have regarded the future with equanimity, and perhaps
even the Nawab was led into a false sense of security. But if he
had been a true statesman he should not have been unaware of
the dangers and difficulties ahead.
It was, for instance, sheer ineptitude to expect that the English
would retire from Bengal after their first defeat without making fresh
efforts to retrieve their situation. For, although small in number,
the possession of the sea gave them a decided advantage in any
warfare with the Naw^ab as it kept open the w’ay for retreat when
pressed hard, and the means of securing fresh supplies of resources,
either from home or from other settlements in India. If the Nawab
had fully realised this fact he would have continued his hold upon
Calcutta in order to keep the Enghsh permanently in check.
The Nawab would perhaps have devoted his serious attention
to this problem and evolved suitable measures if his owm house
were in order. But that was the chief plague-spot. Bengal, like
most other provincial States, lacked almost every element that makes
a State strong and stable. It had only recently emerged as a
semi-independent kingdom ; and no tradition or attachment bound
659
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
the people to the ruHng house. The theoretical powers of the
Emperor of Delhi still existed, and the case of Shaukat Jang showed
what practical use could be made of them. The common people
were too accustomed to revolutions to trouble themselves seriously
about any change in the government, while the more influential
chiefs shaped their policy with a view to their own interests alone.
The idea of nationality or patriotism was virtually unknown.
Personal allegiance to the ruler, which was the main foundation
of government in those days, was conspicuously lacking in the case
of Siraj-ud-daulah. Although we may not credit all the stories of
his severity and self-indulgence, which were mostly invented bj^
his enemies, we cannot but regard him as a wayward, pleasure -
loving and erratic young man, a typical product of the age in which
he lived. To prove this we need only recall a few incidents of his
life such as his deliberate defiance of ‘Alivardi, when merely a
boy of fifteen, his drinking bouts in Moti jhil, and the murder of
Husain Quli Edian in a public street in broad daylight. However
we might condone them, they were not certainly calculated to
inspire either love or confidence in the young Nawab.
Had Siraj-ud-daulah belonged to a royal family of long standing
and ruled over a kingdom which had enjoyed for years a settled
form of government, even his faults might not have proved his
ruin. As it was, the circumstances of the times as well as his youth
and inexperience tempted disaffection and conspiracy which neither
his character nor his personality helped to allay.
The discomfited English leaders knew the situation in Bengal
well enough, and, having experienced the force of the Nawab’s
arms, they sought to retrieve their position by exploiting the*
internal situation. After the fall of Calcutta, they had taken
refuge in Fulta, and from this place they carried on intrigues with
the leading persons whom they knew to be hostile to the Nawab.
The attempt of Shaukat Jang to seize the throne opened up new
hopes to them. They sent him a letter with presents “hojjing
he might defeat Siraj-ud-daulah”. When that hope failed they won
over to then cause Marukchand, the officer in charge of Calcutta,
Omichand, a rich merchant of the city, Jagat Seth, the famous
banker, and other leading men of the Nawab’s court. At the
same time they made appeals to the Hawab to restore
their old privileges of trade in Calcutta. This appeal, backed by
the support of the interested advisers, induced the Nawab to
consent to an accommodation with the English.
In the meantime .warlike preparations were being made by
the Madras Council. As soon as they received the news of the
660 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
capture of Calcutta, they decided upon sending a large military
expedition. Fortunately, a fuUy equipped army and navy which had
been made ready for an expedition against the French were immedi-
ately available. After some discussion it was resolved to send the
expedition under Clive and Admiral Watson. The expedition set
sail on 16th October and reached Bengal on 14th December. The
Nawab was evidently quite ignorant of this. While the English
fugitives at Fulta were lulling his suspicions by piteous appeals,
and his treacherous officers and advisers were pleading the eause
of the “harmless traders”, Clive and Watson arrived at Fulta
with the force from Madras. It is only fair to note that the English
at Fulta were perhaps equally ignorant of the help sent from
Madras, and did their very best to induce Clive to desist from
warlike operations against the Nawab, who was ready to concede
their reasonable demands. But Clive and Watson paid no heed to
the proposals of their compatriots in Fulta. On 17th December
Watson addressed a letter to the Nawab asking him not only to
restore the ancient “rights and immunities” of the Company but
also to give them a reasonable compensation for the losses and
injuries they had suffered. The Nawab appears to have sent a
pacific reply, but it probably never reached Watson. CUve marched
towards Calcutta. Manikchand made a pretence of war and then
fled to Murshidabad. Clive recovered Calcutta on 2nd January,
1757, without any serious fighting. The English then plundered
Hugh and destroyed many magnificent houses in that city.
Even after these provocations, Siraj-ud-daulah came to Calcutta
and concluded the Treaty of ‘Almagar (9th February, 1757),
conceding to the Enghsh practically all their demands. This
pacific attitude of Siraj-ud-daulah, offering such a strange contrast
to his earlier policy, is difficult to explain. It has been suggested
that a night attack on his camp by Clive terrified him into a humble
submission. But that attack, according to Orme, was a great
failure for which Chve was taken to task even by his own soldiers.
Besides, the letters written by Siraj-ud-daulah, even before he
reached Calcutta, contained proposals of peace similar to those
to which he afterwards agreed. It is probable that the known
treacherous designs of his own officers and the apprehension of
an invasion from the north-west induced him to settle with the
English at any cost.
Whatever may be the right explanation, it is quite clear that
from this time onward Siraj-ud-daulah displayed a lack of energy
and decision at almost every step. The outbreak of the Seven
Years’ War introduced a new element into the situation. The English
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765 661
naturally desired to conquer the French possession of Chander-
nagore. Siraj-ud-daulah very reasonably argued that he could
never allow one section of his subjects to be molested by another.
When the English made preparations for sending an expedition
to Chandernagore he accused them of violating the Treaty of
‘Alinagar and loudly proclaimed his determination never to sacrifice
the French. Yet he did nothing to protect the French and Chander-
nagore was easily conquered by Clive and Watson in March, 1757.
It is admitted by the English themselves that the IsTawab had a
large force near Chandernagore under Nanda Kumar, the Faujdra
of Hugh, and if he had not moved away they could not have
conquered the French city. It is almost certain that Nanda Kumar
was bribed, but it does not appear that the Nawab had given
any definite orders to Nanda Kumar to resist the English.
The Nawab, gallantly enough, afforded shelter to the French
fugitives at his court, and refused to drive them away even when
the English offered in exchange military help against a threatened
invasion of Bengal by the heir-apparent to the Mughul Empire.
Generosity and prudence alike must have dictated the course of
policy which the Nawab pursued, for in any war with the English
the French support would have been of inestimable value to him.
The English fully understood the danger of the situation. While
the war was going on with the French, a Nawab of Bengal with
sympathy for the French cause was an element of potential danger.
A French force from Pondicherry might join the Nawab and renew
in more favourable circumstances the policy of expelling the
English which Dupleix had so brilliantly initiated in the Carnatic.
Hence the English leaders were bent upon replacing Siraj-ud-
daulah by a Nawab more amenable to their control. A conspiracy
was set on foot with the help of the disaffected chiefs, and it was
ultimately resolved to place Mir Jafar upon the throne of Bengal.
Mir Jafar and Rai Durlabh, the two generals of the Nawab,
as well as Jagat Seth, the rich banker, all joined in the plot
A regular treaty was drawn up (10th June) which stipulated,
among other things, the reward to be given to the Company and
to their chief servants in Calcutta for their military help. A
difficulty arose at the last moment. Omichand, who acted as the
intermediary, asked for a large share of the plunder, and Clive
silenced him by a forged copy of the treaty in which Omichand’s
demands were admitted. As Watson refused to sign this treaty
his signature was forged at the instance of Clive.
The Nawab displayed a lamentable lack of decision and energy
in this critical moment. After having drawn upon himself the
662 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
wratli and inveterate hostility of the English by his support to
the French fugitives, he ultimately agreed to send them away
on the advice of his treacherous ministers. At the time of their
departure the French gave him friendly warning of the conspiracy,
which was evidently patent to everybody save the Nawab, His
eyes were not opened until he came to know of the secret treaty.
Even then he failed to act vigorously. Had the Nawab promptly
imprisoned Mir Jafar, the other conspirators would have been
struck with terror and the plot might perhaps have come to nothing.
The Nawab’s courage, however, failed. Far from taking any
energetic measures, he himself paid a visit to Mir Jafar (15th June)
and made pathetic appeals to him in the name of ‘Alivardi
Khan. Mir Jafar gave him most solemn assurances of support
and the Nawab was apparently satisfied. He hastily began to
make preparations for the war, with Mir Jafar as commander of
his forces.
Three days before this interview the English forces had left
Calcutta on their expedition against the Nawab. So thoroughly
did treachery pervade all ranks of the Nawab’s army, that little
or no real opposition was offered to the English even by the garri-
sons at Hugh or Katwah. On the night of 22nd June Clive reached
the mango grove of Plassey, on the bank of the Bhagirathi, where
the Nawab was already entrenched with his troops.
The battle broke out on the morning of the 23rd June. On the
Nawab’s side Mir Jafar and Rai Durlabh stood still with their
large armies, and only a small force under Mohanlal and Mir Madan,
backed by a French officer, took part in the battle. Had Mir Jafar
loyally fought for the Nawab the English forces might have easily
been routed. Even the small advance party made the situation
too critical for the English. After half an hour’s fighting Clive with-
drew his forces behind the trees. At eleven o’clock he consulted
his officers. It was resolved to maintain the cannonade during the
day and to attack the Nawab’s camp at midnight. Unfortunately
a stray shot kfiled M5r Madan and this so unnerved the Nawab
that he sent for Mir Jafar and accepted his treacherous advice to
recall the only troops which were fighting for him. What followed
may be best described in the words of a contemporary historian,
Ghulam Husain, the author of the Siyar-ul-mutakh&rin :- —
“By this time Mohanlal, who had advanced with Mfr Madan,
was closely engaged with the enemy; his cannon was served
with effect ; and his infantry having availed themselves of some
covers and other grounds, were pouring a quantity of bullets
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
BATTLE OF PLASSEY
GAINED BY
COLONEL CLIVE
JUNE 23rd, 1757
A. Position of the British Army at I
9 in the Morning.
B. Four gum adnancM to check the
firv of the French Party at the
tank D.
C. The Nabob’s Army.
D. Tank from whence ike French
Party cannonaded till 3 in the
Aftcmoon,iohcnpartof the'Bntish I
One Mile
Army took Post there, and the
Enemy retired within, their En-
trenched Camp.
E (A Redoubt and mound taken iy
I Assault at \ past 4, and which
•■J completed the Victoty.
Q_ The AhaboVs Hunting H<mse. The
dotted line BE shows the mavach-
ment of the Biver since the Battle.
663
From V. A. Smith : ''The Oxford IJiMory of India" {Clarendon Press).
664
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
in the enemy’s ranks. It was at this moment he received the
order of falling back, and of retreating. He answered: ‘That
this was not a time to retreat ; that the action was so far advanced,
that whatever might happen, would happen now; and that
should he turn his head, to march back to camp, his people
would disperse, and perhaps abandon themselves to an open
flight.’ Siraj-ud-daulah, on this answer, turned towards Mir
Jafar, and the latter coldly answered: ‘That the advice he had
proposed was the best in his power; and that as to the rest.
His Highness was the master of taking his own resolutions.’
Siraj-ud-daulah, intimidated by the General’s coldness, and over-
come by his own fears and apprehensions, renounced his own
natural sense, and submitted to Mir Jafar ’s pleasure; he sent
repeated orders, with pressing messages, to Mohanlal; who at
last obeyed, and retreated from the post to which he had
advanced.
“This retreat of Mohanlal’s made a full impression on his
troops. The sight of their General’s retreat damped their courage ;
and having at the same time spied some parties which were
flying (for they were of the complot), they disbanded likewise,
and fled, every one taking example from his neighbour ; and as
the flight now had lost all its shame, whole bodies fled although
no one pursued ; and in a little time the camp remained totally
empty. Siraj-ud-daulah, informed of the desertion of his troops,
was amazed; and fearing not only the English he had in his
front, but chiefly the domestic enemies he had about his person,
he lost aU firmness of mind. Confounded by that general abandon-
ment, he joined the runaways himself; and after marching the
whole night, he the next day at about eight in the morning
arrived at his palace in the city.”
Siraj-ud-daulah reached Murshidabad on the morning of the 24tli.
The news of his defeat created the utmost panic and confusion in
the city. He made an effort to collect his forces, but both men
and officers fled peU-mell in all directions. In vam did he lavish
considerable treasures to induce the troops to stand by him, and
then, finding no other way, he fled mth his wife Lutf-un-nisa
and one trusted servant.
Mir Jafar reached Murshidabad on the 25th and Clive followed
him a few days later. Mir Jafar was proclaimed Subahdur of
Bengal. In a few days news arrived of the capture of Siraj-ud-daulah.
He was brought back to the capital and immediately murdered by
the orders of Miran, the son of Mir Jafar. Thus the treacherous
665
EISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
conspiracy of Mir Jafar was brought to a triumphant conclusion.
Clive and his colleagues secured large rewards for themselves in
addition to the zaminddn of the Twenty-four Paraganas and a
large sum for the Company.
The battle of Plassey was hardly more than a mere skirmish,
but its result was more important than that of many of the greatest
battles of the world. It paved the way for the British conquest
of Bengal and eventually of the whole of India. Consequently
everything in connection with it has been magnified beyond all
proportions. Petty foUies of Clive have been exaggerated almost
as much as his valour and heroism. The forged document in favour
of Omichand is no doubt a stain on his character, but considering
the circumstances in which he was placed, and the moral standards
of the age in which he lived, these things should be looked at in the
proper perspective. On the other hand, he can lay no special claim
to either extraordinary military skill or statesmanship. He was
opposed to the rupture with the French, which was the immediate
cause of the war with Siraj-ud-daulah, and was only forced un-
willingly to this step by^ the obstinacy of Watson. Even when war
broke out he was always hesitating. In the war-council held at
Katwah, only two days before the battle of Plassey, he gave his
vote in favour of retreat. At Plassey itself he took Major Kilpatrick
to task for ordering the troops to advance. Thus it would be hardly
any exaggeration to say that Clive won the battle of Plassey in
spite of himself. But all this does not take away from Clive the
undoubted gifts of leadership and a spirit of dash and enterprise
which he possessed in an unusual degree.
Clive’s opponent, Siraj-ud-daulah, has been regarded by some as a
martyr and by others as a monster of iniquity. There is as little justi-
fication for the one as for the other view. He was not much worse
than most rulers of his age, and certainly better than Mir Jafar,
Nawazish Muhammad or Shaukat Jang. In the first few months of
his reign he showed undoubted ability and vigour, but laek of
energy and decision was the prime cause of his ruin. There is
also hardly any doubt that the conspiracy that cost him his life and
throne was at least partially due to his personality and character.
Lastly, the conspiracy of Mir Jafar and others has been regarded
as the “Great Betrayal” of the country by her unpatriotic sons.
It was, however, nothing of the kind. Such conspiracies were
far from being unusual in those days, and ‘Alivardi Khan himself
owed to them his accession to the throne. It would be quite wrong
to regard Siraj-ud-daulah as fighting for the country and Mir
Jafar and others as betraying it. Both sides acted from pure
666
AIT ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
self-interest and do not appear to have given a thought to the
country as a whole. As a matter of fact, nobody perhaps thought,
or had any reasonable grounds for thinking, that the conspiracy set
on foot by Mir Jafar and his colleagues would make the British the
rulers of Bengal. Even as it was, the battle of PJassey gave Clive no
better prospect in this respect than that of Bussy in the Deccan.
That things took a different turn in Bengal was largely due to the
character of Mir Jafar and the nobles of his court, and also to the
political circumstances of Bengal. But in some measure, at least,
it was due to that unknown and unknowable factor called fate or
destiny which sometimes plays no inconsiderable part in the affairs
of man.
4. The Third Carnatic War
The peace which was established in the Carnatic by the treaty
of Godeheu was again broken by the Seven Years’ War. As in the
ease of the First Carnatic War, a war in Europe forced the English
and the French in India to engage in hostilities which none perhaps
desired at that moment. The news of the outbreak of the war
reached India in November, 1756, and one of its immediate effects
was the capture of Chandernagore — a French possession in Bengal
— by Clive and Watson as described above.
In Madras, however, neither the English nor the French possessed
enough military resources to commence hostilities at once. The
major part of the military and naval forces of Madras had been
sent under Clive and Watson to recover Calcutta. Even after that
object was achieved, Chve delayed his return to Madras, on account
of his ambitious political schemes which ultimately led to the
battle of Plassey. The French resources were similarly crippled
as the governor of Pondicherry had to send assistance to Bussy at
Hyderabad.
So it was not until a.d. 1758 that warlike operations began on a
large scale. The English fleet returned from Bengal under the com-
mand of Pocock who had succeeded Watson after the latter’s deatii
in A.D, 1757. The French received reinforcements from home and
Count de Lally was sent to conduct the war. He was invested with
absolute power in all civil and military affairs but he had no control
over the naval forces which w^ere commanded by d’Ache. This
division of command, leading to disunion and discord, hampered
the progress of the French and, as w^e shall see, ultimately ruined
their cause.
Lally began splendidly. He besieged Fort St. David on 1st May
and the place capitulated on 2nd June. He now wisely decided
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765 667
to strike at the root of the British power in the Carnatic by reduc-
ing Madras. But d’Ache, who had already been defeated by the
English fleet on the 28th April, refused to sail. It was impossible
to carry on operations against Madras without the help of the
navy, and so Lally decided to relieve his financial difficulties by
forcing the Raja of Tanjore to pay 70 lacs of rupees which he owed
to the French. He invested Tanjore (18th July) but could not
press the siege owing to lack of ammunition. The fact ws s that there
was no spirit of mutual trust and concord between LaUy and his
men. He irritated them by his rude and haughty conduct and
consequently he was ill-served by them. Lally, no doubt, possessed
a high degree of military skill, but he was too hasty and ill-tempered
to co-ordinate the different parts of the war machine. He wasted
much time before Tanjore without being able to do anything.
In the meantime, the English fleet had engaged d’Ache’s squadron
and inflicted heavy losses upon it (3rd August). As soon as Lally
received this news, he raised the siege of Tanjore (10th August),
thereby inflicting a heavy blow not only to his own reputation
but also to the prestige of the French army.
The French fleet now left the Indian seas and LaUy had to wait
till the English fleet would be forced to leave the harbourless Madras
coast on the approach of the monsoon. He utilised the interval by
making conquests of minor English outposts till the English
possessed nothing in the Carnatic save Madras, Trichinopoly
and Chingleput. Then when the English ships left he besieged
Madras on 14th December. But the siege of Madras was marked
by defects of the same kind as were noticed in the case of
Tanjore, It dragged on till 16th February, 1759, when the British
fleet reappeared, and Lally immediately raised the siege. This
ignoble failure practically sealed the fate of the French in India,
The next twelve months completed the debacle. Lally had
taken a very unwise step in recalling Bussy from Hyderabad
and leaving the French troops there under incompetent com-
manders. Clive took this opportunity to send an army from Bengal
under Colonel Forde against the French troops in the Northern
Sarkars. Forde defeated the French, successively occupied Rajah-
mundry (7th December) and Masulipatam (6th March) and con-
cluded a favourable treaty with the Nizam Salabat Jang.
In the Carnatic also the English took the aggressive. They were
at first defeated near Conjeeveram, but the French could not
follow up their success on account of discontent among their troops
for lack of pay, which ultimately led to an open mutiny. The dis-
comfiture of the English was, however, more than made up by the
668 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
severe defeat infidcted by Pocock upon the French fleet of d’Aohe
which had reappeared in September. After this third defeat at
the hands of Pocock, d’Ache left India for good, leaving the English
the undisputed masters of the sea.
At the end of October, the able General Coote arrived in Madras
with his troops and the English resumed the offensive. After
a number of minor engagements a decisive battle took place (22nd
January, 1760) near the fort of Wandiwash which Lally was
besieging. The French army was totally routed and their fate
was decided once for aU.
Coote follow'ed up his success by reducing the minor French
possessions in the Carnatic. In course of three months the French
lost everything in the Carnatic save Jinji and Pondicherry. The
Enghsh then laid siege to Pondicherry (May, 1760).
Reduced to the last desperate strait, Lally hoped to retrieve the
French position by an alliance with Hyder ‘Ali, then at the helm
of affairs in Mysore. The idea was well conceived but led to no
practical result. Hyder sent a contingent to the aid of the French,
but the allies were not able to concert any military plan which
held out a chance of success against the English. Thereupon
Hyder’s contingent returned to Mysore, leaving Lally to his fate.
Pondicherry was closely blockaded both by land and sea. Lally
lacked sufficient funds to maintain his army, and, even at this
critical moment, failed to work in harmony with his men and officers.
At last the inevitable took place, and on 16th January, 1761,
Pondicherry made an unconditional surrender. The victors ruth-
lessly destroyed not merely the fortifications, but also the city
itself. As Orme put it so pithily, “in a few months more not a
roof was left standing in this once fair and flourishing city”.
The surrender of Pondicherry was followed shortly by that of
Jinji and Mahe, a French settlement on the Malabar coast. The
French thus lost aU their possessions in India.
The causes of the failure of Lally are not far to seek and some
of them have been discussed in connection with the failure of
Dupleix. Both suffered equally from the insufficient supply from
home, which was due partly to the defective organisation of the
Company as a minor branch of the Government, and partly to the
fail lire of the home authorities to recognise the importance of
securing political power in India. The inferiority of the French at
sea and the discord between commanders of land and sea forces
were again common handicaps to both, though they operated more
decisively against the French in the Third Carnatic War.
In addition, the possession of the military and financial resources
669
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
of Bengal gave the English a decisive advantage over Rally. From
this secure base they could send a constant supply of men and
money to Madras, and create a diversion in its favour by attacking
the French in the Northern Sarkars. Although it was not fully
recognised at the time, the position of the English in Bengal made
the struggle of the French a hopeless one from the very beginning
of the Third Carnatic War. The battle of Plassey may be truly
said to have decided the fate of the French in India.
The character and conduct of Rally also contributed not a little
to the disastrous results. He had mihtary skill and displayed
bravery and energy but possessed neither the tact of a leader nor
the wisdom of a statesmen. His end was tragic indeed. He was
detained in England as a prisoner of war for two years, and allowed
to return to France in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years’ War.
But a worse fate awaited him there. He was imprisoned in the
Bastille for more than two years and afterwards executed with
ignominy and insult.
In spite of Rally’s undoubted failings and shortcomings, it is
only fair to remember that the difficulties confronting him were
really insurmountable, and that the French had no real chance
of success agamst the English even under the best of leaders.
There is a large element of truth in the remark of a historian, that
“neither Alexander the Great nor Napoleon could have won the
empire of India by starting from Pondicherry as a base and con-
tending with the power which held Bengal and command of
the sea”.
5. British Ascendancy in Bengal
The revolution of 1767 dejSnitely established the mihtary
supremacy of the EngHsh in Bengal. Their hated rivals, the French,
were ousted, and they obtained a grant of territories for the main-
tenance of a properly equipped military force. More valuable still
was the prestige they had gained by the decided victory over the
unwieldy hosts of the Nawab.
As regards the government of the country, there was no apparent
change. The sovereignty of the English over Calcutta was recog-
nised, and they secured the right of keeping a Resident at the
Nawab ’s court. Save for these minor changes, the position of
Mir Jafar differed, in theory, but little from that of Siraj-ud-
daulah. In practice, however, the supreme control of affairs had
passed into the hands of Olive, as the new Nawab was entirely
dependent upon his support for maintaining his newly acquired
position.
670 AN ADVAJ^CED HISTORY OE INDIA
Tlie position of Clive in Bengal was anomalous in the extreme.
He was merely a servant of the Governor and Council of Madras
when he gained the victory at Plassey. But in June, 1758, the
Calcutta Council, on their own initiative, elected him to the governor-
ship of Bengal, a position which was legalised by the orders of
the Company towards the end of that year.
The anomaly of Clive’s position with regard to the Nawab,
however, still continued. Without any formal rights or prerogatives,
he exercised an effective control over the actions of Mir Jafar, and,
in particular, he prevented the latter from ruining some notable
Hindu officials such as Rai Durlabh, the Diwdn, and Ram Narayan,
the governor of Bihar. Mir Jafar chafed at the interference of
Clive, but he could hardly dispense with the military help of the
English. This was strikingly illustrated when, in 1759, ‘Ali Gauhar
(later luiown as Shah ‘Alam II) planned to occupy Bengal and
Bihar and laid siege to Patna. Mir Jafar succeeded in averting
this danger with the help of Clive, but the episode was a rude
remmder to him, if any such were necessary, that however un-
welcome the English might be, their help was essential to keep
himself on the throne.
Finally, Mir Jafar tried the desperate expedient of changing one
master for another and entered into a conspiracy with the Dutch
at Chmsura. The Dutch Arvere very eager to supplant the English
influence by their own and made an attempt to import fresh
military forces from their settlements in Java. But the vigilance
of Clive thwarted their design. They were defeated and humbled
at Bedara in November, 1759, and sued for peace.
Clive thus maintained the supremacy of the English in Bengal
for nearly three years, mainly by his personality and character.
His departure on 25th February, 1760, was followed shortly by the
death of Miran, the son of the Nawab, and the question of succession
immediately came to the forefront. The treachery and incompetence
of the Nawab and his failure to make the payments due to the
Company made him and his family distasteful to the English.
Holwell, the acting Governor, suggested the bold step of taking
over the administration of the country, but the other members of
the Council did not approve of the plan. He then supported the
cause of Mir Kasim, the son-in-law of the Nawab, and Vansittart,
the permanent Governor, acquiesced in this view. A secret treaty
was accordingly concluded with Mir Kasim on 27th September,
1760. Mir Kasim agreed to pay off the outstanding dues to the
Company and also to cede the three districts of Burdwan, Midnapur
and Chittagong. In return for these concessions the English offered
671
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
to appoint him Deputy Subahdar and guaranteed his succession
to the throne.
Vansittart and Caillaud, the commander of the Company’s troops,
thereupon proceeded to Murshidabad. But Mir Jafar refused to
appoint Mir Kasim as Deputy Subahdar. After a jhuitless dis-
cussion for five days, Caillaud was ordered to occupy the Nawab’s
palace. The helpless Nawab decided to abdicate rather than yield
to the demands of the English. Mir Kasim was then declared Nawab
and the revolution of a.d. 1760 was effected without any bloodshed.
It is somewhat singular that neither the English nor the new
Nawab took advantage of the new agreement to clear up the
relations between the two parties. It was gradually becoming clear
that, while the Nawab claimed to be an independent ruler, the
English authorities in Bengal had been acting in a manner which
was incompatible with that position. It was evident that sooner
or later the matter must come to a head, and the crisis came
much earlier than was expected.
Vansittart followed throughout the policy of strengthening the
hands of the Nawab. While Clive protected Ram Narayan, the
deputy governor of Bihar, Vansittart handed him over to Mir
Kasim who first robbed him and then put him to death. Having
thus asserted his internal autonomy, Mir Kasim felt strong enough
to enter into that dispute with the English regarding inland trade
which was to prove his ruin.
By an imperial firman the English Company enjoyed the right
of trading in Bengal without the payment of transit dues or tolls.
But the servants of the Company also claimed the same privileges
for their private trade (see p. 807-8). The Nawabs had always pro-
tested against this abuse, but the members of the Council being
materially interested, the practice went on increasing tili
it formed a subject of serious dispute between Mir Kasim
and the English. At last towards the end of 1762 Vansittart met
Mir Kasim at Monghyr, where the Nawab had removed his capital,
and concluded a definite agreement on the subject. The Council
at Calcutta, however, rejected the agreement. Thereupon the
Nawab decided to abolish the duties altogether; but the English
clamoured against this and insisted upon having preferential
treatment as against other traders. EUis, the chief of the English
factory at Patna, violently asserted what he considered to be the
rights and privileges of the English, and even made an attempt
to seize the city of Patna. The attempt failed and his garrison was
destroyed, but the events led to the outbreak of war between the
English and Mir Kasim (1763).
672 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
On lOtli June Major Adams took the field against Mir Kasim
with about 1,100 Europeans and 4,000 sepoys. The Nawab
assembled an army 15,000 strong, which included soldiers trained
and disciplined on the European model. In spite of this disparity of
numbers, the English gained successive victories at Katwah,
Murshidabad, Giria, Sooty, Udaynala and Monghyr. Mir Kasim
fled to Patna, and after having killed all the English prisoners
and a number of his prominent officials, went to Oudh. There he
formed a confederacy with Nawab Shuja-ud-daulah and the Emperor
Shah ‘Alam 11 with a view to recovering Bengal from the English,
The confederate army was, however, defeated by the English general
Major Hector Munro at Buxar on 22nd October, 1764. Shah ‘Alam
immediately joined the English camp, and some time later con-
cluded peace with the English. Mir Kasim fled, and led a wandering
life till he died in obscurity, near Delhi, in a.d. 1777.
The short but decisive campaign against Mir Kasim has an
importance which is generally overlooked. The battle of Plassey
was decided more by treachery than by any inherent superiority
of English arms, and had the rights of the English in Bengal
rested on that battle alone, their conquest of Bengal might
justly have been attributed to a political conspiracy rather than
to any fair fight. But the defeat of M3r Kasim cannot be explained
away by any sudden and unexpected treachery such as had over-
whelmed SiraJ-ud-daulah. It was a straight fight between two
rival claimants for supremacy, each of whom was fully alive to
its possibilities and forewarned of its consequences. Mir Kasim
knew quite well that a final contest with the English was the sure
outcome of his policy, and he equipped his army and husbanded
his resources as best he could. He was not inferior in capacity to
an average Indian ruler of the day. His repeated and decisive
defeats only demonstrate the inherent weakness of the army and
the administrative machinery of Bengal. The confederacy which
he brought into being against the English shows an astute diplomacy
far in advance of the age, and its failure was again due to the
inherent defects of Indian army and State organisation. The
engagements with Mir Kasim established the claims of the English
as conquerors of Bengal in a much more real sense than did the
battle of Plassey. They also reveal that the establishment of
British rule m Bengal was due as much at least to the irresistible
logic of facts as to the element of chance or accident.
It is, of course, quite true that the battle of Plassey gave the
English a firm footing on the soil of Bengal, which they utilised to
the full in their final encounter with Mir Kasim. But even
673
RISE OP BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765
making full allowance for this, we must hold that in the final and
decisive campaign the advantages, both political and military, 'should
undoubtedly have been on the side of the Nawab, and his ignommious
failure only betrays the inherent and vital defects in the political
fabric of Bengal. The question was no longer whether but when
that fabric would coUapse.
6. The British as the Ruling Power in Bengal
Immediately after the outbreak of war with Mir Kasim, the
English once more proclaimed Mir Jafar as the Nawab and gained
important concessions from him. His death, early in 1765, was taken
advantage of by the Company to proceed still further and establish
their supremacy on a definite basis. The son of Mir Jafar, Kajm-ud-
daulah, was allowed to succeed his father only on'the express con-
dition, laid down by the treaty of 20th February, 1765, that the
entire management of admmistration should be left in the hands
of a minister, called the Deputy Subahdar, who would be nominated
by the English and could not be dismissed without their consent.
Thus the supreme control over the administration passed into the
hands of the English, while the Nawab remained merely as a
figurehead.
This was the position of affairs when Clive came out as Governor
of Bengal for the second time (May, 1765). Several important and
intricate problems immediately confronted him. He first made a
settlement with the Emperor Shah ‘Alam II and the Nawab of Oudh,
who had espoused the cause of Mir Kasim and been defeated at Buxar .
The prevailing idea among the Company’s servants in Bengal was to
restore the power of the Emperor so that the English could take
full advantage of his name and position in advancing their interests.
In pursuance of this policy, Vansittart had already promised Oudh
to the Emperor. But Olive definitely gave up this policy and
concluded the Treaty of Allahabad. By this he restored Oudh to
its Nawab on payment of fifty lacs of rupees. Only Allahabad
and the surrounding tracts were detached from Oudh and handed
over to the Emperor Shah ‘Alam II. In return for these concessions,
the Emperor, by a firman, formally granted the Diwdnl of Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa to the East India Company on the 12th August,
1765.
The wisdom of the policy of Olive is now generally recognised.
Instead of committing the Company to endless wars, which would
have been the inevitable result of supporting the pretensions of
Shah ‘Alam II, he created the buffer-state of Oudh, whose ruler
■
674 AJST ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
would be induced alike by material interests and sentiments of
gratitude to remain friendly to the British, At the same time he
gained a legal recognition of the status of the English in Bengal,
which counted for much even in those days of anarchy and confusion.
Clive next made an attempt to set his own house in order. The
servants of the Company were thoroughly demoralised, and bribery
and corruption reigned supreme. The accession of each Nawab,
even when there was a normal succession as in the case of
Najm-ud-daulah, was made the occasion of receiving large presents,
and the jprivate right of internal trade was abused in all
THE DIWANI of BESrOAIi BEING GKANTED TO Ct-IVE
possible ways. Clive effectively stopped the system of accepting
presents, in spite of strenuous opposition. He also checked the
abuses of private trade, but reorganised the salt-trade with a view
to distributing its profits among the civil and military servants of
the Company. The Directors, however, disapproved of it and the
monopoly of the salt-trade was entirely abandoned.
Clive also cut down the allowances {bcittd), which the military
officers had been illegally enjoying for many years. Here, again,
Clive met with vigorous opposition and the officers threatened
to resign in a body. But the opposition gradually died down
and Clive regulated the bdUd or field-allowances by a definite
scheme.
RISE OF BRITISH POWER, 1740-1765 675
Clive left India for good in February, 1767. In less than two
years be bad reformed tbe internal administration of tbe Company’s
affairs and placed its relation to the Government of Bengal on a
definite legal basis. By bis victory at Plassey, and subsequent
reforms, be laid tbe foundations of tbe British supremacy in Bengal.
Distinguished abke in war and peace, bis name occupies a prominent
place in tbe galaxy of British generals and administrators who carved
out a. mighty Empire for their motherland. His tact, patience,
industry and foresight were of a high order and be always worked
with a steady and clear grasp of tbe ends in view. In him we find
a happy combination of high ideabsm and sound practical common
sense.
Clive was succeeded by Verelst and tbe latter by Cartier (1769),
during whose weak admmistration tbe evils of Clive’s dual Govern-
ment (in which tbe English enjoyed tbe substance and tbe Nawab
tbe shadow of power) were fuUy manifest and tbe country began to
groan under the weight of oppression, corruption and distress,
which were aggravated by the terrible famine of 1770. Richard
Becher, a servant of the Company, wrote to the Secret Committee
of the Court of Directors on the 24th May, 1769 : “It must give pain
to an Englishman to have reason to think that since the accession of
the Company to the Diwani the condition of the people of this
country has been worse than it was before ; yet I am afraid the fact
is undoubted. . . . This fine country, which flourished under the
most despotic and arbitrary government, is verging towards ruin.”
Nothing of particular importance marks this period. With the next
governor, Warren Hastings (1772), however, we enter into a new
phase of history which wiU be described in other chapters.
CHAPTER III
GROWTH OF THE BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798
I. Anglo-Maratha Relations
A. The First Anglo- Mardtha War
After recovering from the blow of Panipat, the Marathas
appeared once more in full force in the north in a.d. 1770 and
brought the helpless Delhi Emperor, Shah ‘Alam II, under their
control by agreeing to escort him to his capital in return for certain
privileges. Warren Hastings concluded the Treaty of Benares
in September, 1773, partly to check the revived pretensions
of the Marathas m the north. But in the meanwhile a terrible
calamity had befallen the Marathas. The young Peshwa Madhava
Rao I had expired in a.d. 1772, and internal dissensions appeared
among the Marathas, due to the inordinate ambition of the deceased
Peshwa’s uncle, Raghunath Rao or Raghoba, and the weakness of
Madhava Rao’s brother and successor, Narayan Rao. Madhava Rao I
had been able to check the designs of his uncle and even to conciliate
him. But his successor, an inexperienced youth of frivolous habits,
could not remain on good terms with him and placed him under
arrest. This led Raghoba to organise a conspiracy with a dis-
contented body of infantry, and Narayan Rao was murdered
before the eyes of his uncle on the 30th August, 1773.
Raghunath Rao was now recognised as the Peshwa, but his
authority remained unchallenged only for a few months. A strong
party at Poona, under the leadership of a young Brahmana, Nana
Eadnavis, who had lucidly [^'escaped from the fatal field of Panipat,
began to counteract his measures. A new card was placed in the
hands of the confederate Maratha leaders, when in the next year a
posthumous son was born to the late Peshwa’s wife, Ganga Bai.
They at once recognised the infant as the Peshwa and set up a
council of regency in his name. Roiled in his attempts and driven
out of the home provinces, Raghunath Rao appealed for help to
the English at Bombay. Thus, as in the Carnatic and elsewhere in
India, internal quarrels among Indian princes and chiefs ofiered
an opportunity to the EngUsh to intervene in their affairs.
676
677
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798
The English at Bombay were then on peaceful terms with the
Maratha government at Poona, but they were induced to espouse
the cause of Raghunath Rao by the prospect of acquirmg certain
maritime territories adjoining Bombay, which they calculated would
make their position much more secure. In response to Raghunath
Rao’s appeal to them, they concluded with him the Treaty of
Surat on the 7th March, 1775. By this the English agreed to help
Raghunath Rao with a force of 2,500 men, the cost of which was to
be borne by him; in return Raghunath Rao undertook to cede to
the English Salsette and Bassein with a part of the revenues of the
Broach and Surat districts, and promised not to form any alliance
with the enemies of the Company and to include the English in any
peace that he concluded with the Poona government. A body of
British troops under Colonel Keating had already reached Surat on
the 27th February, 1775. The allied armies of Colonel Keating and
Raghunath Rao met the Poona troops on the 18th May on the
plain of Arras, situated between the river Mahi and the town of
Anand, and defeated them.
But the war had been commenced, and the Treaty of Surat signed,
by the Bombay Government, without any orders from the Supreme
Council in Calcutta. Warren Hastings himself had no objection to
ratifying the Treaty of Surat, but his opponents, who formed the
majority m the Council, were opposed to his view. The Calcutta
Council, therefore, soon condemned the action of the Bombay Council
as “impolitic, dangerous, unauthorised, and unjust”, and wrote to it
on the 31st May to recall the Company’s troops “unless th,eir safety
may be endangered by an instant retreat”. A few months later in
the same year, it sent Colonel Upton to Poona to negotiate a peace
with the Poona regency. Colonel Upton accordingly concluded the
Treaty of Purandhar with the Poona authorities on the 1st March,
A.D. 1776. By this the Treaty of Surat was annulled ; the retention of
Salsette, and the revenues of Broach, by the English was confirmed ;
the Poona regency agreed to pay twelve lacs of rupees to the English
to cover the expenses of their campaign ; and the English
renounced the cause of Raghoba, who was to live at Kopargaon in
Gujarat on a monthly pension of Rs. 25,000 from the Peshw^a’s
Government.
This treaty did not take effect. The Bombay Government did
not like its terms and they gave shelter to Raghoba in direct viola-
tion of the treaty and despite the protests of Upton, The Poona
leaders also did not fulfil its terms, and in 1777 Nana Fadnavis
received warmly a French adventurer, Chevalier de St. Lubin, and
promised to grant the French a port in Western India, which created
678 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
suspicions in the minds of the members of the Bombay Council
about the designs of the French in South India. The Court of
Directors in several despatches upheld the policy and action of the
Bombay Government, which re-opened the war and sent a force,
consisting of 600 Europeans and 3,300 sepoys, under Colonel
Egerton towards Poona in November, 1778. Owing to ill-health
Egerton made over the command to Colonel Cockburn in January,
1779. On the 9th January the British troops met a large Maratha
army at Telegaon in the Western Ghats, but soon suffered reverses,
which compelled them to sign a humiliating convention at Wadgaon.
By it all territories acquired by the Bombay Government since 1773
were to be surrendered, the force arriving from Bengal was to be
withdrawn and the Sindhia was to receive a share of the revenues
of Broach.
This disgraceful convention was repudiated by the Governor-
General, who wrote: “We have already disavowed the convention
of Wadgaon, Would to God we could as easily efface the infamy
which our national character has sustained.” Freed from the
obnoxious opposition of his colleagues, Hastings now adopted,
measures to retrieve the prestige of the Company. A strong army,
sent from Bengal under Colonel Goddard, marched right across
Central India and took possession of Ahmadabad on the 15th
February and captured Bassein on the 11th December, 1780. They
met with a reverse in April, 1781, however, while attempting to
advance towards Poona and had to fall back. But in the mean-
while, Captain Popham, who had been sent from Bengal by Hastings
to support the Kana of Gohad, an old enemy of the Sindhia, had
captured Gwalior by escalade on the 3rd August. General Camac
also inflicted a defeat on the Sindhia at Sipri (modern Sivpur) on
the 16th February, 1781.
The effect of these victories was to increase the prestige of the
English. Mahadaji Sindhia, who had been long aiming at the
leadership of the Maratha confederacy and wanted a free hand in
Northern India, now changed his attitude and sought to ally
himself with the English. He therefore opened negotiations with
them and promised, on the 13th October, 1781, that he would
effect a treaty between the English and the Poona Government.
The Treaty of Salbai was duly signed on the 17th May,
1782, though it was not ratified by Nana Fadnavis till the 26th
February, 1783. By this treaty the English were confirmed in
the possession of Salsette, and they recognised Mudhava Kao
Narayan as the rightful Peshwa; Raghoba was pensioned off;
Sindhia got back all the territories west of the Jumna ; and Hyder
679
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798
‘All, who was not a party to the treaty, had to give up the territories
which he had conquered from the Nawab of Arcot. Thus the treaty
established the status quo ante bellum. The material gains of the
English secured bj?^ this treaty were not “very impressive”, though
they were put to a great financial strain which led Hastings to take
recourse to objectionable financial methods. Nevertheless, it marks
a turning-point in the history of British supremacy in India. It
gave them “peace with the Marathas for twenty years” and thus
left them comparatively free to fight their other enemies like
Tipu and the French and to bring the Nizam and the Nawab of Oudh
under their control. But we shall over-emphasise its importance
if we say that “it established beyond dispute the dominance of the
British as the controlling factor in Indian politics, their subsequent
rise in 1818 to the position of a paramount power being an inevitable
result of the position gained by the Treaty of Salbai”.
As a matter of fact, though Hastings had been able to save
the British position in India in the face of an extremely embarrass-
ing situation, it could hardly be regarded as being completely
secure. The Company had still to reckon with the jealousy and
hostility of the Marathas and Tipu, and to be on guard against
the activities of the powers that had been rising in the Punjab,
Nepal and Burma. 1^. (later Sir John) Macpherson, the senior
member of the Council, who acted as the Governor-General for a
year and a half till the arrival of Lord Cornwallis, had neither the
ability nor the integrity to continue e£6.ciently the policy of his prede-
cessor. Further, clause 34 of Pitt’s India Act, 1784, enjoined
the Company to follow a policy of non-intervention in Indian
politics. Though, owing to the rather insecure position of the
Company in India, this policy could not be strictly followed either by
Cornwallis or by Shore, yet the period extending from the departure of
Hastings till the commencement of Lord Wellesley’s administration
was one of comparative political inactivity on the part of the English
in India.
B. The Marathas after JSalbai
The Maratha confederacy had indeed been greatly weakened by
this time through the “mutual distrust and selfish intrigues” of its
members, who owned only a loose allegiance to it. But there appeared
among the Marathas some able personalities like Ahalya Bai,
Mahadaji Sindhia and Nana Fadnavis. In the words of Sir John
Malcolm, whose knowledge of Maratha affairs of the time was
based on personal investigations, “the success of Ahalya Baee in
the internal administration of her domains was altogether won-
680
AJSr ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
derful.'*- ... In tlie most sober view that can be taken of her
character, she certainly appears, within her limited sphere, to
have been one of the purest and most exemplary rulers that ever
existed”. Ahalya Bai died in 1796, when the government of
Indore passed into the hands of Tukoji Holkar, a good soldier though
devoid of political ability. Tukojl’s death in 1797 was followed
by chaos and confusion in the Indore kingdom,
Mahadaji Sindhia was the most outstanding Maratha chief of
the period. The Treaty of Salhai recognised him as “ as far as related
to the British Government an independent prince”, but at the
same time he “continued to observe, on all other points which
referred to his connexion with the Poona Government, the most
scrupulous attention to forms”. He utilised his new position to
extend and consolidate his authority in Northern India. He soon
abandoned the old Maratha method of fighting, maintained in his
army a number of Rajputs and Muhammadans, and organised it
on European scientific methods by employing Benoit de Boigne,
a Savoyard (French) military expert, and other European adven-
turers of various races and classes. With a view to realising his
ambitions in the north he went to Delhi, made the titular Emperor,
Shah ‘Alam II, already helpless in the midst of violence, confusion
and anarchy, his puppet, and utilised the fiction of his sovereignty
to establish Maratha supremacy rapidly in Hindustan. He obtained
from the Emperor the office of W ahil-i-mutluq for his nominal
master, the Peshwa, and himself became the Peshwa’s ndib or
deputy. He also gained the command over the imperial army. In
fact, he remained in Northern India as “the nominal slave but the
rigid master of the unfortunate Shah Alum, Emperor of Delhi”.
By 1792 Mahadaji established his ascendancy over the Rajputs and
the Jats and his power in Northern India reached its “meridian
splendour”. He next thought it necessary to establish his influence
at Poona, where Nana Fadnavis, an astute politician, controlled
all affairs, and so proceeded to the south in June, 1792, apparently
to pay his respects to the young Peshwa, Madhava Rao II. During
Mahadaji Sindhia’s absence from the north, his neighbour, Tukoji
Holkar, challenged his authority but was severely defeated
by his trained troops under de Boigne at Lakheri near Ajmer.
Before his cherished object could be fulfilled, Sindhia died of fever
at Poona on the 12th February, 1794, at the age of sixty-seven. His
Some records originally kept at Maheshwar, the old capital of the Holkars,
and recently brought to light {Proceedings, Indian Historical Records Com-
mission, December, 1930) by Sardar Rao Bahadur Kibe, M.A., Deputy
Prime Minister, Indore State, “show what a leading part the pious lady
Ahalya Bai took in the stirring events of the time”.
681
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798
vast possessions and military resources were inherited by his
thirteen-year-old nephew and adopted son, Daulat Rao Sindhia.
Grant Duff has justly considered the death of Mahadaji Sindhia,
a statesman of no mean order and an able military commander,
“as an event of great political significance, both as it affected the
Maratha Empire and the other states of India”. It sealed the fate of
Maratha supremacy in the north, where the English were left com-
paratively free to build up their dominion. The English must have
regarded the success of Mahadaji in the north as opposed to their
political interests, because judging “from the incessant perseverance
with which he laboured to bring to maturity schemes once formed
for his own aggrandisement, had his life been extended, he would in
aU probability have become a formidable antagonist to the interests
of Great Britain, whose rulers were not unacquainted with his
active spirit or insatiable ambition”. As a matter of fact, we find
in the records of the English “various proofs of watchful jealousy”
of Mahadaji’s movements.
Maratha affairs at the centre now passed under the absolute
control of Nana Fadnavis. One of the objects of Nana was to
recover the lost territories of the Marathas to the south of the
Narmada. This made a collision with Tipu Sultan of Mysore
inevitable. The Marathas, therefore, concluded a treaty of
alliance with the Nizam in July, 1784, and a Maratha army under
the command of Hari Pant Phadke started from Poona on the
1st December, 1785. Tipu made some feeble attempts to oppose
the invaders, but, apprehending the formation of an alliance
between the English and the Marathas, opened negotiations for
peace, which was concluded in April, 1787. Tipu agreed to pay
forty-five lacs of rupees, and to make over the districts of Badami,
Edttur, and Nargund to the Marathas, and got back the places
which the latter had conquered. But this agreement between Tipu
and the Marathas did not last long, as on the outbreak of hostilities
between the English and Tipu (a.d. 1789-1792), the Marathas
and the Nizam formed an offensive and defensive alliance with
Cornwallis against the Sultan of Mysore. This triple alliance became
for some time, in spite of clause 34- of Pitt’s India Act, “a definite
factor in Indian politics”.
It rested, however, on too insecure a basis to be effective for a
long time, as the allies had united together only to serve their
respective interests against the aggressions of Tipu and not out
of any feeling of sincere attachment towards one another. The
Nizam was an old foe of the Marathas, and as soon as the danger
on the part of Tipu had been somewhat lessened, all the Maratha
682
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
leaders — ^the Peshwa, Daulat Rao Sindhia, Tukoji Holkar and the
Raja of Berar — combined together against him. The Peshwa’s
claim to cJiauth and sardeshmuhhi over the Nizam served as the
immediate cause for war. The Nizam’s troops had been trained
by the Frenchman, Raymond,^ and all negotiations having failed,
the two parties were ^iven to “decide their differences by the
sword”. The Nizam appealed to the English for help, but got
nothing from them. He was defeated by the Marathas at Efharda
or Kurdla (fifty-six miles south-east of Ahmadnagar) in March,
1795, and was compelled to conclude a humiliating treaty which
subjected him to heavy pecuniary losses and to large territorial con-
cessions. Had Shore intervened, the result of the battle might have
been different. His critics point out that the Nizam was entitled
to British support on the strength of the treaty of February, 1768,
by which the Nizam had placed himself under the protection
of the English. But it might be argued in defence of Shore that
he was precluded from such intervention by clause 34 of Pitt’s
India Act. Further, the Marathas were then at peace with the
English, who were not bound by any previous agreement to help
the Nizam against a friendly power.
2 . Anglo-Mysore Relations
A. The First Anglo-Mysore War
Mysore under Hyder and Tipu was a source of danger to the rising
British power in India during the second half of the eighteenth
century. While the Carnatic was distracted by wars, and Bengal
was passing through political revolutions, Hyder steadily rose to
power in Mysore. Originally an adventurer, he entered the
service of Nanjraj, the Dalwai or prime minister of Mysore,
who had made himself the practical dictator over the titular Hindu
ruler of the State. Though uneducated and illiterate, Hyder was
endowed with a strong determination, admirable courage, keeii
intellect and shrewd common sense. Taking advantage of the
prevailing distractions in the south, he increased his power and soon
supplanted his former patron. He extended his territories by
conquering Bednore, Sunda, Sera, Canara, and Guti and by subju-
gating the petty Poligars of South India. ^ The rapid rise of Hyder
^ The Nizam kept “two battalions of female sepoys” who “took part in
the battle and behaved no worse than the rest of the army”, lieiujal : Past
and Present, 1933.
* The eighteenth-century history of India was lai’gely influenced by tlie
rise of adventurers to power: ‘Alivardl in Bengal, Sa'adat and Safdar
Jang in Oudh, Saif-ud-daulah in the Punjab, and the Nizam-ul-mulk, Hyder
and Tipu in South India.
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798 683
naturally excited the jealousy of the Marathas, the Nizam and the
English. The Marathas invaded his territories in a.d. 1765 and com-
pelled him to surrender Guti and Savanur and to pay an indemnity of
thirty- two lacs of rupees. In November, 1766, the Madras Government
agreed to assist the Nizam against Hyder in return for his ceding
the Northern Sarkars. In short, the Marathas, the Nizam, and
the English entered into a triple aUiance against Hyder. But the
Marathas, who first attacked Mysore, were soon bought off by the
Mysore chief. The Nizam, accompanied by a company of British
troops under the command of General Joseph Smith, invaded Mysore
in April, 1767, but, influenced by Mahfuz Khan, brother and rival of
the pro-British Nawab Muhammad ‘Ali of the Carnatic, he quickly
deserted the English and allied himself with their enemy. It should
be noted that the Madras Government failed to manage affairs
skilfully, but Smith was able to defeat the new allies at the Pass
of Changama and Trinomali in September, 1767. Hyder was soon
abandoned by his fickle ally, the Nizam, with whom the Madras
Government tactlessly concluded an iU-advised treaty on the
23rd February, 1768. By this the Nizam confirmed his old treaty
obligations in as irresponsible a manner as he had broken them ;
and declaring Hyder a “rebel and usurper” he agreed to
assist the English and the Nawab of the Carnatic in chastising
him. This alliance with the vacillating Nizam was of no help to
the English, but it needlessly provoked the hostility of Hyder.
“You have brought us into such a labyrinth of difficulties,” observed
the Court of Directors, “that we do not see how we shall be extri-
cated from them.” The Court of Directors, then not in favour of
the further expansion of British territories in India but eager to
preserve what had already been acquired, further wrote: . .it
is not for the Company to take the part of umpires of Indostan.
If it had not been for the imprudent measures you have taken,
the country powers would have formed a balance among themselves.
We wish to see the Indian princes remain as a check upon one
another without our interfering.”
In spite of the Nizam’s desertion Hyder continued to fight with
great vigour. He recovered Mangalore after defeating the Bombay
troops, appeared within five miles of Madras in March, 1769, and
dictated a peace on the 4th April, 1769, which provided for the
exchange of prisoners and mutual restitution of conquests. It Was
also a defensive alliance, as the English promised to help Hyder in
case he was attacked by any other power.
684
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
B. The Second Anglo-Mysore War
Tile terms of the treaty of 1769 were not fulfilled, by the Madras
Government. When the Marathas invaded Hyder’s territories in
1771, the English did not help him. This naturally offended the
Mysore ruler, who remained on the look-out for an opportunity
to strike once again. In 1779 he joined in a grand confederacy
against the English, which was organised by the discontented
Nizam and to which the Marathas, already at war with the Bombay
Government, were a party. The British capture of Mahe, a small
French settlement within the jurisdiction of Hyder, added to his
resentment. He held that the neutrality of his kingdom had thus
been violated, and declared war. Thus, as Hastings said, there was
“a war actual or impending in every quarter and with every power
in Hindustan”. Outside India, also France, Spain, Holland and
the revolted American colonies had combined against England,
and France sought to utilise this opportunity to regain her lost
position in India.
In July, 1780, Hyder, with about 80,000 men and 100 guns,
came down upon the plains of the Carnatic “like an avalanche,
carrying destruction with him”. He defeated an English detach-
ment under Colonel Baillie and in October, 1780, seized Arcot.
The situation was indeed a critical one for the Company. In the
words used by Sir Alfred Lyall, “the fortunes of the English in India
had fallen to their lowest water-mark”. But Warren Hastings soon
sent to the south Sir Eyre Coote, the victor of Wandiwash and
then Commander-in-Chief in India and a member of the Supreme
Council, “to stand forth and vindicate in his own person the
rights and honour of British arms”. He also detached the Baja
of Berar, Mahadaji Sindliia and, the Nizam from aUiance with
Hyder. Nothing daunted by these desertions, Hyder continued
the war with his usual firmness and vigour, but Sir Eyre Coote
defeated him severely at Porto Novo in 1781. The English captured
Negapatam in November, 1781, and Trincomali, the best harbour
in Ceylon, from the Dutch. An English force under Colonel Braith-
waite was, however, defeated by the Mysore troops. Early in 1782
a French squadron under the command of Admiral Suffren appeared
in Indian waters, and in the month of February next Du Chemin
came with 2,000 men under his command. After some indecisive
engagements of the English with the French and the Mysore troops,
active hostilities ceased with the commencement of the rainy
season. Hyder was not destmed to fight any longer. The fatal effects
of cancer resulted in his exit from this world at an advanced age
685
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798
on the 7th December, 1782. On the English side, Coote had retired
owing to ill-health, leaving General Stuart in command of the
Company’s troops. He died at Madras in April, 1783.
Hyder was one of the ablest personalities in the history of India,
who rose from obscurity to power during the distractions of the
eighteenth century. A completely self-made man, he was endowed
with strong determination, admirable courage, a keen intellect
and a retentive memory, which more than counterbalanced his
lack of the ability to read and write. Cool, sagacious, and intrepid
in the field, he was remarkably tactful and vigorous in matters
of administration, and had aU business of the State transacted
before his eyes with regularity and quickness. Easily accessible to
all, he had the wonderful capacity of giving attention to various
subjects at the same time without being distracted by any one of
these. It would be unfair to describe him as an “absolutely un-
scrupulous” man, who “had no religion, no morals, and no com-
passion”, as Dr. Smith has done. Though he did not strictly follow
the external observances of his religion, he had a sincere religious
conscience, and Wilks has described him as the “most tolerant”
of all Muhammadan princes. Bowring gives a fair estimate of
him in the following words : “ . . .he was a bold, an original, and
an enterprising commander, skilful in tactics and fertile in resources,
full of energy and never desponding in defeat. He was singularly
faithful to his engagements, and straight-forward in his policy
towards the British. Notwithstanding the severity of his internal
rule, and the terror which he inspired, his name is always men-
tioned in Mysore with respect if not with admiration. While
the cruelties which he sometimes practised are forgotten, his
prowess and success have an abiding place in the memory of the
people.”
Tipu, as brave and warlike as his father, continued the war
against the English. Brigadier Mathews, appointed by the Bombay
Government to the supreme command, was captured with all
his men by Tipu in 1783. On the 23rd June of the same year
news of a peace between the English and the French reached India.
Colonel FuUarton captured Coimbatore in November, 1783, and
intended to faU upon Tipu’s capital, Seringapatam, but he was
recalled by the authorities at Madras, where Lord Macartney had
been eager for a peace with Tipu since his arrival as Governor and
had sent envoys to his camp. Thus the Treaty of Mangalore was
concluded in March, 1784, on the basis of mutual restitution of con-
quests and liberation of the prisoners. Warren Hastings did not like
the terms of the treaty in the least and exclaimed, “What a man
686 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
is this Lord Macartney ! I yet believe that^ in spite of the peace, he
wOl effect the loss of the Carnatic.”
C. The Third Anglo-Mysore War
Lord Cornwallis (1786-1793) came to India bound by Pitt’s
India Act to refrain from following a policy of war and conquest,
except for purely defensive purposes. But he soon came to realise
that it was not possible to follow strictly the injunctions of the
said Act, which, as he expressed it, was “attended with the un-
avoidable inconvenience of our (the Company’s) being constantly
exposed to the necessity of commencing a war without having
previously secured the assistance of efficient aUies”.^ Taking into
consideration the facts of international politics, he rightly believed
that Anglo-French hostility in Europe was bound to have its reper-
cussions in India and that Tipu, aUying himself with the French,
would surely strike once more against the English. “I look upon
a rupture with Tipu”, he wrote to Malet, Resident at Poona, in
March, 1788, “as a certain and immediate consequence of a war with
France, and in that event a vigorous co-operation of the Marathas
would certainly be of the utmost importance to our interests in
the country.”
As a matter of fact, the Treaty of Mangalore was nothing but
a “hollow truce”. Tipu also knew that the renewal of hostilities
with the English was inevitable, because both were aiming at
political supremacy over the Deccan. A ruler like Tipu could
hardly remain satisfied with the arrangement of 1784. He tried
to enlist for himself the support of France and of Constantinople,
and sent envoys to both places in 1787 ; but he received only
“promises of future help and no active assistance for the present”.
Certain factors soon led to the third Anglo-Mysore conflict.
In 1788 Lord Cornwallis obtained Guntur in the Northern Sarkars
from the Nizam, who in return asked for British help on the strength
of the Treaty of Masulipatam, 1768. Cornwallis now took a course
of action which amounted to a violation of the Act of 1784 in the
spirit if not in the letter. He wrote a letter to the Nizam on the
7th July, 1789, with a view to laying “the foundation of a permanent
and powerful co-operation”. He deliberately omitted Tipu’s name
from the letter, which was declared to be as binding “as a treaty
in due form could be”. Wilks, the historian of Southern India
at this time, remarks that “it is highly instructive to observe a
' Letter to Malet, 28tli February, 1790, Forest, State Papers about Corn-
wallis, Vol, 11, p. 10.
687
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1766-1798
statesman, justly extolled for moderate and pacific dispositions,
thus mdirectly violating a law, enacted for the enforcement of
these virtues, by entering into a very intelligible offensive alliance”.
“The liberal construction of the restrictions of the Act of Parlia-
ment had upon this occasion,” remarks Sir John Malcolm, “the
effect of making the Governor-General pursue a course which was
not only questionable in point of faith but which must have
been more offensive to Tipoo Sultan and more calculated to produce
a war with France than an avowed contract of defensive engage-
ment framed for the express and legitimate purpose of limiting
his inordinate ambition.”
This was indeed a sufficient provocation to Tipu. But the
immediate cause of the war, which had been foreseen both by
Tipu and Cornwallis, was the attack on Travancore by the former
on the 29th December, 1789. The Raja of Travancore was an
old ally of the Company according to the Treaty of Mangalore and
was entitled to the protection of the English. He applied to John
Holland, Governor of Madras, for help but the Madi*as Govern-
ment paid no heed. Lord Cornwallis, however, considered
Tipu’s attack on Travancore to be an act of war and severely
condemned the conduct of the Madras Government. Both the
Nizam and the Marathas, who apprehended that the growth of
Tipu was prejudicial to their interests and were thus not well
disposed towards him, entered into a “Triple Alliance” with the
English on the 1st June and 4th July, 1790, respectively. The
troops of the Marathas and of the Nizam rendered useful services
to the English in the course of the war, as Lord Cornwallis himself
admitted.
The Third Anglo-Mysore War was carried on for about two years
in three campaigns. The first under Major-General Medows did
not produce any decisive result, as Tipu displayed “greater skill
in strategy” than Medows. Lord Cornwallis wrote to Henry
Dundas of the Board of Control: “. . . we have lost time and
our adversary has gained reputation, which are two most valuable
things in war.” He personally assumed command of the British
troops in December, 1790, when he also formed the project of
deposing Tipu in favour of the heir of the old Hindu ruling dynasty
of Mysore. Marching tlmough Vellore and Ambur to Bangalore,
which wns captured on the 21st March, 1791, he reached Arikera,
about nine miles east of Seringapatam, Tipu’s capital, by the
13th May. But on this occasion too Tipu disxDlayed brilliant
generalship ; and when the rains set in, Cornwallis had to retreat
to Mangalore owing to the utter lack of equipment and provisions
688
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
for his array. The fighting was resumed in the summer of 1791,
and Tipu captured Coimbatore on the 3rd November. But Corn-
wallis, with the help of an army sent from Bombay, soon occupied
the hill-forts that lay in his path towards Seringapatam, arrived
near it on the 5th February, 1792, and attacked its outworks.
By his military and diplomatic skfil Tipu averted a complete
disaster, but he realised the impossibility of further resistance.
After some preliminary negotiations, the Treaty of Seringapatam
was concluded in March, 1792. Tipu had to surrender half of his
dominions, out of which a large portion, stretching from the Krishna
to beyond the Penar river, was given to the Nizam, and a portion
to the Marathas, which extended them territory to the Tuhga-
bhadra. The English acquired Malabar and sovereignty over the Raja
of Coorg, to whom Tipu had to grant independence ; Dindigul and the
adjoining districts on the south; and the Baramahal district on
the east. These were “ cessions of considerable importance in adding
to the strength and compactness of the Company’s territories”.
Moreover, Tipu had to pay an indemnity of more than £3,000,000
and to send two of his sons as hostages to CornwaUis’s camp.
Some writers have criticised Lord Cornwallis for having con-
cluded the treaty with the Sultan of Mysore instead of effecting
his destruction, which, in their opinion, could have been easily
done. Munro wrote: “Everything is now done by moderation
and conciliation. At this rate we shall be Quakers in twenty years
more.” Thornton regrets that Tipu “should have been granted so
favourable terms”. But it should be noted that Cornwallis took
this step out of some practical considerations. Sickness was spread-
ing among his troops ; war with France, and the consequent alliance
between Tipu and the French, were apprehended; and the Court
of Directors insisted on peace. Further, Cornwallis was not at all
eager to occupy the whole kingdom of Mysore, which, in his
opinion, would have made it difficult to effect a convenient settle-
ment with the aUies.
3. British Relations with Hyderabad and the Carnatic
A. The Nizam of Hyderabad
Like the governors of the other provinces, the Nizam-ul-mulk
Asaf Jah, though theoretically a representative of the Delhi
Emperor in the Deccan, had made himself virtually independent
of the latter’s authority in the reign of Muhammad Shrdi. But the
authority of his son, Nizam ‘Ali, was menaced by the growing
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798 689
ambitions of the Marathas and the Sultans of Mysore, which led
him to court British help. On the 12th November, 1766, he con-
cluded an offensive and defensive alliance with the Madras Council.
In the course of the First Anglo-Mysore War, he was temporarily
seduced from this alliance by an agent of Hyder ‘Ali, but he soon
concluded a peace with the English at Masulipatam on the 23rd
February, 1768. According to the treaty of 1766, as revised in
1768, the Company promised to pay an annual tribute of nine
lacs of rupees to the Nizam in return for the latter’s grantmg them
the Northern Sarkars. The sarkdr of Guntur being given for life
to the Nizam’s brother, Basalat Jang, the amount of tribute was
reduced to seven lacs. But in 1779 Rumbold, the tactless governor
of Madras, secured the sarkdr of Guntur directly from Basalat
Jang and sought to stop the payment of tribute to the Nizam,
who had violated the treaty of 1768 by takmg French troops
into his service. This was disapproved of by the Governor-General,
Warren Hastings, but it served to alienate the Nizam, whose
resentment had been already aroused by the English alliance with
Raghoba, at a very critical moment. He joined in an anti-English
confederacy with Hyder and the Marathas. Hastings, however,
succeeded in detaching the Nizam from the confederates by
returning Guntur to Basalat Jang when the Second Anglo-
Mysore War had already progressed to the disadvantage of the
English.
But after the death of Basalat Jang in 1782, the English demanded
the cession of Guntur from the Nizam on the strength of the treaty
of 1768. Guntur occupied a position of importance both for the
Nizam and the English ; for the former it was the only outlet to the
sea, and for the latter its possession was necessary to connect their
possessions in the north with those in the south. After some
hesitation the Nizam surrendered Guntur to the English in 1788
and in return sought their help, according to the treaty of 1768,
to recover some of his districts which Tipu had seized. Lord
CornwaUis, the then Governor-General, found himself in a delicate
position, because the right of the Mysore Sultans to those very
territories had been recognised by the English by two separate
treaties concluded with Hyder and Tipu respectively in 1769 and
1785 ; and also because he was precluded by clause 34 of Pitt’s
India Act from declaring war agahast Indian powers or concluding
a treaty with that object without being previously attacked. But
at the same time he was eager to secure allies in view of the certain
war with Tipu. So he wrote a letter to the Nizam on the 7th July,
1789, explaining the treaty of 1768 to suit his motives, and agreeing
690 m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
to support the Nizam with British troops, which could not be
employed against the allies of the English, a list of whom was
included, Tipii’s name being deliberately excluded from it. Thus
the Nizam joined the Triple Alliance of 1790 and fought for the
EngUsh in the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
As we have already noted, Sir John Shore, in pursuance of
the neutrality policy laid down by Pitt’s India Act, did not lend
assistance to the Nizam against the Marathas, who severely defeated
him at Kharda in March, 1795.
B. The Carnatic
The Carnatic, distracted by the Anglo-French conflicts of the
mid-eighteenth century, afterwards suffered terribly from the evils
of a demoralised adnaimstration, due partly to the disreputable
character of its Nawab, Muhammad ‘ Aii, and partly to the vacillating
and selfish policy of the Madras Government. “The moral atmos-
phere of Madras appears at this time,” remarks Thornton,
“to have been pestilential; corruption revelled unrestrained; and
strong indeed must have been the power which could effectually
repress it while Mahomet Ali (Muhammad ‘Ali) had purposes to
gain and either money or promises to bestow.” Ceasing to reside
at Arcot, Muhammad ‘Ali spent his days in a magnificent palace
at Chepauk, a fishing vUlage in the suburb of Madras, steeped
in pleasure and luxury, to meet the extravagant expenses of
which he borrowed lavishly from the Company’s servants at
Madras at exorbitant rates of interest, sometimes rising as high
as 36 per cent per annum, and granting them assignments on the
land revenues of the Carnatic districts. He was not, declared
Burke, “a real potentate”, but “a shadow, a dream, an incubus
of oppression”. The “Nabob of Arcot’s Debts”, through which
the European bond-holders, including some members of the Madras
Council, amassed huge fortunes at the expense of the interests of the
kingdom, gave rise to serious administrative scandals and so the
British Parliament tried to deal with them. But the Board of Control
intervened in the matter and ordered that the debts of the Nawab
should be paid out of the revenues of the Carnatic. This decision
of the ministry, denoimced by Burke and others, dealt a
severe blow “at the cause of pure administration in the East”.
According to an arrangement dated the 2nd December, 1781, the
revenues of the Carnatic had been assigned to British control, the
Nawab being given one-sixth for his maintenance. But now that
the creditors of the Nawab clamoured for their money, the Board
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798 691
of Control ordered the restitution of the revenues to the Nawab
who went on plunging himself all the deeper into debt.
Thus the relations between Muhammad ‘Ali and the Company
were very complicated when Lord ComwaUis came to India as the
Company’s Governor- General for the jSrst time. On the 24th
February, 1787, the English concluded a treaty with the Nawab,
by which they agreed to defend the whole country in return
for a subsidy of fifteen lacs of pagodas (a coin current in Southern
India corresponding at the normal rate of exchange to three and
a half rupees). But during the war with Tipu (1790-1792) the
Company took into its own hands the entire control of the Carnatic
intending “to secure the two states (the Carnatic and Madras)”,
as Malcolm says, “against the dangers to which they thought
them exposed from the mismanagement of the Hawab’s officers”.
At the close of the war a treaty was concluded on the 12th July,
1792, by which the Carnatic was restored to its Hawab and at the
same time the British subsidy was reduced ffiom fifteen lacs of
pagodas to nine lacs.
Muhammad ‘Ali died on the 13th October, 1795, and his son
and successor, Omdut-ul-Umara, could not be persuaded by Lord
Hobart, Governor of Madras since September, 1794, to modify the
treaty of 1792 to the extent of giving to the Company aU the
territories which had been pledged as security for arrears of pecuniary
instalments. The new Nawab, “perplexed, plagued and intimi-
dated” by his creditors, would not accede to the proposals.
The desire of the Madras governor to go to the length of annexing
Tinnevelly was not supported by the Governor-General, Sir John
Shore. The corruption in the Carnatic Government continued
unabated, owing, as Mill aptly expresses it, to “the compound of
opposition of the Supreme Government and of the powerful class
of individuals whose profit depended upon the misgovemment
of the country. ...”
4 . British Relations with Oudh, Benares and Ruhelkhand
A. Warren Hastings^ Oudh Policy and the Ruhela War
Since the Anglo-Oudh treaty of 1765, the Company was definitely
resolved to maintain friendly relations with Oudh with a view to
utilising it as a bulwark against the incursions of the Marathas or
of the Afghans. Thus when in 1770-1771 the Delhi Emperor,
Shah ‘Alam II, placed himself under Maratha tutelage, Warren
Hastings deprived the Emperor of the districts of Kora and
692 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Allahabad and made these over to the Nawab of Oudh in return for
fifty lacs of rupees and an annual subsidy to maintain a garrison
of the Company’s troops for the Nawab’s protection. This arrange-
ment was ratified by the Treaty of Benares, September, 1773,
when Hastings had a conference with the Nawab.
But this poKcy of Hastings drew the Company into a war with
the Ruhelas. The fertile country of Ruhelkhand, lying at the base
of the Himalayas to the north-west of Oudh, with a population
of about 6,000,000, the bulk of whom were Hindus, and governed
by a confederacy of Ruhela chiefs under the leadership of Hafiz
Rahamat Khan, had been threatened by the Marathas since 1771.
The Nawab of Oudh also coveted the province of Ruhelkhand
and there was no love lost between him and the Afghans of that
tract. But the common Maratha danger led the Ruhelas and Shuja-
ud-daulah, the Nawab of Oudh, to sign a treaty on the 17th June,
1772, in the presence of Sir Robert Barker. It provided that if
the Marathas invaded Ruhelkhand, the Nawab of Oudh would
expel them, for which the Ruhelas would pay him forty lacs of
rupees. The Marathas invaded Ruhelkhand in the spring of 1773,
but they were repulsed by the combined British and Oudh troops
and coifid not think of repeating their incursions owing to the
disorders at Poona after the death of the Peshwa, Madhava Rao 1.
The Nawab of Oudh then demanded from the Ruhela leader the
payment of the stipulated sum of forty lacs of rupees, which was,
however, evaded by the latter. On the strength of the Treaty of
Benares (September, 1773), Shuja-ud-daulah demanded, early in
February, 1774, the help of the Company to coerce Hafiz Rahamat
Khan. A British army was accordingly sent under the command
of Colonel Champion; and the allied British and Oudh troops
marched into Ruhelkhand on the 17th April, 1774. Six days later,
the decisive battle was fought at Miranpur Katra. The Ruhelas
were defeated though, as the British commander observed, they
exhibited “great bravery and resolution”. Hafiz Rahamat was
killed fighting bravely ; about 20,000 Ruhelas were expelled beyond
the Ganges ; and their province was annexed to the Oudh kingdom,
only a fragment of it, together with Rampura, being left m the
possession of FaizuUah Kdian, son of ‘Ali Muhammad Ruhela, the
founder of the Ruhela power.
Opinions are sharply divided on the merits and demerits of
Hastings’ policy in the Ruhela War. It was one of the main points
of attack on Hastings m Parliament in 1786. Not only Burke
and Macaulay but also most of the older school of historians, like Mill
and others, have condemned it in severe terms. In their opinion,
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER. 1765-1798 693
Hastings “deliberately sold the lives and liberties of a free people
and condoned horrible atrocities on the part of the armies of the
Nawab of Oudh”. But the policy has found defenders in some
modern writers, notably in Sir John Strachey, who has tried in
his Hastings and the Eohilla War to justify it wholly. Though
some of the expressions of Burke, Macaulay or Mill may be
regarded as unjust invective, the policy of Hastings cannot
escape reasonable criticism from certain points of view. One has
to note that the expediency of the transaction was doubted by
Hastings himself and still more by his Council, and they treated
it during its initial stages with vacillation. Hastings might have
thought, while concluding the Treaty of Benares, that the occasion
for helping the Nawab of Oudh would never arise ; but to be com-
mitted to a course of action, without duly weighing the remote
consequences involved in it, is not, in the words Mr. P. E.
Roberts, “the happiest or most efScient kind of poKtical conduct”.
It is also dij6S.cult to support the view that Hastings was in duty
bound to lend assistance to the Nawab of Oudh as the treaty
between the latter and the Ruhelas had been concluded under
British guarantee. Sir Robert Barker had merely witnessed the
signatures of the two parties and did nothing else regarding it.
Further, it is improper to argue, as Sir John Strachey has done,
that the Ruhelas deserved expulsion from their province as they
had established their rule over its Hindu population only twenty-
five years before. It is clear that their title to the province was as
good as that of many of the Indian States of the time which
were rising on the ruins of the Mughul Empire. We have con-
temporary evidence, which could not be quite ignored even by
Sir John Strachey, to show that the Hindus of Ruhelkhand were
well governed and enjoyed prosperity under the Ruhelas; it was
the new Oudh rule that proved to be oppressive to them. Even
Sir John Strachey has to admit that Hastings’ policy was “some-
what cynical”. Lastly, the Ruhelas cannot be accused of having
in any way offended the English. Sir Alfred Lyall very reasonably
observes that “the expedition against the Rohfilas was wrong in
principle, for they had not provoked us, and the Vezir could only
be relied upon to abuse his advantages”. The whole transaction
smacks of selfish motives, mainly of a mercenary character, and
it undoubtedly set a bad precedent. Its nature is clear from what
Hastings himself avowed: “The absence of the Marathas, and the
wnak state of the Rohillas, promised an easy conquest of them,
and I own that such was my idea of the Company’s distress at
home added to my knowdedge of their wants abroad, that J
694
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
should have been glad of any occasion to employ their forces,
that saves so much of their pay and expenses.”
B. The Chait Singh Affair
Mercenary motives led Hastings to commit two more indefensible
acts. In one case, he made exorbitant demands on Chait Singh,
the Raja of Benares. Originally a feudatory of the Nawab of Oudh,
Chait Singh placed himself under the overlordship of the Company
by a treaty in July, 1775, whereby he agreed to pay an annual
tribute of 22-| lacs of rupees to his new masters. But with the
outbreak of Anglo-French hostilities in 1778, Hastings demanded
from the Raja an additional sum of five lacs as a war contribution,
which he paid. The demand was, however, repeated several times,
and the Raja after pleading for time and exemption complied with
it on every occasion. This did not suffice to satisfy Hastings.
In 1780 he ordered the Raja to furnish 2,000 cavalry, reduced at
the latter’s request to 1,000. The Raja gathered 500 cavalry and
500 infantry as substitute, and informed Hastings that they were
ready for serving the Company ; but he received no reply. Hastings
had already determined to inflict on him a fine of fifty lacs of rupees,
“I was resolved,” he said, “to draw from his guilt the means of
relief to the Company’s distress, ... In a word I had determined
to make him pay largely for his pardon, or to exact a severe
vengeance for his past delinquency.” To carry out his plans
Hastings went in person to Benares and placed the Raja under
arrest. The Raja submitted quietly; but the indignity inflicted
upon him infuriated his soldiers, who rose suddenly, without their
master’s instigation or his knowledge, and massacred a number of
English sepoys with three officers. Hastings retired for his personal
safety to Chunar, but soon gathering all the available troops sup-
pressed the rising. Chait Singh justly argued his innocence in
regard to complicity in the massacre; but to no effect. lie was
expelled from his country and found shelter at Gwalior, His
kingdom was conferred upon his nephew, who was to pay a tribute
of forty lacs, instead of 22| lacs, to the Company.
Whatever might be said by the modern apologists of Hastings,
there is no doubt that his conduct in the Chait Singh affair was
“cruel, unjust and oppressive”, as Pitt observed at the time of
his impeachment. Chait Singh was wrongly described as a mere
zamindar, and not a ruling prince, by the defenders of Hastings.
Even if they could have proved him to be a mere zamindar, one might
yery well question the Justice of fleecing him and him alone and
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798 695
not imposing a common tax on aU the zamindars. The treaty of
5th July, 1775, which stiU regulated the relations between the Raja
and the Company, definitely laid down that “no demand shall be
made upon him by the Hon’ble Company, of any kind, or on any
pretence whatsoever, nor shall any person be allowed to interfere
with his authority, or to disturb the peace of his country”. So
legally the Raja was not bound to pay any extra contribution.
Forrest makes a gross mis-statement of facts when he says that the
Raja’s conduct was “contumacious and refractory and deserving of
punishment”. As a matter of fact, Chait Singh was all along sub-
missive and bis men rose in insurrection without his connivance
only when their master had been humiliated. Unbiased writers
must accept the reasonable verdict of Sir Alfred Lyall that
“Hastings must bear the blame of having provoked the insurrec-
tion at Benares” and that there was “a touch of impolitic severity
and precipitation about his proceedings against Chait Singh” due
to a “certain degree of vindictiveness and private irritation against
the Raja”. It is amply clear that the whole transaction was
iniquitous from the moral point of view. It was also inexpedient.
Dr. V. A. Smith has tried to defend Hastings’ exorbitant demands
on the ground of expediency in view of the “grave necessities”
of the disturbed political situation of the time. But the Governor-
General did not make any financial gain, as the Raja took away
with him a portion of his wealth, and the remaining twenty-three
lacs was looted by the troops to be divided among themselves.
The Company on the contrary was put to the strain of bearing the
cost of the military operations that followed. Thus the Court of
Directors justly criticised Hastings’ policy as “unwarrantable and
impolitic”. Further, the Company obtained the enhanced tribute
of forty lacs from the new Raja of Benares at a great sacrifice of
the interests of the principality, the administration of wFich
became worse under their proteg6.
0. The Case of the Begams of Oudh
After the death of Shuja-ud-daulah, a shrewd, industrious and
clever administrator, on the 26th January, 1775, his son and
successor, Asaf-ud-daulah, unwisely allowed his liabilities to the
Company to be increased by entering into a new treaty with them
known as the Treaty of Faizabad — ^particularly binding himself
thereby to pay a heavier subsidy for the maintenance of British
troops. The administration of Oudh grew more and more corrupt
under the new Nawab, and the subsidy payable to the Company
696
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
fell into arrears. The Begams of Oudh, mother and grandmother
of the reigning prince, had inherited from the deceased Nawab ex-
tensive §ag%rs and immense wealth, which, however, Asaf-ud-daulah,
pressed by the Company for money, sought to seize on the ground
that he had been -unjustly deprived of them. In 1775, on the repre-
sentations of Middleton, the British Resident in Oudh, the widow of
Shuja-ud-daulah gave to her son £300,000, in addition to £260,000
already paid to him, the British Resident and the Council in
Calcutta having given a guarantee that no further demands should
be made on her in future. Hastings, opposed to his Council at this
time, was outvoted. When in 1781 the Nawab of Oudh, pressed by
the British Resident, proposed that he should be permitted to
seize the property and wealth of the Begams to clear off his dues
to the Company, Hastings had no hesitation in consenting to it
and in withdrawing British protection from them. The Nawab
soon began to waver and was afraid, as the Resident remarked,
of the “uncommonly violent temper of his female relations’'; but
Hastings helped to screw up his courage. The Governor-General
wrote to Middleton in December, 1781; “You must not allow
any negotiations or forbearance, but must prosecute both services
until the Begams are at the entire mercy of the Nawab.” British
troops were sent to Faizabad, where the Begams lived; and
their eunuchs were compelled by imprisonment, starvation and
threat, if not actual mfliction, of flogging, to surrender the treasure
in December, 1782.
The conduct of Hastings on this occasion exceeded aU limits
of decency and justice. “The employment of personal severities,
under the superintendence of British officers, in order to extract
money from women and eunuchs,” observes Sir Alfred Lyall
rightly, “is an ignoble kind of undertaking; ... to cancel the
guarantee and leave the Nawab to deal with the recalcitrant princes
was justifiable; to push him on and actively assist in measures
of coercion against women and eunuchs was conduct unworthy
and indefensible.” There can be no doubt that Hastings was the
“moving spirit ” in the whole transaction. Hastings argued, and
his defenders maintain, that the Begams had forfeited their claim
to British protection for their complicity in the affair of Chait
Singh. The contention is hardly tenable. The testimony in regard
to it is conflicting and “the charge of rebellion was ex ^ost facto,
made when it was found necessary to present a justification for
the whole business”.
In his last year of office Hastings made some unsuccessful
attempts to reorganise the administration and finances of Oudh.
697
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER, 1765-1798
Under the orders of the Court of Bireotors, he effected a partial
restitution of the jdgirs to the Begams, and removed the British
Residency, but established in its place “an agency of the Governor-
General” which proved to be a heavier burden on the resources
of the State.
D. Policy of Cornwallis and Shore towards Ovdh
In fact, Oudh continued to groan under the evils of maladminis-
tration and the burden of the Company’s financial demands. In
the time of Lord Cornwallis, the Nawab appealed to him to relieve
him of the “oppressive pecuniary burden” by withdrawing the
Company’s troops stationed at Cawnpore and Fatehgarh. After
meeting the Nawab’s minister Hyder Beg in a conference, the
Governor-General agreed to reduce the subsidies from seventy-four
to fifty lacs but objected to the withdrawal of British troops.
Hyder Beg was really an able minister, eager to reform the
administration, but mth his death in 1794, all hope of reform
came to an end. On the death of Asaf-ud-daulah in 1797, Sir John
Shore intervened in the case of disputed succession between Wazir
‘All, whom Asaf-ud-daulah had looked upon as his successor, and
Sa‘adat ‘Ali, the deceased Hawab’s eldest brother. He raised the
latter to the throne and entered into a treaty with him on the 21st
January, 1798. By this the annual subsidy to be paid by the Nawab
was raised to seventy-six lacs of rupees ; the fort of Allahabad, des-
cribed by Marshman as the “military key of the province”, was
ceded to the Company ; the Nawab bound himself not to hold com-
munications with, or admit into his kingdom, the other Europeans;
and Wazir ‘Ali was allowed to live at Benares on an annual pension
of a lac and a half of rupees. This arrangement, no doubt, greatly
enhanced the Company’s influence, but in no way served to remove
the corruption in the internal government of Oudh. Throughout
this province, “there were in aU respects embarrassment and
disorder. The British subsidy was always in arrear, while the
most frightful extortion was practised in the realisation of the
revenue. Justice was unknown; the army was a disorderly mass,
formidable only to the power whom it professed to serve. The
evils of native growth were aggravated by the presence of an
extraordinary number of European adventurers, most of whom
were as destitute of character and principle as they were of
property”.
CHAPTER IV
ESTABLISHMENT OF BEITISH ASCENDANCY, 1798-1823
I. Anglo-Maratha Relations and Fall of the Marathas
A. The Marathas after Kharda and the Second
Anglo- Mardtha War
The victory of the Marathas at Kliarda enhanced their prestige
and the influence of Nana Fadnavis at Poona. But they were
not destined to reap any permanent advantage out of it. It was
at Kharda that the Maratha chiefs assembled under the authority
of the Peshwa for the last time. Soon they spoiled al their chances
by unwisely indulging in internal quarrels. The young Peshwa,
Madhava Rao Narayan, grew tired of Nana’s dictatorship, and, in a
fit of despair, committed suicide on the 25th October, 1796. The next
in succession was Raghoba’s son, Baji Rao II, a bitter foe of Nana
Fadnavis, whose claims were opposed by the minister. This led to
various plots and counter-plots till at last Baji Rao II was recognised
as the Peshwa and Nana Fadnavis as his chief minister on the 4th
December, 1796. Taking advantage of these dissensions among the
Marathas, the Nizam recovered the territories that he had been
compelled to cede to them after his recent defeat at Kharda.
Devoid of military qualities, and fond of intrigue, Baji Rao II
accentuated the rivalries of the Maratha leaders of the time, by
setting one against another. Unfortunately for the Mara-tha nation,
able leaders like Mahadaji Sindhia, Malhar Rao Holkar and Tukoji
Holkar had already left this world for ever. Their descendants,
like Daulat Rao Sindhia, a nephew and adopted son of Mahadaji
Sindhia, and Jaswant Rao Holkar, a natural son of Tukoji, utterly
devoid of wisdom, only occupied themselves in mutual quarrels, to
the prejudice of national interests, at a time when the Company’s
poHcy of non-intervention had given place to one of aggressive
imperialism with the arrival of Lord Mornmgton (subsequently
Marquess Wellesley) as Governor-General on the 26th April, 1798.
An imperialist to the tips of his fingers and possessed of experience
of Indian affairs as Commissioner of the Board of Control, Wellesley
came to guide the destiny of the Company in India at a time when
698
ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH ASCENDANCY 699
the political situation in this country was “extremely critical”,
as he himself said ; and the Company was exposed to grave dangers,
due largely to Shore’s policy of neutrality. Tipu, the “ancient
enemy of the Company”, had greatly improved his resources,
while his spirit of hostility was unabated; the Nizam was “reduced
in reputation as well as in real strength” and had welcomed French
support, being alienated by the English neutrality in 1795; the
power of Daulat Rao Sindhia “had arrived at a most alarming
eminence”; the Rajas of the Malabar region, with the exception
of the Raja of Coorg, were hostile; there was constant apprehen-
sion of an invasion of the Indian plains by Zaman Shah, the ruler
of Kabul; and the finances of the Company were in an unsatis-
factory condition. The influence of the Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars in Europe added to the gravity of the situation.
The French had allied themselves with Tipu, and Napoleon had
undertaken an expedition into Egypt with a view to threatening
the British position in India.
To save the Company’s position in this menacing situation, and
to safeguard and further the interests of the British Empire as a
whole, Wellesley followed the policy of subsidiary alliances with
regard to the Indian powers. Indeed, the defence of England’s
Empire formed the keynote of Wellesley’s policy. His system of
subsidiary alliances implied that the Indian powers “were to make
no wars and to carry on no negotiations with any other state what-
soever, without the knowledge and consent of the British Govern-
ment. The greater principalities were each to maintain a native
force commanded by British ofidcers for the preservation of the
public peace ; and they were each to cede certain territories in full
sovereignty to meet the yearly charges of this force. The lesser
principalities were to pay a tribute to the paramount power. In
return the British Government was to protect them, one and all,
against foreign enemies of every sort or kind”. Only a weak
power would submit to such an arrangement, and the Nizam, the
feeblest of all the Indian powers, readily accepted it. Some other
Indian States were also conquered or mediatised by Wellesley.
The Marathas had not come into any close contact with the
English since Wellesley’s accession to office. He had asked them
on several occasions to enter his system “of defensive alliance
and mutual guarantee” but got no response. “Hitherto,” wrote
Wellesley in 1800, “either the capricious temper of Baji Rao, or
some remains of the characteristic jealousy of the nation with
regard to foreign relations, have frustrated my object and views.”
But suddenly the course of affairs, even in Maharashtra, took such
700 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
a turn as to afford an opportunity to the English to intervene.
The shrewd old Maratha statesman, Nana Fadnavis, who had so
long done his best to preserve in some form the solidarity of the
Maratha confederacy and had hitherto resisted British interference
in Maratha affairs, died at Poona on the 13th March, 1800. “With
him,” remarked Colonel Palmer, the British Resident at Poona,
with prophetic truth, “departed aU the wisdom and moderation of
the Maratha Government.” Though Nana Fadnavis’ attempt to
estabhsh hegemony at Poona, and his neglect of the north, have
been considered by a modern Marathi writer as shortcomings in
his policy, yet it must be admitted that “he was”, as Grant Duff
observes, “certainly a great statesman . . . he is entitled to the
high praise of having acted with the feelings and sincerity of a
patriot”. He understood the danger of English intervention in the
affairs of the Marathas and was opposed to any alliance with them.
He “respected the English, admired their sincerity; but as political
enemies, no one regarded them with more jealousy and alarm”.
Hi a death meant the removal of the barrier that had checked
to a great extent the disruptive activities of the Maratha chiefs.
Both Daulat Rao Sindhia and Jaswant Rao Holkar now entered
upon a fierce struggle with each other for supremacy at Poona,
and the weak-minded Peshwa made matters worse by his incessant
intrigues. Sindhia at first prevailed, and while he was engaged in
fighting against Holkar’s troops at Malwa, the Peshwa murdered
Vithuji Holkar, brother of Jaswant Rao Holkar. This highly
incensed Jaswant Rao Holkar, whose power and position had
recently improved, and on October 23rd, he defeated the combined
armies of Sindhia and the Peshwa at Poona and captured the
city. After running from place to place, the Peshwa took refuge
at Bassein. Jaswant Rao Holkar placed Vinayak Rao, son of
Amrita Rao, adopted son of Raghoba, on the Peshwa’s masnad.
The Peshwa had for long dechned to accept the Subsidiary
Alliance, but now in his helj)les8 situation applied for protection to
Wellesley. This was what Wellesley wanted, because it fitted in
with his plan of establishing control over the Marathas. Bfiji
Rao II consented to accept the Subsidiary Alliance and signed
the Treaty of Bassein on the 31st December, 1802. As provided
by this treaty, a subsidiary force, consisting “of not less than 6,000
regular infantry, with the usual proportion of field-artillery and
European artfilery-men ”, was to be stationed within the Peshwa’s
territory in perpetuity; and for its maintenance, territories yielding
revenues worth twenty-six lacs of rupees were surrendered by the
Peshwa. Baji Rao II further agreed not to entertain any European
ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH ASCENDANCY 701
hostile to the English and subjected his relations with other States
to the control of the English. Thus he “sacrificed his independence
as the price of protection”. A British force under Arthur Wellesley
conducted the Peshwa to his capital and restored him to his former
position on the 13th May, 1803.
The Treaty of Bassein forms an important landmark in the
history of British supremacy in India. “It was without question”,
to quote Dean Hutton, “a step which changed the footing on which
we stood in Western India. It trebled the English responsibilities
in an instant.” It brought the Company into definite relations
with the formal head of the Maratha confederacy, and henceforth
it “had either to control the greatest Indian power, or was com-
mitted to hostilities with it”. But there is no reason to over-
estimate its importance by holding, as Owen has done, that
“the Treaty by its direct and indirect operations gave the Com-
pany the Empire of India”. The British suzerainty over India
was certainly not a foregone conclusion in 1803 ; a great deal had
still to be achieved before it could be thoroughly established. The
weak pomts of the Treaty of Bassein were criticised in England
in a contemporary paper entitled Observations on the Treaty of
Bassein, written by Lord Castlereagh, the successor, in May, 1801,
of Dundas as President of the Board of Control. He was right in
pointing out that it appeared “hopeless to attempt to govern the
Maratha Empire through a feeble and perhaps disaffected Peshwa”.
He especially attacked that article of the treaty by which the
Peshwa had to accept British arbitration in his disputes with other
powers, and he had a just apprehension of the tendency of the
treaty to involve the English “in the endless and complicated
distractions of that turbulent (Maratha) Empire”. Wellesley
wrongly calculated that after the treaty there existed no reason
“to justify an apprehension” of hostility with the Maratha chiefs,
though at the same time he realised that even if any war actually
broke out the advantages gained by the English as a result of
the Treaty of Bassein would help them to meet their opponents
successfully.
War was not long in coming. The Treaty of Bassein was, as the
Governor-General’s brother, Arthur Wellesley, aptly remarked, “a
treaty with a cipher (the Peshwa)”. It wounded the feelings of
the other Maratha leaders, who saw in it an absolute surrender
of national independence, and by sinking their mutual jealousies
for the time being tried to present a united front to the
British. The Peshwa, now repentant of his action, sent them
secret messages of encouragement. Daulat Rao Sindhia and
702
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Ragliuji Bkonsle II of Berar at once combined and also tried to
win over Jaswant Bao Holkar to their party. But even at this
moment of grave national peril the Maratha chiefs could not
act together. Though Sindhia and Raghuji Bhonsle II mobilised
their troops, Holkar “retired to Malwa with the real design
of being guided by the issue of events” and took the field when
it was too late, and the Gaikwar remained neutral.
Hostilities commenced early in the month of August, 1803.
The total strength of the Maratha armies was 250,000 besides
40,000 troops trained by Frenchmen, while the British troops in
different parts of India numbered about 55,000. But Wellesley
was adequately prepared for the coming war. His measures in
Mysore and at Surat, his treaties with the Gaikwar and Oudh, and,
above all, the Treaty of Bassein “afforded the most efficient means
of opposing the confederacy with success”. The English decided
to attack the enemy at all points, and the war was conducted
in two main centres, in the Deccan under Arthur Wellesley and
in Hindustan under General Lake — and simultaneously in three
subsidiary centres in Gujarat, Bundelkhand and Orissa. The French-
trained battalions of the Marathas did not prove very useful, and
the European officers in Sindhia’s army mostly deserted him. The
Marathas had certainly committed a mistake m abandoning
the harassing tactics of their predecessors and in giving preference
to Western methods of fighting for which they had to depend on
foreigners. It resulted in quick reverses.
In the Deccan, Arthur Wellesley captured Ahmadnagar, on
the Nizam’s frontier, on the 12th August, 1803, and on the 23rd
September gained a complete victory over the combined troops
of Sindhia and Bbonsle at Assaye, situated about forty-five
miles north of Aurangabad. Grant Duff described this battle
as “a triumph more splendid than any recorded in Deccan
history”. Burhanpur and Asirgarh were captured by the English
on the 15th October and 21st October respectively. The Bhonsle
Raja’s forces were completely defeated at Argaon, about fifty
miles east of Burhanpur, on the 29th November, and the English
captured the strong fortress of Gawilgarh on the 15th December,
1803. In Hindustan, also, success attended British arms. Lake
captured Delhi and Agra, and the northern army of the Sindhia
was severely routed at the battle of Delhi in the month of Sep-
tember and at Laswari, in Alwar State, in the month of November.
The English gained further successes in Gujarat, Bundelkhand and
Orissa. Thus, in the course of five mouths, Sindhia and Bhonsle
had to own severe defeats and conclude two separate treaties
ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH ASCENDANCY 703
with, the English. By the Treaty of Deogaon, concluded on the
17th December, 1803, the Bhonsle Raja of Berar ceded to the English
the province of Cuttack, including Balasore, and the whole of his
territory west of the river Warda. The English were henceforth
to arbitrate if he had any disputes with the Nizam or the Peshwa ;
and “no European or American or a nation at war with the English,
704 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
or any British, subject, was to be entertained without the consent
of the British Government”. On his agreeing to maintain a British
Resident at Nagpur, the Honourable M. Elphinstone was sent there.
Sindhia concluded the Treaty of Surji-Arjangaon on the 30th
December, by which he gave to the victors all his territories between
the Ganges and the Jumna and his forts and territories to the
north of the Rajput principalities of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Gohad.
To the westward he ceded to them Ahmadnagar, Broach and all
his territories west of the Ajanta Hills. He renounced all his claims
on the Mughul Emperor, the Peshwa, the Nizam and on the British
Government; agreed not to admit into his service Europeans of
enemy countries or British subjects without the consent of the
English ; and Sir John Malcolm was appointed Resident at his court.
By another treaty, concluded on the 27th February, 1804, he entered
into a subsidiary alliance, according to which a defence force of
6,000 infantry was to be stationed not in Sindhia’s territory,
but near its frontier. As a reward for his loyalty to the English,
the Nizam got, from the old possessions of the Raja of Berar,
all territories to the south of NarnuUa and Gawilgarh and west
of the river Warda, and, from the dominions of Sindhia, districts
south of the Ajanta Hills such as Jalnapur and Gondapur.
As a result of the Second Anglo-Maratha War, the English
secured important advantages in various ways. “With aU the
sanguine temper of my mind,” confessed Wellesley, “I declare
that I could not have hoped for a completion of my plans at once
so rapid and so secure.” The British possessions in Madras and
Bengal were linked up and were expanded also in other dii'ections.
The titular Mughul Emperor, Shah ‘Alam II, came under their
protection and treaties of alliance were concluded with the States
of Jodhpur, Jaipur, Macheri, Bundi and the Jat kingdom of
Bharatpur. The French-trained battalions in the service of the
Marathas were removed. The Nizam and the Peshwa fell more
under their influence than before. Munro, a critical writer, asserted :
“We are now complete masters of India, and nothing can shake
our power, if we take proper measures to confirm it.” But Wellesley
showed an “almost wfllul” error of judgment in believing that
the treaties afforded the “only possible security for the permanent
tranquillity and prosperity of these valuable and important posses-
sions”. The Ministry in England, as is clear from the contem-
porary despatches of Lord Castlereagh, thought otherwise. The
situation in India was rightly diagnosed by Arthur Wellesley, who
thought that his brother, the Governor-General, put “a too
exacting interpretation on the Treaties of Peace”. He wrote
ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH ASCENDANCY 705
on the 13th May, 1804: “Our enemies are much disgusted, and
complain loudly of our conduct and want of faith ; and in truth I
consider the peace to be by no means secured.”
B. War With Holkar
In fact, the peace had already come to an end with the com-
mencement of hostilities (April, 1804) between Holkar, who had
so long kept himself aloof from the war, and the English. Holkar
pursued the old tactics of the Marathas and defeated Colonel
Monson, who had in an iU- judged mamier advanced too far into
the plains of Rajputana, at Mukundara Pass, thirty miles south
of Kotah, and compelled him to retreat to Agra towards the end
of August. Flushed with this success, Holkar marched northward
and besieged Delhi from the 8th to the 14th October, but the city
was successfully defended by the local British Resident, Lt.-
Colonel Ochterlony. A band of Holkar’s troops was defeated at
Dig on the 13th November and another band, personally com-
manded by Holkar, was routed by General Lake on the 17th
November. But the English soon suffered a serious reverse owing
to Lake’s failure to take the fortress of Bharatpur early in 1805.
The Raja of Bharatpur, however, concluded a treaty with
the English on the 10th April, 1805, and the war might have
taken an adverse turn for Holkar but for Wellesley’s sudden
recall.
' For some time past the authorities in England had been rather dis-
satisfied with the aggressive policy of Wellesley, and his conquests,
though briUiant and of far-reaching consequence, “were becoming”,
it was beheved by many, “too large for profitable management”
and raised the Company’s debts from seventeen mfilions in 1797
to thirty-one mfilions in 1806. Further, Wellesley’s manners were
imperious and overbearing, and he dealt with the home authorities
in a rather masterful way, often disregarding their orders and
instructions and not informing them of his actions. So long as
Wellesley’s policy was crowned with success, the home authorities
did not iaterfere. But the news of the disastrous retreat of Monson
and the failure of Lake before Bharatpur having reached England,
his “war-loving” policy began to be severely condemned by a
strong public opinion. Pitt is said to have declared that Wellesley
“had acted most imprudently and illegally, and that he could
]iot be suffered to remain in the government”. Lord Wellesley
resigned his post and sailed for England.
Lord CornwaUis being appointed Governor-General for the second
706 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
time at the age of sixty-seven reached Calcutta on the 30th July,
1805, with instructions from Castlereagh to stop aggrandisement
and “to bring hack things to the state which the legislature had
prescribed” by the Acts of 1784 and 1793. But, before anything
could be done to reverse the subsidiary treaties, Lord Cornwal’is
died at Ghazipur on the 6th October, 1805, and Sir George Barlow,
the senior member of the Council, became the acting Governor-
General. Barlow carried out the policy of his predecessor. Peace
was finally concluded with the Sindhia on the 23rd November,
1805. Gwalior and Gohud were restored to him ; he was to claim
nothing north of the river Chambal and the Company nothing
to the south of it; and the Company pledged itself not to enter
into treaties with the chiefs of Rajputana. Meanwhile Lord Lake had
hunted Holkar up to Amritsar, where the latter had appealed to
the Sikhs for help, who, however, did not accept his proposals.
He thereupon opened negotiations with Lord Lake for peace,
which was signed on the 7th January, 1806. Holkar gave up
all claims to Tonk, Rampura, Bundi, Kooch, Bundelkhand and
places north of the Chambal, but he got back the greater part of
his lost territories. Further, in spite of strong protest from Lord
Lake, Sir George Barlow published Declaratory Articles whereby
Tonk and Rampura were practically surrendered to Holkar and
British protection was withdrawn from the other Rajput States.
Thus the Rajput States were left to their fate, to be distracted
by Maratha inroads into their territories. As an envoy of the Raja
of Jaipur observed, the Company now made “its faith subservient
to its convenience”.
O. The Third Angh-Mardtha War and the Fall of the 3Iardthas
With the last quarter of the eighteenth century the Marathas
had begun losing all those elements which are needed for the
growth of a power, and so could not profit in the least by the
British policy of neutrality in the beginning of the nineteenth
century. The political and administrative conditions of all the
Maratha States came to be hopelessly confused and gloomy, and
their economic condition anything but satisfactory. Jaswant Rao
Holkar secretly assassinated his brother, Kasi Rao, and his nephew,
Khande Rao. The course of events, however, so affected his mind
that he became insane, and died on the 20th October, 1811.
The real ruler was now the deceased Holkar’s favourite
mistress, Tulsi Bai, a clever and intelligent woman, who had the
support of Balaram Seth, Jaswant Rao’s minister, and of Amir
ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH ASCENDANCY 707
Khan, the leader of the Central Indian Pathans. These unworthy
men faded to administer the State properly.
So far as Daulat Rao Smdhia was concerned, the financial resources
of his State could not suffice to meet the cost of his army, and his
soldiers were permitted to collect money on their own account
from the districts. The morale of the army thereby deteriorated
and Sindhia could not maintain a strong control over his generals.
Exposed to the inroads of the Pindaris and the Pathans, the
territory of Raghuji Bhonsle was in the midst of disorder. So
none of the three Maratha chiefs were in a position to oppose
the English ojpenly; and the Gaikwar of Baroda manifested no
desire to violate the treaty of subsidiary alliance into which he
had entered on the 21st April, 1805. Referring to the Maratha
princes Prmsep believed that “as far as they were individually
concerned, the objects of the settlement of 1805-1806 seem to have
been attained ; their weakness afforded a security against any one
of them meditating a separate hostile enterprise ; at the same time
the balance that had been established remained unaltered, and the
mutual jealousies relied upon as the guarantee against a second
coalition were yet unextinguished”.
But another trial of strength between the English and the
Marathas took place before the latter finally succumbed. Though
apparently friendly, the Maratha chiefs, including even the
Peshwa, who had been restored to the masnad through the help of
the English, nurtured in their heart of hearts feelings of jealousy
and hostility against the English, which they could not then openly
manifest owing to the distracted condition of their kingdoms, but
which might burst forth on the appearance of a favourable oppor-
tunity. Largely under the influence of his unscrupulous favourite,
Trimbakji Danglia, Baji Rao II engaged in intrigues with a
view to leading once more a confederacy of the Maratha chiefs
against the English. To settle some disputes between the Peshwa
and the Gaikwar, the latter sent to Poona in a.d. 1814 his
chief minister, Gangadhar Shastri, a friend of the English.
Shastri was conducted by the Peshwa to Nasik and was
murdered there apparently at the instigation of Trimbakji.
After a good deal of hesitation, Baji Rao II surrendered Trimbakji
to Mountstuart Elphinstone, the British Resident at Poona since
1811, who placed him tinder confinement in the fortress of Thana.
But he escaped a year later, it was believed with the connivance
of the Peshwa, though there is no definite proof of it. Matters
became most threatening by the year 1817. The Peshwa now made
serious attempts to organise against the English a confederacy of
708
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
the Maratha chiefs and opened negotiations with, them as well as
with the Pathan chief, Amir Khan, and the Pindaris. He also tried
to increase the strength and efficiency of his army.
The English did not fad to take prompt measures to check the
Peshwa’s designs. With the arrival of the Earl of Moira, better
known as the Marquess of Hastings (1813-1823), the British policy
of neutrality had been thoroughly reversed. The new Governor-
General was determined “to render the British Government para-
mount in effect, if not declaredly so” and to “hold the other States
vassals in substance, if not in name. ...” Mountstuart Elphinstone,
instructed by the Governor-General on the 10th May, 1817, to cir-
cumscribe the powers of the Peshwa in such a way as to “prevent
the evils apprehended from the course of policy pursued by the
Court of Poona for several years”, induced Baji Rao II to sign
most reluctantly the Treaty of Pdona on the 13th June, 1817.
The Peshwa had to renounce the headship of the Maratha
confederacy; to commute his claims on the Gaikwar to four lacs
of rupees and to promise not to make further demands on him;
and to surrender to the English the Konkan and some important
strongholds. Daulat Rao Sindhia was also compelled by the
English to sign the Treaty of Gwalior on the 6th November, 1817,
by which he bound himself to co-operate with the English to
suppress the Pindaris and gave the Company full liberty to
enter into engagements with the States beyond the Chambal.
Thus the English could conclude a number of treaties with the
Rajput States, so long greatly harassed by Maratha inroads. Mean-
while, internal quarrels about the succession to the kingdom of
Nagpur had given an opportunity to the English to bring that king-
dom under their influence. Raghuji Bhonsle II died on the 22nd
March, 1816, and was succeeded by his imbecile son, Parsoji. Parsoji
had an able but ambitious cousin, Appa Saheb, who aspired to
the government and wanted as a preparatory measure to secure
the regency. The English recognised this on his signing a treaty of
subsidiary alliance on the 27th May, 1816. The Treaties of Poona,
Gwalior, and Nagpur added greatly to the influence of the English
at the cost of the Marathas. The first dealt a severe blow at the
power and prestige of the Peshwa ; the second checked the preten-
ions of Sindhia over the Rajput States, which fell under British
control; and the third cost the Nagpur State its independence
and brought it under the subsidiary system, which had been evaded
by Raghuji Bhonsle II but had been “so long and so earnestly
desired by the British Government”. The “defensive means” of
the Enghsh were now greatly improved, and Malcolm observes
ESTABLISHMENT OE BRITISH ASCENDANCY 709
that “in the actual condition of India no event could be more
fortunate than the subsidiary alliance with Nagpur”.
But none of the Maratha chiefs were sincerely reconciled to
the loss of there independence and they had full sympathy with the
Peshwa’s desire to make himself JBree from British control. On
the very day that Sindhia signed the subsidiary treaty, the Peshwa
sacked and burnt the British Residency at Poona and attacked with
about 27,000 men a small British army of 2,800 under Colonel Burr
at Khirki ; but he was completely defeated. Appa Saheb of Nagpur
and Malhar Rao Holkar II, son of Jaswant Rao Holkar, rose in arms
against the English. The Nagpur troops were defeated at Sitabaldi
on the 27th November, 1817, and Holkar’s forces were routed
at Mahidpur by Hislop on the 21st December, 1817, Appa Saheb
fled to the Punjab and then to Jodhpur where he died in a.d. 1840.
The districts lying to the north of the Narmada were annexed
to British territories and a minor grandson of Raghuji Bhonsle II
was established as Raja over the remnant of the state, Holkar
was forced to sign the Treaty of Mandasor on the 6th January,
1818, by which he gave up aU claims on the Rajput States,
ceded to the English all districts south of the Narmada, agreed
to maintain a subsidiary force within this territory, submitted
his foreign relations to the arbitration of the British, and recog-
nised Amir lOian, a mercenary commander, as Nawab of Tonk. A
permanent British Resident was henceforth stationed at Indore.
As for the Peshwa, after his defeat at Khirki, he fought two
more battles with the English — at Koregaon on the 1st January,
1818, and at Ashti on the 20th February, 1818. He was defeated
in both, his able general Gokhale being killed in the second. Baji
Rao II at last surrendered to Sir John Malcolm on the 3rd June,
1818. The Peshwaship, which served as the symbol of national unity
among the Marathas even in its worst days, was abolished; Baji
Rao II was allowed to spend his last days at Bithur near Cawnpore
on a pension of eight lacs a year ; his dominions were placed under
British control; and “British influence and authority spread over
the land with magical celerity”. Trimbakji was kept in life-long
confinement in the fort of Chunar. The small kingdom of Satara,
formed out of the Peshwa’s dominions, was given to Pratap Simha,
a lineal descendant of Shivaji and the formal head of the Maratha
Empire. The State of Satara did not become the centre of a hostile
Maratha confederacy, as Thornton apprehended. As a matter
of fact, as Roberts records, “the rule of the new dynasty proved an
evil and incompetent one, and Satara was one of the States to which
subsequently the Doctrine of Lapse was applied by Dalhousie”.
710
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
D. Gaiises of the Downfall of the Mardthas
Thus was foiled the last attempt of the Marathas to build up
their political supremacy in India on the ruins of the Mughul
Empire. The fabric of the Maratha Empire, which the genius and
military ability of Shivaji the Great had brought into existence,
and which, after a short period of decline, was revived by Baji
Rao I, and competed with the English for political supremacy
for about forty years, now coUapsed most ignominiously. This
was primarily due to certain inherent defects in the character of
the Maratha State, particularly during the eighteenth century,
though there were other factors which accelerated it. In the
Maratha State, “there was”, Sir J. N. Sarkar asserts, “no attempt
at well-thought-out organised communal improvement, spread of
education, or unification of the people, either under Shivaji or
under the Peshwas. The cohesion of the peoples of the Maratha
State was not organic but artificial, accidental and therefore pre-
carious”. Another drawback of the Maratha State was its lack
of a sound economic policy and satisfactory financial arrangements,
without which the political development of a nation becomes
impossible. The sterile soil of Maharashtra held out no prospects
for flourishing agriculture, trade and industries, and the Maratha
State had to depend on uncertain and precarious sources of
income like chauth, which again cost them the sincere co-operation
of the other indigenous powers. Eurther, the revival of the jdglr
system after the death of Shivaji introduced a highly disintegrat-
ing force into the State ; the Maratha jagirddrS) blind to all but
their personal interests, ruined the national cause by plunging
their country into intrigues and quarrels. With some exceptions like
Shivaji, Baji Rao I, Madhava Rao I, Malhar Rao Holkar, Mahadaji
Sindhia and Nana Fadnavis, the Maratha chiefs, particularly
those of later times, indulged more in finesse or intrigue than well-
calculated statesmanlike action, which produced a disastrous re-
action on the destiny of their State, especially when they were
confronted with superior British diplomacy during the close of
the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth. Lastlj^,
the Marathas of the eighteenth century, while discarding their
old tactics of war, could not develop, even under Mahadaji
Sindhia and Nana Eadnavis, a military system organised on the
scientific lines of the West. Opposed to them w^ere the English,
possessed of an ejfficient military organisation, based on up-to-date
methods and varied experience of European wars. It is indeed a
pity that the Marathas depended upon foreign adventurers “for
ESTABLISHMENT OE BRITISH ASCENDANCY 71]
a most vital means of self-protection”, and thus ultimately lost
their independence.
2. Anglo-Mysore Relations
A. The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War
Lord Cornwallis optimistically estimated the results of the war
with Tipu in his time by saying: “We have effectively crippled
our enemy, without making our friends too formidable.”
But the hope of a lasting peace was soon belied. A man like
Tipu could never accept for long the humiliation that he had
E. N. A.
jrOET OP SERINGAPATAM, SHOWING THE SALEV-POBT
GATE, WHERE TIPtr SULTAN WAS KILLED
suffered at the hands of the English, against whom he nursed
a deep resentment. “Instead of sinking under his misfortunes,
he exerted,” writes Malcolm, “all his activity to repair the ravages
of war. He began to add to the fortifications of his capital — ^to
remount his cavalry — ^to recruit and discipline his infantry
— ^to punish his refractory tributaries, and to encourage the culti-
vation of his country, which was soon restored to its former pros-
perity.” France was then involved in a deadly war with England
in Europe ; and as an astute diplomat, Tipu tried to secure the
alliance of France against the English in India. He enlisted himself
712
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
as a member of the Jacobin Club and permitted nine Frenchmen
in his service to elect “citizen Ripaud”, a Lieutenant in the French
navy, as their President, to hoist the flag of the recently established
French Republic and to plant a Tree of Liberty at Seringapatam.
With a view to securing aUies for himself in the contemplated
conflict, Tipu also sent emissaries to Arabia, Kabul, Constantinople,
Versailles and Mauritius. The French governor of the Isle of France,
Monsieur Malartic, welcomed the envoys and proposals of Tipu,
and published a proclamation inviting volunteers to come forward
to help Tipu in expelling the English from India. As a result of
this, some Frenchmen landed at Mangalore in April, 1798.
Lord Wellesley on his arrival at Madras on the 26th April,
1798, quickly realised the hostile intentions of Tipu and at
once determined to wage war on him, overruling the timid
suggestions of the Madras Council. He held in his Minute of
12th August, 1798, that “the act of Tippo’s ambassadors,
ratified by himself, and accompanied by the landing of a French
force in his country is a public, unqualified and unambiguous
declaration of war; aggravated by an avowal, that the object of
the war is neither expansion, reparation, nor security, but the
total destruction of the British Government in India. To attempt
to misunderstand an insult and injury of such a complexion would
argue a consciousness either of weakness or of fear”. Besides
other preparations for the war, Wellesley tried to revive the Triple
Alliance of 1790. The Nizam at once concluded a subsidiary
alliance with the English on the 1st September, 1798, but the
Marathas gave rather vague replies to the Governor-General’s
overtures. Nevertheless, to show the “disinterestedness of the
British Government to every branch of the Triple Alliance”,
Wellesley engaged to give the Peshwa a share in the conquests
of the war.
This war against Tipu was of a very short duration, but quite
decisive. He was defeated by Stuart at Sedaseer, forty-five miles
west of Seringapatam, on the 5th March, 1799, and again on the
27th March by General Harris at MalveUy, thirty miles east of
Seringapatam. Tipu then retired to Seringapatam, which was
captured by the English on the 4th May. The Mysore Sultan died
while gallantly defending his metropolis, which was, however,
plundered by the English troops. Thus fell a leading Indian power
and one of the most inveterate and dreadful foes of the English.
Mysore was at the disposal of the English. The members
of Tipu’s family were interned at Vellore. They were suspected
of being involved in the abortive mutiny of the sepoys at Vellore
11 liiizanis acquisitions
murauta acquistuuus
Territory vf the Rajah of Mysore
From Roberts' “ India under Wellesley" (,&. Bell & Sons, Ltd.)
in 1806 and were deported to Calcntta. As a sort of diplomatic
move, Wellesley offered the districts of Soonda and Harponelly.
lying in the north-west of the Mysore kingdom, to the Marathas.
who, however, refused to accept these. To the Nizam was given
714
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the territory to the north-east near his dominion, that is, the
districts of Gooty and Gurramkonda and a part of the district of
Chiteldrng except its fort. The English took for themselves Kanara
on the west ; Wynaad in the south-east ; the districts of Coimbatore
and Daraporam; two tracts on the east; and the town and island
of Seringapatam. A boy of the old Hindu reigning dynasty of
Mysore was given the rest of the kingdom. This new State
of Mysore became virtually a dependency of the English. A
subsidiary treaty, which the minor ruler had to accept, pro-
vided for the maintenance of a protecting British force within
the kingdom. A subsidy was to be paid by its ruler which could
be increased by the Governor-General in time of war; and the
Governor-General was further empowered to take over the entire
internal administration of the country if he was dissatisfied on any
account with its government. This arrangement, Wellesley hoped,
would enable him “to command the whole resources of the Raja’s
territory”. The Governor-General “acted wisely”, in Thornton’s
opinion, “in not making Mysore ostensibly a British possession.
He acted no less wisely in making it substantially so”. Because of
misgovernment. Lord William Bentinck brought Mysore under the
direct administration of the Company, and it remained so till
1881, when Lord Ripon restored the royal family to power.
The settlement of Mysore, as effected by Lord Wellesley, secured
for the Company substantial territorial, economic, commercial and
military advantages. It extended the Company’s dominion “from
sea to sea across the base of the peninsula”, encompassing the new
kingdom of Mysore on all sides except in the north. When in 1800
the Nizam transferred his acquisitions from Mysore to the Company,
this kingdom “was entirely encircled by the Pax Britannica”. This
achievement of the Governor-General was enthusiastically applauded
in England ; he was elevated to the rank of Marquis in the peerage
of Ireland and General Harris was made a baron.
B. Estimate of Tipu
Tipu is, in many respects, a remarkable personality in Indian
history. A man of sound moral character, free from the prevailing
vices of his class, he had an intense faith in God. He was fairly
well educated, could speak fluently Persian, Kanarese and Urdu,
and had a valuable library. A valiant soldier and a tactful
general, Tipu was a diplomat of no mean order. This is proved
by his clear perception of the fact that England and not any
Indian power was the enemy; by his study of politics, particularly
ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH ASCENDANCY 715
the relations between England and France in Europe; by the
embassies he sent to France and other places; and the correspon-
dence that he carried on with Zaman Shah of Kabul. He placed
independence above everything else, and lost his life in trying to
preserve it. Unlike many of his Indian contemporaries, Tipu was
an able and industrious ruler. Some of his English contemporaries,
lik e Edward Moore and Major Dirom, were favourably impressecl
with his administration and have unhesitatingly stated that he
enjoyed sufficient popularity in his kingdom. Even Sir John Shore
observes that “the peasantry of his dominions are protected and
their labours encouraged and rewarded”. Some writers, old^ as
well as modern, 2 have wrongly described Tipu as a cruel and
sanguinary tyrant, an oppressive despot, and a furious fanatic.
He cannot be held guilty of systematic cruelty, and, as Major
Dirom remarks, “his cruelties were in general inflicted only on
those whom he considered as his enemies”. Also he was not a
fierce bigot. The discovery and study of Tipu’s Shringheri Letters
prove that he knew “how to placate Hindu opinion, and religious
intolerance was not the cause of his ruin”. Though a pious Muslim,
he did not attempt any wholesale conversion of his Hindu subjects,
as Wilks’ account would lead us to believe ; but he forced it only
on those recalcitrant Hindus on whose allegiance he could not rely.
In one respect, he compares unfavourably with his father ; pohticaUy
he was less sagacious and practical than the latter. He often
tried to introduce useless innovations in the name of reform. “A
restless spirit of innovation, and a wish to have everything to
originate from himself, was,” wrote Thomas Munro, “ the predom-
inant feature of his character,”
3. Disappearance of the French Menace
The fall of Tipu was a source of immense relief to the English,
who were much worried by French intrigues. Tipu was indeed, as
the Governor-General’s brother, the Duke of Wellington, observed,
“the certain ally of the French in India”. As a matter of fact,
the battle of Wandiwash did not finally shatter the ambitions of
the French in India. There stfll remained a French peril
throughout the rest of the eighteenth century. The French
now tried to pursue their ambitious designs by establishing
their influence in the courts of Indian powers like the Nizam,
the Sultan of Myvsore and the Marathas. They joined their
1 Kirkpatrick, Wilks, Eeimell and others.
2 Bowring, Roberts and Dean Hutton.
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
armies, and incited them against the English. Thus in 1777
St. Lubin negotiated a treaty with Nana Fadnavis mth a view to
stirring npthe Marathas against the EngUsh, and the Frenc con-
sidered an alUance with Hyder ‘Ali to be necessary^ for regaining
the ascendancy which they have lost in “
rival of it”. Disgusted by English neutrahty at the battle of
Zrda, the Nizam sought ftench help, and a teamed
body of 14.000 men under a fteneh commander, named Francois
Ra^ond, who had organised a Daulat' R5o
and pro-Tipu” party in the Hyderabad court. Daulat Rao
SindUa also maintained in his northern armies 40.000 disciplined
men under Perron, a lYenoh general, whose ii^uence over the
Zdhia was so great that Wellesley could without much esaggera-
to, say that he had built a French State on the banks the
Jumna We have already noted the nature of Franco-Mysore
rltions, which were undoubtedly antag^stic to Bn^sh into^.
The French further tried to utilise the opportumties atoded
by wars in America and Europe to regain what they had lost m
fodla. Thus when the War of American Itoi^ndence broke out,
besides allying themselves with the revolted colomes, they sent, m
1782, three thousand men under Bussy and a fleet under Atonral
quffren to help Hyder ‘AU : but Bussy’s expedition was unrtle to
t,:Sfher Fr^lh toterests. Aga- Hyder’s son sought the French
aUianoe when England was engaged m a
revolutionary France. Though on the outoeak of ^ 7™!“-
tionary Wars the French possessions in India were seized by the
Enghsh, the Egyptian campaign of Napoleon, and the projects of
the^French to estabUsh their influence in Egypt and then under-
mine the British position in India, were sources of deep anxiety to
the English officers in India.
It did not take a long time for Wellesley, who possessed pene-
trating insight and a clear vision, to reaflse the nature of the
French peril. He took immediate steps to remove it. Besides
trying to destroy French influence in Indian courts and_armies
and disbanding the European-trained armies of the Nizam, he
planned expeditions against the Isle of France, as from the begin-
ning of the Revolutionary Wars French privateers used it as a
base to prey upon English shipping in the Indian Ocean; but they
could not be carried into effect owing to the refusal of Admira
Rainier, commander of the British squadron, to co-operate with
him. He also contemplated the capture of Batavia, the capital
of the Dutch East Indies. In response to an order from home, he
sent an expedition to the Red Sea under the command oi Sir
ESTABLISHMENT OE BRITISH ASCENDANCY 717
David Baird in 1801. The French at Alexandria had already
capitulated before Baird’s party reached Cairo, Wellesley did
not restore to the French their settlements in India after the
Peace of Amiens, which was but a temporary truce of thirteen
months.
The French still persisted in their anti-English intrigues in
India. Decaen, the newly-appointed Captain-General of the French
in India, tried fruitlessly to secure Indian allies and also encouraged
French privateers to capture British vessels in the Indian seas.
The English were, however, finally freed from the French menace
by the year 1814-1815, This synchronised with the attempt of
Lord Hastings to establish British paramountcy in India,
4. Hyderabad
We have seen that after his defeat at Kharda, the Nizam in
utter disgust turned to the French for support and freely admitted
Frenchmen into his court and army. When Lord Wellesley
arrived in India, Frenchmen “of the most virulent principles of
Jacobinism”, as Wellesley himself said, dominated the Nizam.
But Wellesley was determined to exterminate French influence
and intrigues in India and to extend British control over the
Indian powers. Circumstances favoured his policy. The Nizam
had been somewhat pacified by British assistance given him during
the rebellion of his son ‘iJi Jah in 1797 ; he had by this
time become suspicious of the growing French influence; and
his minister Mir Alam, a friend of the English, had been urging
him to form an amicable settlement with the English. Wellesley’s
first step was to persuade the Nizam to conclude a subsidiary treaty
on the 1st September, 1798, which provided for the maintenance
and payment of a force of six battalions by the Nizam, the sub-
ordination of his external relations to the control of the English,
and the expulsion of European officers belonging to other nation-
alities from his territory. The French-trained troops of the Nizam
were disbanded by Malcolm and Kirkpatrick, and he proved to be a
sincere ally of the Company in its war against Tipu, for which, as
we have already noted, he was rewarded with portions of the
Mysore kingdom. As the treaty of 1798 was of a temporary nature,
a “perpetual and general defensive alliance” was formed between
the English and the Nizam on the 12th October, 1800, whereby the
subsidiary force was increased, for the maintenance of which the
Nizam surrendered to the English all the territories he had got
as spoils of the Mysore Wars in 1792 and 1798. He also agreed
718 AN ADVANCED HISTORY GE INDIA
not to enter into political relations with other powers without the
permission of the EngHsh. Nizam ‘Ali died in 1803, and his successor,
Sikandar Jah, had no hesitation in confirming aU the previous
treaties with the English. By a treaty concluded in the time of
Lord Hastings, on the 12th December, 1822, readjustment of
territories was effected, and the Nizam was exempted from the
payment of arrears of tribute to the Peshwa.
-The subsidiary alliance guaranteed protection to the Hyderabad
State against external aggression ; but it produced some disastrous
consequences in its internal administration. As a natural sequel
to the habit of dependence on another power, the Hyderabad
rulers of this period lost all initiative for good and efficient
government, and their country became subject to various dis-
ruptive forces, as was also the case with many other provinces of
contemporary India, like Bengal, Oudh and the Carnatic, while
the kingdom of Tipu, who was not a subsidiary ruler, was in a
flourishing condition, “Conceive of a country,” observed the
Duke of Wellington, “in every village of which there are from
twenty to thirty horsemen, who have been dismissed from the
service of the State, and who have no means of living except by
plunder. In this country there is no law, no civil government . . .
no inhabitant can, or wiU, remain to cultivate, unless he is protected
by an armed force stationed in the village. This is the outline of
the state of the countries of the Peshwa and the Nizam.”
5. The Carnatic
The existence of dual government in the Carnatic, no less disas-
trous and oppressive to its people than the dual government of
Bengal, could certainly not be tolerated by Lord Wellesley, a man
of strong determination and highly imperialistic instincts. To bring
the Carnatic under the supreme control of the Company by cutting
out this “festering sore” seemed to him to be an almost imperative
need for the extension of his favourite principle, which he thus
enunciated later on: “The Company with relation to its territory
in India must be viewed in the capacity of a sovereign power.”
But “the method he employed was unfortunate and laid him open
to the charge of sophistical dealing”. Certain documents discovered
at Seringapatam proved, according to the Governor-General, that
both Muhammad ‘All and Omdut-ul-XJmara, who died on the 15th
July, 1801, carried on secret and treasonable correspondence with
Tipu Sultan. He declared that they had thus “placed themselves
in the condition of public enemies” and had forfeited their right to
ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH ASCENDANCY 719
the throne of the Carnatic. He ignored the claim, of ‘Aii Husain,
son of the deceased Nawab, to his father’s territory, and on the
25th July, 1801, concluded a treaty with ‘Azim-ud-daulah, a
nephew of Omdut-ul-Umara, who was thereby installed as the
nominal Nawab of the Carnatic. He was guaranteed a pension
of one-fifth of its revenues, and the entire civil and military adminis-
tration of the province was taken over by the Company. The
assumption of the Carnatic government was declared by Wellesley
as “perhaps the most salutary and useful measure which has been
adopted since the acquisition of the Dewanny {Diwdm) of Bengal” ;
and writers like Thornton, Owen, and some others, have tried to
vindicate his policy in every way. But it earned Mill’s severe
criticism. The documents in question did not prove the treachery
of the Carnatic Nawabs. Wellesley could have frankly declared
what his object was, and could have given effect to it in a more
straightforward manner.
6. Tanjore and Surat
The rulers of Tanjore and Surat were also compelled by Wellesley
to surrender their administrative powers to the Company, and to
remain content with “empty titles” and “guaranteed pensions”.
As for Tanjore, a Maratha principality founded by Shivaji’s father,
Shahji, a disputed succession gave Wellesley an opportunity to
intervene in its affairs and thus persuade its ruler to conclude a
subsidiary treaty on the 25th October, 1799. By this treaty the
whole civil and military administration of this kingdom passed to
the Company in return for a pension of £40,000 per annum. A
similar fate befell the principality of Surat. Since 1759 the Com-
pany had undertaken its defence on behalf of the Mughul Emperor,
while its Nawab retained the civil administration. But the Nawabs
of Surat were unable to pay all the sums required by the Company
for the expenses of the garrison it maintained in that State. When
the old Nawab of Surat died on the 8th January, 1799, Lord
Wellesley, in a high-handed manner, forced his brother and legiti-
mate successor, to surrender the whole administration of the terri-
tory to the Company in March, 1800. Thus Wellesley committed,
in the opiinion of MiU, “the most unceremonious act of dethronement
which the English had yet performed, as the victim was the weakest
and most obscure”. Beveridge unhesitatingly declares that “the
whole proceeding was characterised by tyranny and injustice”.
720
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
7 . The Fate of Oudh
Loss of independence was the price which the kingdom of Oudh
paid for her long- continued internal bankruptcy, in the time of
Welleslejn The Governor-General was convinced that, for the
effective security of the north-western frontier, Oudh must be
brought definitely under British control. In his private letter
to John Lumsden, the Company’s Resident at Oudh, he expressed
his determination to take possession of the Doab with a view to
strengthening the Company’s north-western frontier ; to substitute
for the Nawab’s troops “an increased number of the Company’s
i;egiments of infantry and cavalry, to be relieved from time to
time and to be paid by His Excellency (the Nawab); and to
dislodge from Oudh every European excepting the Company’s
servants ’ ’ . The immediate execution of these pro j ects was obstructed
by an unfortunate incident at Benares, where, on the 14th January,
1799, Wazir ‘Ali, bitterly resentful of his position, massacred
several Englishmen, including Mr. Cherry, the British Resident.
He was in fact trying to organise a widespread conspiracy against
the Company, had confederates in Bihar and Bengal, and even
sought to secure the help of Zaman Shah of Kabul, who threatened
an invasion of Hindustan. But he was captured by a British force
and sent to Fort William, where he spent his days in confinement
till his death in a.d. 1817.
It was not possible for WeUesley to charge the Nawab of Oudh,
who had aU along been faithful to the Company, with treason or
insubordination, as he had done in the case of the ruler of the
Carnatic. But he had a convenient pretext, in the threat of Zaman
Shah to invade Hindustan, for demanding from the Nawab of
Oudh the disbandment of his own army and the increase of the
Company’s forces. After some resistance, the Nawab, under
pressure from the British Resident, Colonel Scott, announced his
intention to abdicate. Considering this proposal to be an excellent
means for the establishment of “the sole and exclusive authority of
the Company within the province of Oudh and its dependencies”,
the Governor-General wrote to the Court of Directors that it was
his intention “to profit by the event to the utmost practicable
extent”. But when Welledey sought to exclude the Nawab’s sons
from succession to the mamad of Oudh, the Nawab withdrew his
announcement of abdication. This made the Governor-General
furious. He declared himself “extremely disgusted at the duplicity
and insincerity which mark the conduct of the Nawab-Vazir on the
present occasion”, and now presented to the Nawab a draft treaty
ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH ASCENDANCY 721
which considerably increased the number of Company’s troops and
the amount of the subsidy that was to be paid. The Nawab
advanced some reasonable objections on the strength of former
treaties; but Wellesley rejected these and forced him to submit to
his demands. This was not enough to satisfy the Governor- General.
He again compelled the Nawab to conclude a treaty on the 10th
November, 1801, by which the latter had to surrender the rich and
valuable tracts of Rohilkhand and the Lower Doab, that is, the
territories lying between the Ganges and the Jumna, covering
almost half of his dominions. Thus Oudh was encircled by British
territory except on the north; and the British possessions now
confronted Sindhia along the entire line of his dominions in
Northern India. These were indeed advantages of great import-
ance for the Company. “The rectification of our military frontier,
and the territorial isolation of the Nabob (Nawab),” as Owen
rightly says, “were not only parts of a larger scheme, but in
themselves measures of obvious importance, especially at such a
crisis.”
Wellesley’s treatment of Oudh has been condemned not only by
Mill but also by most of the other historians. Even Dr. H. H.
Wilson admits that the negotiations with the Nawab were carried
on in an objectionable manner. Sir Alfred LyaH, not indeed
always a hostile critic of Wellesley, considers that, in his dealings
with Oudh, Wellesley “subordinated the feelings and interests of
his ally to paramount considerations of British policy in a manner
that showed very little patience, forbearance, or generosity”.
The Court of Directors also condemned it. British intervention
did not at once bring peace and good government to the kingdom.
The evils of administration were aggravated here, as in the other
States which had accepted subsidiary alliances, till the kingdom
was annexed subsequently on the charge of misgovernment. It
may be said that the subsidiary treaties of Wellesley in a
sense prepared the ground for Dalhousie’s annexations in certain
cases,
8. Anglo-Gurkha Relations and the Nepal War (1814-1816)
Taking advantage of internal struggles among the old ruling
clans of the Nepal valley, the Gurkhas, a tribe of the Western
Himalayas, conquered it in a.d. 1768. They gradually built up
a powerful State possessing considerable military strength and
naturally seeking outlets for expansion. Their attempts at a
northern push being checked by the great Chinese Empire, they
advanced towards the south, and during the early nineteenth
722 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
century they extended their dominion as far as the River Tista
on the east and the Sutlej on the west, so that they were then
“in actual possession of the whole of the strong country which
skirts the northern frontier of Hindustan”, With the occupation
of the Gorakhpur district by the Company in 1801, the territories
of the Gurkhas in the Tarai became conterminous with the uncertain
and ill-defined northern frontier of the British dominion, and the
border districts became subject to the incessant inroads of the
Gurklias. Sir George Barlow remonstrated without any effect,
and in the time of Lord Minto the Gurkhas conquered Butwal,
lying north of what is now known as the Basti district, and Sheoraj,
farther to the east. These were regained by the English without
open hostilities. But the conflicting interests of the Gurkhas and
the English made an appeal to arms inevitable.
An unprovoked attack by the Gurkhas on three police-stations
in Butwal in the month of May, 1814, was followed in October
by a declaration of war against them by the Governor-General,
Lord Hastings. Lord Hastings himself planned the campaign.
He decided to attack the enemy simultaneously at four different
points along the entire line of the frontier from the Sutlej to the
Kosi, and also tried “to corrupt the fidelity of the Nepalese Govern-
ment”. But to vanquish the hardy Nepalese did not prove to be
a very easy task, on account of their peculiar tactics and brilliant
qualities as soldiers, the lack of knowledge on the part of the
British soldiers of the geographical difficulties of the mountainous
region, and the incompetence of the British generals with the
exception of Ochterlony. So the British campaign of 1814-1815
was attended with reverses. Major-Generals Marley and John
Sullivan Wood, who were required to advance towards the Nepal
capital from Patna and Gorakhpur respectively, retreated after
some unsuccessful attempts ; General Gillespie lost his life through his
“indiscreet daring” m assaulting the mountain-fortress of Kalanga ;
and Major-General Martindell was defeated before the stronghold
of Jaitak. But these losses of the English were more than retrieved
when Colonels NicoUs and Gardner captured Almora in Kumaon
in April, 1815, and General Ochterlony compelled the brave Gurkha
leader, Amar Singh Thapa, to surrender the fort of Malaon on the
15th May, 1815. In view of the hopelessness of further resistance,
the Gurkhas signed a treaty at Sagauli on the 28th November, 1815.
Under the influence of the war party in Nepid, its Governincut
hesitated to ratify the treaty and hostilities began again. Ochterlony,
now in supreme command of the British troops, advanced withni
fifty miles of the capital of Nepal and defeated the Nep<Tdese at
ESTABLISHMENT OE BRITISH ASCENDANCY 723
Makwanpur on the 28th February, 1816. This led the Nepal
Government to ratify the treaty early in March next. In accordance
with this the Nepalese gave up their claims to places in the lowlands
along their southern frontier, ceded to the EngHsh the districts
of Garhwal and Kumaon on the west of Nepal, withdrew from
Sikkim, and agreed to receive a British Resident at Katmandu.
These were indeed important gains for the EngHsh. The north-
west frontier of their dominions now reached the mountains.
They obtained sites for important hill-stations and summer
capitals like Simla, Mussoorie, Almora, Ranikhet, Landour and
Naini Tal ; and also greater faoiHties for communications with the
regions of Central Asia. The Nepal Government has ever since
remained true to its alliance with the EngHsh. By a treaty with
the Raja of Sikkim, dated the 10th February, 1817, a tract
ceded by the Nepalese was given to him, and this created a barrier
between the eastern frontier of Nepal and Bhutan.
9, Suppression of the Pindari and Pathan Hordes, and Extension
of British Paramountcy over Rajputana and Central India
While the principal Indian powers were falHng one by one
before the growing British supremacy. Central India remained
steeped in utter confusion and anarchy due to the turbulence and
nefarious activities of predatory hordes like the Pindaris and the
Pathans. In Rajputana it was also partly due to the feudal
rivalries among its different states, and partly to the ravages
associated with the Maratha penetration into it during the second
half of the eighteenth century. The continuance of this state of
things over a wide area could not be tolerated by the EngHsh at a
time when they were trying to estabHsh their paramountcy over
India. So after the close of the Nepal war. Lord Hastings turned
to deal with these disturbed regions, particularly because the
Pindaris had recently carried their raids into British territory and
were also enlisted as mercenaries in the armies of the hostile
Maratha chiefs.
A. The Pindari War
The Pindaris^ were a horde of cruel marauders, who from their
headquarters in Central India ravaged and plundered the neighbouring
^ “Many different conjectures have been offered as to the etymology of
the term 'Pindarry. The most popular one among the natives is that they
derived it from their dissolute habits leading them constantly to resort to
the shops of the sellers of an intoxicating drink termed Pinda.” (Malcolm,
Memoir of Central India, Vol. I, p. 433.)
724
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
regions as weE as some distant areas. They were heard of towards
the close of the seventeenth century during the Mughul-Maratha wars
in the Deccan. The general political disorders of the eighteenth
century led them to take to organised plundering and robbery as
a profession, just as the failure of the Dual Government and the
consequent disorders in Bengal led to the rise and prevalence of
widespread dacoities in that province for the greater part of the
second half of the eighteenth century. The Pindaris were employed
as auxiliary forces in the Maratha armies and enjoyed the protection
of Maratha chiefs Uke Sindhia and Holkar. In 1794 Sindhia
granted them some settlements in Malwa near the Narmada.
We get an idea of their organisation from contemporary English
writers. One of them, Sir John Malcolm, writes: “The Pmdarries,
who had risen, like masses of putrefaction in animal matter, out
of the corruption of weak and expiring States, had fortunately
none of those bonds of union which unite men in adversity.
They had neither the tie of religion nor of national feeling. They
were men of all lands and aU religions. They had been brought
together less by despair than by deeming the Hfe of a plunderer,
in the actual state of India, as one of small hazard, but great
indulgence. . . . The Pindarries, when they came to a rich
country, had neither the means nor mchnation, like the Tartars,
to whom also they have been compared, to settle and repose. Like
swarms of locusts, acting from instinct, they destroyed and left
waste whatever province they visited.” They generally avoided
pitched battles ; and plunder was their principal object, for which
they perpetrated horrible cruelties on aU whom they could get
hold of. “They avoid fighting,” wrote Captain Sydenham in a
memorandum on the Pindaris drawn up in 1809, “for they come
to plunder, not to fight.” Under their powerful leaders, Hiru,
Buran, Ohitu, Wasil Muhammad and Karim Khan, they extended
their depredations far and wide. In 1812 they harried the British
districts of Mirzapur and Shahabad. During 1815-1816 they devas-
tated the Nizam’s dominions and early in 1816 wantonly plundered
the Northern Sarkars.
But Lord Hastings had by this time formed a strong determina-
tion to suppress them, for '^^hich he received in September, 1816,
the sanction of the Court of Directors. He was shrewd enough to
come to an understanding with the principal Indian powers, before
he launched his operations for the final extermination of the
Pindaris towards the close of 1817. He effected careful and
vigorous military preparations with a view to rounding them up
from all sides — on the north and east from Bengal, on the west
ESTABLISHMENT OE BRITISH ASCENDANCY 725
from Gujarat and on the south from the Deccan. He assembled
together a large army of 113,000 men and 300 guns and divided
it into two parts — ^the northern force of four divisions being placed
under his personal command and the Deccan force of five divisions
under the command of Thomas Hislop, who had Sir John Malcohn
as his principal lieutenant. By the end of 1817 the British troops
succeeded in expelling the Pindaris from Malwa and across the
Chambal, and by the close of January, 1818, they were practically
exterminated. Karim Khan, one of their powerful leaders, sur-
rendered to Sir John Malcolm on the 18th February, 1818, and was
given the small estate of Gawshpur in the United Provinces. Wasil
Muhammad, who had taken refuge with Sindhia, was handed over
by the Maratha chief to the English and died while in captivity
at Ghazipur. Chitu was chased from place to place until he was
devoured by a tiger in a jungle near Asirgarh, Thus Malcolm wrote
about five years later: . . the Pindaries are so effectually
destroyed that their name is almost forgotten.” Most of the
survivors “mingled with the rest of the population”, and some
became “active improving farmers”.
B. Suppression of the Pathdns
Many Pathans at this time took to the habits of a predatory
horde Kke the Pindaris. “ They commanded,” notes Prinsep, a con-
temporary writer, “forces of a different description from those
of the Pindaree chiefs. . . . Indeed, the grand difference between
the two classes was, that the Pathans were banded together for
the purpose of preying on Governments and powerful chiefs: to
this end their force moved about with the materials of regular
battles and sieges, so as to work on the fears of princes and
men in power, extorting contributions and other advantages
from them, by such intimidation as an efficient army could only
impress : while the object of the Pindarees was universal plunder”.
They became powerful under their leaders, Muhammad Shah
Khan and Amir Khan, and served as military adventurers under
some of the Rajput and Maratha chiefs of the time. From about
1799 Amir Khan became intimately associated with Holkar’s
government. Amir Khan became more formidable when, after the
death of Muhammad Shah Khan in 1814, the latter’s troops joined
him; and his depredations and plunders were carried on wdth
greater force. The Company’s Government decided to detach
this powerful Pathan chief from the other predatory bands, and,
after some negotiations, persuaded him to come to terms on the
726
m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
9th November, 1817. He was recognised as the Nawab of Tonk
by the English and also by Holkar. The suppression of the
Piudaris and the alliance with Amir Klian relieved India of a
terrible pest, subversive of political order, public peace and social
tranquillity.
C. Extension of British Paramountcy over Rdjputdna
and Central India
The Governor-Generalship of Lord Hastings also witnessed the
establishment of British influence over the Rajput States and some
minor states of Central India. Rajputana had indeed a tragic
history in the eighteenth century. The lords of Rajasthan had
generally speaking lost the heroism and chivalry of their ancestors ;
and their land, distracted by dynastic quarrels (particularly between
Jaipur and Jodhpur) and pseudo-chivalry, became a prey to external
aggressions of the MarEthas, the Piudaris and the Pathans. These
inroads resulted in anarchy, plunder, economic ruin and moral
degradation and “ended only with the total ruin and humiliation
of this noble race (the Rajputs) ”. Utterly bankrupt, the historic
land of Rajasthan readily acknowledged British supremacy at a
time when the Enghsh had vanquished the leading Indian powers.
Rajput alliance had been a potential factor in the consolidation
of Mughul rule in India ; the Marathas under the third Peshwa
failed to utilise it for their Hindu-Pdd-PddshdM ; and its value
was realised by Lord Hastings even when the Rajputs had become
“a played-out race”. The Governor-General was satisfied that
an alliance with the Rajput States would give “immense strategic
advantages for the Company’s military and political positions
in Central India”, and would place at the disposal of the
Company “the resources of the Rajput country, for defensive
and offensive purposes, against the internal as well as external
enemies of the Company”. So with the sanction of the home
authorities he opened negotiations with the following Rajput
States, which, one by one, entered into treaties of “defensive
alliance, perpetual friendship, protection and subordinate co-
operation” with the Company: the State of Kotah, then under
the able guidance of Zalim Singh, on the 26th December, 1817 ;
Udaipur on the 16th January, 1818, Bundi on the 10th February,
1818; Kishangarh, near Ajmer, and Bikaner, in March, 1818;
Jaipur on the 2nd April, 1818; the three kingdoms of Pratapgarh,
Banswara and Dungarpur, branches of the Udaipur house and
situated on the border of Gujarat, on the 5th October, 5th
ESTABLISHMENT OE BRITISH ASCENDANCY 727
December, and 11th December, 1818, respectively ; Jaisalmer on the
12th December, 1818 ; and Sirohi in 1823.
Thus the Rajput States, who were, as Lord Hastings himself
said, “natural allies” of the Company, sacrificed their independence
for protection and accepted British paramountey. It is difficult to
agree with Prinsep that the “good government and tranquillity” of
Rajputana were “the exclusive aims” of the Company in interfer-
ing in its affairs. In fact, the guiding considerations of Lord
Hastings in his relations with the Rajput States were political
“expediency and convenience” and strategic advantages.
The Nawab of Bhopal entered into a treaty of “defensive and
subordinate alliance” with the Company, and Jaora being created
an independent entity by the Treaty of Mandasor with the Holkar
was given to Ghafur Khan, son-in-law of Amir Khan, Nawab of
Tonk, in return for the help he rendered to Sir John Malcolm.
The minor States of Malwa and Bundelkhand also acknowledged
British supremacy. A band of able British officers eff'ected the
work of reconstruction and administrative consolidation in these
States ; Elphiiistone in the Western Deccan, Munro in Madras,
Malcolm in Central India, and Metcalfe, Tod and Ochterlony in
Rajputana. Students of Indian history have special reason to be
grateful to most of them for the valuable works they have left
behind, particularly Tod’s Bdjasthdn and Malcolm’s Memoir of
Central India.
Thus the close of the eighteenth century and the beginning
of the nineteenth century saw the fall of. those Indian powers
which arose or revived on the decline of the Mughul Empire
and contended for political supremacy; and as a result of a
number of political and military transactions, the British Govern-
ment became the paramount power over a dominion extending
from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin and from the Sutlej to
the Brahmaputra. CHve sowed the seed of the British Empii’e in
India; Warren Hastmgs preserved it against hostile forces;
Wellesley reared it; and Lord Hastings reaped the harvest.
Delhi, Oudh, Mysore, Hyderabad, the Carnatic, Surat and Tanjore
passed under British control, for all practical purposes, in the time
of Wellesley. Lord Hastings pushed further the bounds of British
imperialism. He shattered the Maratha power beyond any hope of
recovery and extinguished the Peshwaship, established British
control over Central India, and persuaded the weak and harassed
Rajput States to barter away their independence for British pro-
tection. Another significant step taken by him was the formal
abolition of the fiction of the Mughul Government. Mughul supremacy
728 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
had ceased to exist in fact more than haH a century earUer. AU the
attempts of the Emperor Shah ‘Alam II to restore it proved futile ;
and he had to spend his days in pitiable ciroumatanoes, some-
times as a wanderer seeking help hither and thither and sometimes
at Delhi amidst the ruins of its ancient greatness. His name and
nersonaUty were utilised for their own purposes by the Itoathas,
the English, and probably also by the French. Warren Hastings
stopped the payment of the Bengal tribute to the Emperor on the
oTound that he had placed himself under the protection of the
Marathas; and his successors gradually declared ^e Company s
freedom from obligations to the descendant of the Great Mughuls
After Delhi had come under British control in 1803, Shah Alam 11
lived vfrtually as a pensioner of the_Company tUl he closed his eyes
for ever in 1806. His successor, Akbar II, was asked by Lord
Hastings to give up aU ceremonial “implying
Company’s dominions” and it was not long before the titular
dignity of the Mughul Raj finally disappeared.
CHAPTER V
EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH DOMINION BEYOND THE
BBAHMAPHTRA AND THE SHTLEJ, 1824-1856
I. Factors in the Political History of this Period
Referring to the achievements of Lord Hastings, who left India
on the 1st January, 1823, Prinsep, a contemporary writer,
observed: “The struggle which has thus ended in the universal
establishment of British influence, is particularly important and
worthy of attention, as it promises to be the last we shall ever have
to maintain with the native powers of India.” But this optimistic
prophecy did not turn out to be wholly true. There is no doubt that
by the year 1823 the greater part of India, extending from the
Sutlej to the Brahmaputra and from the Himalayas to Cape
Comorin, fell under British control. But there were beyond
the western and eastern limits already reached by the British
arms, powers whose activities had been a source of great anxiety to
the Mughuls and whose subjugation was indispensably necessary for
the rising British power before it could establish an all-India Empire
on a firm and secure basis. In short, ah Indian Empire, without
effective control over the western and eastern frontiers of the country,
was an idle dream. This was proved by the subsequent conflicts
of the English with the Sikhs, the Sindhis, the Pathan and Baloch
tribes of the north-west frontier, and the Afghans beyond the
Khyber Pass, and with the Burmese and the Assamese to the east
of the Brahmaputra. Further, the growth of the new political
authority inevitably gave rise to varied problems. It clashed with
the interests of some who continued to nurse against it a feeling
of discontent. This was aggravated by the Company’s policy of
annexation and led to a violent outburst in the Revolt of 1857-1859,
when British supremacy in India was put to a severe test. The foreign
policy of the Company during this period received a new orientation.
Sir Alfred Lyall observes: “As the expansion of our dominion
carried us so much nearer to foreign Asiatic countries, our rapid
approach to the geographical limits of India proper discovered
for us fresh complications and we were now on the brink of colhsion
729 .
730 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
with new races.” Hitherto the Company’s external policy had been
influenced by French projects and ambitions in the Near and
Middle East and in India. The French menace disappeared with
the fall of Napoleon, but Russia now stepped into the place of France.
The expansion of Russia in Asia, and her various ambitious enter-
prises in the East, proved to be the dommating factor in the foreign
policy of the East India Company in the post-Waterloo period.
2. The Eastern Frontier and the Burmese Wars
A. The First Anglo-Burmese War
When Lord Hastings left India, Mr. John Adam, a senior member
of the Council, acted as Governor-General till the arrival of Lord
Amherst, who took charge of his office on coming to India in
August, 1823. The most important event of the new Governor-
General’s regime was the First Anglo-Burmese War.
The English had had commercial intercourse with Burma since
the seventeenth century. But the growth of their Indian dominion,
and at the same time the establishment of the sway of a Tibeto-
Chinese race over Arakan, Pegu and Tenasserim, situated south of
Chittagong, during the second half of the eighteenth century, brought
the two powers into political relations in the nineteenth century.
About 1750 a Burman chief named Alompra conquered the province
of Pegu from the Tailangas in the delta of the Irrawaddy and
established there a strong monarchy. His successors, notably
Bodawpaya who reigned from 1779 to 1819 and was followed by
Hpag5ddoa, extended the kingdom in different directions. The
Burmese seized Tenasserim from Siam in 1766; subjugated the
hitherto independent kingdom of Arakan in 1784, and conquered
Manipur, near the Surma valley, in 1813.
The advance of the Burmese towards the eastern frontier of
the Company’s dominion, which continued to remain “very ill-
defined and variable”, made an Anglo-Burmese conflict inevitable.
But being engaged seriously in other parts of India, the Calcutta
Government tried at first to prevent an immediate rupture by
sending envoys to Burma — Captain Symes in 1795 and again in
1802; Captain Cox in 1797; and Captain Canning in 1803, 1809,
1811. The envoys were not treated well and the missions
proved unsuccessful. The refusal of the Company’s Government to
comply with Burmese demands for the surrender of fugitives who,
fleeing from the territories conquered by the Burmese, took shelter
on the British border and from their new base made inroads into
EXPANSION OE BRITISH DOMINION 731
Bui-mese territories, served to render relations more strained.
Thus when the English were engaged in suppressing the Pindaris,
the IHng of Ava sent a letter to Lord Hastings demanding the
surrender of Chittagong, Dacca, Murshidabad and Cassimbazar,
which in medieval times paid tribute to the ruler of Arakan. The
Pindari menace was over before Hastings received this letter.
The Governor-General returned it to the Burmese king with the
comment that it was perhaps a forgery.
But the Burmese commanders soon conquered Assam in
1821-1822 and thus came directly in contact with the ill-
defined British frontier on the north-east. They further captured
in September, 1823, the Shahpuri island, near Chittagong, belong-
ing to the Company, drove away the British outposts from that
island to Dudpath and made preparations for an attack on the
Company’s territories in Bengal. This was too much for the English to
bear, and Lord Amherst, the Governor-General, declared war on the
24th Eebruary, 1824. The Burmese had the best means of defence
in the physical features of their country, “which was one vast
expanse of forest and morass, laced longituduially by mountain
ranges and the valleys of the Irrawaddy, Sittang and Salween”.
Further, though in open fighting the Burmese soldiers were a poor
match for the trained British troops, yet they were expert in
quickly preparing stockades of timber and in “throwing up earth-
works and sinking rifle-pits”. The British plan was to attack
Rangoon by sea, and they sent an expedition under General Sir
Archibald Campbell, with 11,000 men, mostly recruited from Madras,
and with ships under Captain Marryat, the novelist.
The British troops were able to expel the Burmese from Assam,
but Bandula, the ablest of the Burmese generals who had advanced
to invade Bengal, repelled a British detachment at Ramu on the
Chittagong frontier. This could not, however, prevent a British
attack on Rangoon, which was captured by Campbell on the
11th May, 1824. Without resisting the invaders, the Burmese fled
into the jungles of Pegu carrying with them all kinds of
supplies. The British troops were put to great hardships for lack
of provisions. Their difiS.culties were aggravated by the unhealthi-
ness of the place due to the rains. Their sufferings were terrible till
the close of the rainy season. In the meanwhile, Bandula had been
recalled to relieve the Burmese and had arrived before Rangoon on
the 1st December with 60,000 men. He was, however, defeated on
the 15th December and retreated to Donabew, where he held
out bravely till the beginning of April, 1825, when he was killed
by a chance shot. This was indeed a terrible loss to the Burmese.
732
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Campbell occupied Prome, the capital of Lower Burma, on the
25th April and spent the rainy season there. After some futile
negotiations for peace, fighting recommenced towards the end of
1825. The British troops having baffled aU the opposition of the
Burmese marched to Yandaboo, within sixty miles of the Burmese
capital. On the 24th February, 1826, the Burmese concluded a
treaty, the terms of which, as dictated by Campbell, provided for
the payment of a crore of rupees as war indemnity by the King of
Ava ; the absolute surrender by him of the provinces of Arakan and
Tenasserim ; abstention of the Burmese from interference of any
kind in Assam, Cachar and Jaintia ; their recognition of Manipur as
an independent State; the conclusion of a commercial treaty
“upon principles of reciprocal advantages”; and the admission
of a British Resident at Ava, a Burmese envoy being allowed
to come to Calcutta. A commercial treaty of a rather un-
satisfactory nature was concluded on the 23rd November, 1826;
and a British Resident was not accepted until 1830. From 1830
to 1840, the Residency was held successively by Major Burney
and Colonel Benson. King Hpagyidoa, being seized with melan-
cholia, was deposed in May, 1837, in favour of his brother
Tharrawaddy and was kept in confinement till he expired.
There is no doubt that the English secured important advantages
out of the First Anglo-Burmese War. They deprived the Burmese
of the greater part of their sea-coast, and Assam, Cachar and
Manipur became practically their protectorates. But this cost
them much in men and money, owing largely to the inefficiency and
blunders both of the Governor-General, who being a man of
mediocre abilities could not pursue a strong and consistent policy,
and of the generals, who did not possess sufficient initiative to act
promptly according to the needs of the situation. But for the
timely despatch of, reinforcements in men and provisions by
Sir Thomas Munro, the Governor of Madras, the British troops
in Burma would have been subject to greater hardships and
the whole expedition might have been a failure. Though ultimately
defeated, the Burmese soldiers, who, as Phayre admits, “fought
under conditions which rendered victory . . . impossible” for
them, deserve credit for the manner in which they tried bravely
to resist the invaders and the skill they displayed in building
stockades. A writer competent in such matters has asserted that
“the position and defences at Donoobew, as a field-work, would
have done credit to the most scientific engineer”.
The early reverses and difficulties of the British in Burma gave
rise to a conviction in certain quarters that the British dominion
EXPANSION OP BRITISH DOMINION 733
was faced with impending ruin. This resulted in risings in
some places. In Bharatpur, the claim of the minor son of a
deceased ruler, who had been placed on the throne with the consent
of Sir David Ochterlony, the British Resident at Delhi, was
contested by his cousin, Durjan Sal. Lord Amherst at first followed
a policy of non-intervention, and disapproved of the conduct of
Sir David Ochterlony in trying to enforce his decision at the
point of the sword, which led to the latter’s resignation and the
appointment of Sir Charles Metcalfe in his place. Sir David Ochter-
lony, an old man in bad health, soon died. The new Resident,
Sir Charles Metcalfe, urged the necessity of vindicating the prestige
of the British Government by opposing the pretensions of the
usurper and won over the Governor-General to his view. An
expedition was eventually sent under Lord Combermere, who in
January, 1826, stormed the fortress of Bharatpur, which had
resisted the attacks of Lord Lake in 1805. Durjan Sal was deported.
Another disturbance that demands notice was the mutiny of the
Sepoys at Barrackpore, which “was only quelled after the mutinous
regiments had been fired upon by the British artillery and the
parade-ground made a shambles
B. The Second Anglo-Burmese War
Something more was needed even after the gains of the First
Anglo-Burmese War to establish effective British control on the
eastern frontier of India. The new King of Burma, Tharrawaddy
(1837-1845), refused to consider the Treaty of Yandaboo to be
binding on him, and technically his action was “within the Burmese
constitution, whereby all existing rights lapsed at a new King’s
accession until he chose to confirm them”. But this was opposed
to British interests, which were affected also in other ways. The
British Residents at the court of Ava did not receive courteous treat-
ment, for which reason the Residency had to be finally withdrawn
in 1840, and British merchants, who had settled on the southern
coast of Burma after the treaty of 1826, complained of oppression
at the hands of the Governor of Rangoon, The merchants
asked the Calcutta Government to intervene in the matter in
order to redress their grievances. Lord Dalhousie sent a frigate
under Commodore Lambert to Pagan, the new King of Burma
(1845-1852), who had succeeded to the throne after his father,
Tharrawaddy, had been put under restraint on the ground of his
insanity, to demand compensation for the losses of the British
merchants and to ask for the removal of the governor of Rangoon.
734
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
If the Governor-General sincerely desired a peaceful settlement,
his object was not fulfilled by the despatch of a Commodore, which
has rightly been considered to be an unnecessarily provocative
measure. Dalhousie himself observed later on that “these
commodores are too combustible for negotiations”.
The King of Burma, inclined to avoid war, gave a courteous
reply to Lambert’s demands, removed the old governor and sent a
new officer to settle the matter peacefully. But when a deputation
of some senior naval officers sent by Lambert to the new governor
was refused admission on the pretext that he was asleep, the British
Commodore felt insulted, declared the port of Rangoon to be
in a state of blockade and seized a ship of the Burmese king’s.
At this 'the Burmese batteries opened fire on the British frigate
and the British Commodore returned the fire.
It appears from some documents that Lambert acted contrary
to the Governor-General’s orders and the latter censured his pre-
cipitancy. But he did not disavow the Commodore’s act but rather
“accepted the responsibility” for it and sent an ultimatum to the
Burmese Government demanding compensation and an indemnity
of £100,000, to be paid by the 1st April, 1852. At the same time,
vigorous preparations were made under his personal supervision
for the impending conflict with the Burmese so that the blunders
of the First Anglo-Burmese War might be avoided. His ultimatum
received no reply, and on the day it expired, 1st April, 1862, British
forces under General Godwin, a veteran of the First Anglo-Burmese
War, and Admiral Austen, reached Rangoon. Martaban fell
quickly ; the famous pagoda of Rangoon was stormed on the 14th
April; and Bassein, situated on the north-west corner of the
Irrawaddy delta, was captured about a month later. Dalhousie
went to Rangoon in September; Prome was occupied in October
and Pegu in November. The Governor-General had no desire to
advance into Upper Burma but stipulated that the conquests in
the lower part of the country should be recognised by the King
of Burma by a formal agreement On the refusal of the King to
conclude such a treaty, he annexed Pegu or Lower Burma by a
proclamation on the 20th December, 1852.
By the annexation of Pegu the eastern frontier of the British
Indian Empire was extended up to the banks of the Sahveen.
British control was established over the whole of the eastern coast
of the Bay of Bengal, and access to the sea wns closed to the
attenuated Burmese kingdom. Major (afterwards Sir) Arthur
Phayre was appointed Commissioner of the newly acquired British
province extending as far north as Myede, fifty miles beyond
EXPANSION OE BRITISH DOMINION 735
Promej and with the co-operation of Captain (afterwards General)
Fytche he tried to introduce necessary adnainistrative reforms.
3. British Relations with the Sikhs and Annexation of the Punjab
A. Rise of the Sikh Power
The Sikh struggle for independence from 1708 to 1716 under the
temporal leadership of Banda came to a disastrous end by the year
1716. Banda was tortured to death and his followers were sub-
jected to relentless persecution at the hands of the Mughuls. But
the repression could not kill, out and out, the military spirit of the
Khalsa. Rather, the growing weakness of the Delhi Empire gave
the Sikhs an opportunity to reorganise themselves. The invasion
of Nadir Shah in 1739, and the first three Abdali inroads (1748-
1752), by enfeebling Mughul hold on the Punjab and throwing
this province into confusion, enabled the Sikhs to enrich them-
selves and to enhance their military power as well as political
infl.uence. In course of the next few years they “passed through
a series of reverses to complete victory”. They baffled aU the
attempts of the Abdali invader to crush them, and defied him
even after his victory at Panipat. When he left Lahore for his
home on the 12th December, 1762, the Sikhs pursued him, hung
about his army and harassed it in every way. Their aggressions
were aggravated through the inefficiency of the Abdali’s Keutenants
in the Punjab, over which they began to dominate, and they occupied
Lahore in February, 1764. “The whole country from the Jhilam
to the Satlaj was partitioned among the Sikh chiefs and their
followers, as the plains of Sarhind had been in the previous year.”
They assembled at Amritsar and proclaimed the sway of their
commonwealth and faith by striking coins to the effect that Guru
Govind had obtained from Nanak degh, tegh, fateh, or grace, power
and rapid victory. After the final retirement of Ahmad Shah
Abdali from India in 1767, the Sikhs wrested his Indian conquests
from his weak successor, Timur Shah ; and by the year 1773, Sildb
sway extended from Shahranpur in the east to Attock in the
west, and from Multan in the south to Kangra and Jammu in
the north.
The independence of the Sikhs was thus realised, and they
formed themselves into twelve misls or confederacies : the Bhangi,
the Kanheya, the Sukerchakia, the Nakai, the Fyzullapuria, the
Ahluwalia, the Ramgarhia, the DalewaJia, the Karora Singhia,
the Nishanwala, the Sahid and Nihang, and the Phulkia. This
736 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
organisation of the Sikhs has been described as “theocratic con-
federate feudalism”. But with the disappearance of a common
enemy, jealousies and discords appeared among the leaders of the
Sikh misls, who began to pursue a policy of self-aggrandisement
at a time when British imperialism was rapidly expanding over
India. To organise the Sikhs into a national monarchy on the
destruction of feudalism was the work of a man of destiny, Ranjit
Smgh, whose rise must be briefly surveyed before we study the
relations between the Sikhs and the English.
B. Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh was born on the 2nd November, 1780. He was
the son of Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia misl, by his
wife of the Jhind family. Unlike Shivaji, Ranjit spent his early
life amidst uninspiring surroundings. He was but a boy of
twelve when his father died in 1792; and he was then the
head only of a small confederacy with a little territory and very
limited military resources, while there were many other superior
chiefs. But the Indian invasions of Zaman Shah of Kabul, during
1793-1798, exercised a decisive influence on his career. In return
for the conspicuous services that Zaman Shah received from Ranjit,
he appointed him governor of Lahore at the age of nineteen, with
the title of Raja, in a.d. 1798. This grant of office by an Afghan
ruler, against whose ambitious ancestor, Ahmad Shah Abdali, the
Sikhs had fought stubbornly for mastery over the Punjab, marked
the beginning of ,an “astonishingly successful military career”,
whose exploits resulted in the extinction of Afghan supremacy in
the Punjab and the building up of a strong Sikh national monarchy.
Ranjit threw off the Afghan yoke before long, and, taking advantage
of the differences and quarrels among the chiefs of the Trans-
Sutlej misls, gradually absorbed them into his kingdom. In 1805
Holkar, pursued by Lord Lake, sought Ranjit’s help; but the
Sikh chief did not comply with his request. Ranjit Singh was
relieved of this new menace by the conclusion of the Treaty of
Lahore on the 1st January, 1806, which excluded Holkar from
the Punjab and left Ranjit Singh free to carry on his conquests
north of the Sutlej.
But Ranjit Singh aimed at supremacy over all the Sildis. He
“laboured”, writes Cunningham, “with more or less of intelli-
gent design, to give unity and coherence to diverse atoms and
scattered elements, to mould the increasing Sikh nation mto a
well-ordered state, or commonwealth, as Govind had developed a
EXPANSION OE BRITISH DOMINION
737
sect into a people, and had given application and purpose to the
general institutions of Nanak”. The realisation of this aim required
the establishment of Ranjit Singh’s control over the Cis-Sutlej
States lying between that river and the Jumna. The chronic
disorders and discords among these Cis-Sutlej States brought upon
them Maratha aggressions resulting in the establishment of Maratha
influence in the Cis-Sutlej Sikh coimtry after Mahadaji Siudhia’s
treaty of 1785 with the Sikhs. But subsequently the British suc-
ceeded in driving out Siudhia and in bringing the Cis-Sutlej States
informally under their protection. Neither the Marathas nor the
English had any sound claim upon them, but in those days of
disorder the best claim was “that of the sword”.
The rapid successes of Ranjit Singh made his intervention in
the affairs of the Cis-Sutlej States inevitable. Quarrels among the
local Sikh chiefs, and an appeal for his help by some of them,
gave him the pretext for undertaking Cis-Sutlej expeditions in
1806 and 1807 and occupying Ludhiana. This extension of Ranj it’s
influence was not liked by some of the Sikh chiefs, who waited
upon Mr. Seton, the British Resident at Delhi, in March, 1808,
soliciting British help against Ranjit Singh. Theh appeal passed
unheeded.
But for strategic and diplomatic reasons, the English soon thought
it necessary to check Ranjit Singh’s eastern advance to the Jumna.
They could not, however, resort to force at once, because it would
have been prejudicial to their interests to antagonise a power
in the north-west of India in view of the possibility of a Erench
invasion of the country in aUiance with the Turks and the Persians.
Lord Minto took recourse to diplomacy. With the double object
of resisting Ranj it’s advance and enlisting his friendship against
an apprehended Erench invasion, he sent Metcalfe on a mission
to the Sikh king to negotiate for an offensive and defensive alliance
against the Erench, if they should ever invade India through Persia.
Calculating that the British Government stood badly in need of
his friendship, Ranjit conquered as much of the Cis-Sutlej territory
as he could; and also boldly demanded from the English acknow-
ledgment of his sovereignty over all the Sikh States as the price
of the proposed alliance. But in the meanwhile the danger of
Napoleon’s invasion of India had disappeared owing to his engage-
ment in the Peninsular War, and relations between Turkey and
England had improved after the conclusion of the Treaty of
the Dardanelles by these powers in January, a.d. 1809.
Encouraged by this change in the political situation, the British
Government decided not to purchase Ranjit’s aUiance at such a
ZAMZAMA
The gun employed at the siege of Multan
were confined to the right side of the Sutlej, and the Cis-Sutlej
States came definitely -under British protection. The British frontier
was extended from the Jumna to the Sutlej and English troops
were stationed at Ludhiana. Thus Ranjit had to give up the
most cherished ideal of his life — ^that of undisputed mastery over
all the Sikhs. Ranjit’s “failure to absorb the Cis-Sutlej States was ”,
remarks his latest biographer, “a tragedy of Sikh militant nation-
alism and the success of the Cis-Sutlej States with the aid of the
British Government marked the disruption of the great creation
of Guru Govind Singh”.
Ranjit’s ambition for eastern expansion being thus foiled, it
sought outlets in the north, the north-west and the west. He
738 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
high cost, but “to oppose the extension on the Indian side of
the Sutlej of an ambitious military power which would be sub-
stituted upon our (British) frontier for a confederacy of friendly
chiefs rendered grateful by our protection and interested in our
cause”. A body of troops was sent under David Ochterlony to
enforce the demands of the English. The fear of British arms,
and the apprehension that the jealous Sikh States on the east of
Sutlej would throw themselves under British protection, led Ranjit
to sign a treaty of “perpetual friendship” with the English at
Amritsar on the 25th April, 1809. By this treaty, Ranjit’s activities
EXPANSION OF BRITISH DOMINION 739
was successful in Ms conflicts with, the Gurkhas from 1809 to
1811 and captured the Kangra district. On the 13th July, 1813, he
severely defeated the Afghans at Haidaru and captured Attoek, the
key to the frontier, which he arranged to have strongly garrisoned.
Driven from Afghanistan the Afghan king, Shah Shuja, sought shelter
at Lahore (1813-1814), when Ranjit took from him the world-
famous diamond the Koh-i-nur. Shah Shuja succeeded in escaping
from Lahore in April, 1815, and retired to Ludhiana within the
British sphere of influence. After several attempts, Ranjit cap-
tured Multan in 1818 and occupied Kashmir in 1819. Pesha-
war also became his dependency in 1823. Thus by the year 1824
the largest part of the Indus vaUey was included within Ranjit’s
dominions.
With a view to utilising the growing Sikh kingdom as a buflfer
state against the suspected Russian designs on India, Lord William
Bentinck met Ranjit Singh at Rooper on the Sutlej in October,
1831, and managed to get the treaty of alliance with him renewed.
On the 6th May, 1834, the citadel of Peshawar was captured by
the Sikh general Hari Singh Naola (Nalwa) and Peshawar passed
formally under Sikh control. But the further ambitions of Ranj it with
regard to the Afghans were restrained by the English. The kingdom of
Sindh also felt the impact of Sikh expansion. As a matter of fact,
the occupation of Sindh was important to Ranjit as it would increase
the compactness of Ms dominions, because Sindh and the Punjab
were “provinces of the Indus as Bengal and Bihar are provinces
of the Ganges”. But here too he was forestalled and checked by
the English. Nevertheless, Ranjit succeeded in establishing a king-
dom large in extent and rich in fame, before he died on the 27 th
June, 1839, at the age of fifty-nine.
Ranjit Singh is one of the most important personalities in
the history of modern India. Though his physical appearance was
not particularly handsome and an attack of small-pox deprived
him of sight in the left eye, he had delightful manners and address
and inspiring features. He was, writes Cunningham, “assiduous
in Ms devotions ; he honoured men of reputed sanctity, and enabled
them to practise an enlarged charity; he attributed every success
to the favour of God, and he styled himself and his people coUee-
tively the ‘IQialsa’ or Commonwealth of Govind”.
A born ruler of men, Ranjit is entitled to fame chiefly for his
success in effecting the marvellous transformation of the warring
Sikh States into a compact national monarchy, though his ideal
of Pan-Sikhism could not be realised owing to the intervention of
the British on behalf of the Cis-Sutlej States. One of Ms biographers,
740
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Sir Lepel Griffin, observes: “We only succeed in establishing him
as a hero, as a ruler of men and as worthy of a pedestal in that
innermost shrine where history honours the few human beings
to whom may be indisputably assigned the pahn of greatness, if
we free our minds of prejudice and, discounting conventional
virtue, only regard those rare qualities which raise a man supreme
above his fellows. Then we shall at once allow that, although
sharing in fuU measure the commonplace and worse vices of his
time and education, he yet ruled the country which his military
genius had conquered with vigour of will and an ability which
placed him in the front rank of the statesmen of the century.”
Victor Jacquemont, a French traveller to Ranjit’s court, described
him as “an extraordinary man — a Bonaparte in miniature”.
Ran] it fuUy realised the need of a strong army for the task which
he had set before himself and so radically changed the feudal levies
of the Sikh chiefs, “brave indeed, but ignorant of war as an art”,
into a strong and efficient national army, which was thoroughly
under his command, and which, according to Hunter, “for
steadiness and religious fervour has had no parallel since the
‘Ironsides’ of Oliver Cromwell”. The initiative for army reform
came from Ranjit himself, and the bulk of his army was formed
by the Sikhs. Though he was assisted in this work by European
officers of various nationalities like AUard, Ventura, Court, Avitabile,
and others, some of whom had experience of the Napoleonic wars
in Europe, his army did not become denationalised, and he always
maintained a strict control over it. His artillery was very efficient.
Though a great conqueror, Ranjit was not stern by nature but, on
the other hand, showed kindness and consideration towards his
fallen foes. Baron Carl von Hiigel, a German traveller who
visited Ranjit’s court in 1835, tells us that he never “wantonly
imbued his hands in blood. Never perhaps was so large an empire
founded by one man with so little criminality”. Ranjit was indeed
a strong ruler with absolute control over his government, but
he was not a tyrant “obsessed by the idea of over-centralisation”.
In his government “subordinate rights” were preserved; and his
civil administration was far from being unduly severe, though
it lacked certain features of a well-organised administration like
elaborate laws, a fixed judiciary, or an efficient police. A contem-
porary British officer reports: “In a territory compactly situated,
he has apphed himself to those improvements which spring only
from great minds and here we find despotism without its rigours,
a despot without cruelty and a system of government far beyond
the native institutions of the East, though far from the civilisation
741
EXPANSION OE BRITISH DOMINION
of Europe. ” Manufactures and trade flourished in Ranjit’s kingdom .
English writers have praised the Sikh king for his “statesman-
like recognition of the strength of the East India Company,
the reliance he placed upon British promises, and his loyalty to
his plighted word”, in which respect he differed both from Hyder
and Tipu. But it is noted by some critics that he displayed a
lack of intrepidity and bold statesmanship in his dealings with
the English. He created a Sikh kingdom but took no steps to
prevent British dominion, of which he had a presentiment when
be said “sad Idl ho jay ega^’ \ he chose instead the line of least
resistance.
C. The First Anglo-Sikh War
The structure of the Sikh military monarchy built up by
Ranjit was not destined to last long. As is the case with such
systems, its continuance or growth depended on the guidance of
a strong personahty, particularly in view of the rapid march of
British imperialism in India at that time. The Sikhs were at the
height of their power at the time of Ranjit’s exit from this world ;
but “then it exploded”, as General Sir J. H. Gordon puts it,
“disappearing in fierce but fading flames”. As a matter of fact,
the death of Ranjit was the signal for the beginning of anarchy
and confusion within his dominions, which, being prolonged,
greatly weakened the Sikh power and ultimately led to its sub-
mission to the English. One weak ruler after another was deposed
in quick succession till in 1843 Dalip Singh, a minor, was acknow-
ledged as king with his mother. Rani Jhindan, as Regent. The
struggles and convulsions of the period caused the coUapse of
the central civil government and resulted in the ascendancy of the
Khalsa army through its delegates the Panchayets or Committees
of five. Unrestrained by any strong authority, the army grew
ungovernable and furious, and became the virtual dictator of the
State. Unable to control the army or to defy it openly, the Lahore
Darbar in its intense anxiety to get rid of this terrible incubus
devised the plan of inducing it to invade British territory, in the
belief that it would either be totally destroyed in the course of its
war with the English or its “super-abundant energies” would be
exhausted in a career of conquest. Thus the position was that the
Sikh cause was almost doomed before the war broke out owing to
the half-heartedness of its leaders; and the English, as Roberts
points out, fought “against a fine army without a general, or, at
any rate, without one supreme controILhig mind”.
Besides the activities of the Darbar, some provocative acts on the
742
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
part of the English, which served to convince the Sikh army of
the desire of “their colossal neighbour” to take their country and
destroy their independence, egged it on to enter upon a war. The
English sent bodies of troops towards the Sutlej ; during 1844
and 1845 they were preparing boats at Bombay with the object
of constructing bridges across the Sutlej ; troops were equipped
in the newly- conquered territory of Sind for an attack on Multan ;
and the various garrisons m the north-west districts were being
gradually strengthened. To the Sikh army, all this was “held
to denote”, writes Cunningham, “a campaign, not of defence,
but of aggression”.
Thus the Sikh army’s apprehensions of a British attack on
the Sikh territory, at a time when the East India Company had
been definitely pursuing a policy of annexation, were not unfounded.
The Khalsa crossed the Sutlej unopposed on the 11th December,
1845, not through any lack of preparations on the part of the
English, whose army in the frontier districts had been already
reinforced, and had increased to 40,000 men and 100 guns, but
owing to the personal misconceptions and negligence of Major Broad-
foot, the British commander at Perozepore. The Governor-General,
Sir Henry (afterwards Lord) Hardinge, promptly rose to the
occasion. He issued a proclamation of war on the 13th December,
1845, and declared all Sikh possessions on the left bank of the
Sutlej confiscated and annexed to the British dominions. The first
battle, fought at Mudki, situated twenty miles to the south-east
of Perozepore, between the combined Ambala and Ludhiana
branches of the British troops under the command of Sir Hugh
Gough and the Sikh army under Lai Singh, was sharp and bloody.
The brave Sikh infantry vigorously charged the Sepoys and
European soldiers, who at first reeled before the accurate fire
of the enemy. But the supineness of Lai Singh at a critical
moment spoiled the chances of the Sikhs, who were in the end
defeated with heavy losses. The English casualties were also
heavy: 657 of their soldiers were wounded and 215, including
Major-General Sir Robert Sale, the defender of Jalalabad, and
Maj or-General Sir John McCaskill, were kUied. The British army next
attacked the Sikh entrenchments at Peroze Shah (Piruzshuhur), about
twelve miles from the Sutlej, on the 2l8t December, 1846, The Sikhs
offered a stubborn and formidable resistance and repulsed battalion
after battalion by furious firing. The English were indeed faced
with a grave situation. “During that night of horrors,” the Com-
mander-in-Ghief wrote later, “we were in a critical and perilous
state.” But the brave Sikh warriors were again betrayed by their
743
EXPANSION OE BRITISH DOMINION
general, Tej Singh, who left the field aU of a sudden. Thus the
Sikhs ultimately gave up the battle, to the immense relief of their
adversaries, and retreated across the Sutlej. “Had a guiding mind
directed the movements of the Sikh army,” observes Malleson,
“nothing could have saved the exhausted British.” The losses
on both sides were heavy. On the English side 694 men were
killed, including 103 officers, and 1,721 were wounded; and the
Sikhs lost 8,000 men and 73 guns.
After their victory at Feroze Shah, the British army remained
somewhat ‘paralyzed” for some time waiting for guns, ammunition
and stores from Delhi, when the Sikhs again crossed the Sutlej
under Ranjur Singh Majhithia in January, 1846, and attacked the
frontier station of Ludhiana. Sir Harry Smith (afterwards governor
of Cape Colony), who was sent to check the advance of the Khalsa,
was defeated in a skirmish at Buddewal on the 21st January.
Reinforced by additional troops, he defeated the Sikhs, in spite
of their brave resistance, at Aliwal, to the west of Ludhiana, on
the 28th January, 1846, The vanquished army was deprived of
sixty-seven guns and was driven across the Sutlej . The final
battle took place at SobrSon on the Sutlej, where the main body
of the Sikh army was strongly entrenched. Here also the Sikh
soldiers showed wonderful steadfastness and resolution and fought
from the early dawn of the 10th February “wdth the valour of
heroes, the enthusiasm of crusaders, and the desperation of zealots
sworn to conquer the enemy or die sword in hand.” But all
this proved to be of no avail, owing to the half-heartedness and
treachery of almost aU the Sikh generals with the honourable
exception of Sham Singh ; and by about one p.m. the Sikhs were
defeated and their formidable entrenchments were stormed by the
British army. A large number of Sikhs were slaughtered by the
infuriated British soldiers, while crossing the Sutlej ; on the English
side 320 were killed and 2,083 were wounded.
The victory of the English at Sobraon was of a decisive nature.
They were relieved of the danger from “the bravest and steadiest
enemy ever encountered in India” which almost shook to the
very base the edifice of British dominion in the Upper Provinces. As a
reward for these brilliant victories of great significance, the
authorities in England, justly jubilant over the fall of the Sikhs,
conferred peerages on the Governor-General, Sir Henry Hardinge,
and the Commander-in- Chief, Sir Hugh Gough; and freely dis-
tributed honours and favours among aU ranks.
The Governor-General with the victorious British army crossed
the Sutlej by a bridge of boats on the 13th February and occupied
744 ADVANCED HISTOBY OF INDIA
Lahore on the 20th February. The Sikhs, now utterly prostrate
had no alternative but to submit to any arrangement that Lord
Hardinge might impose on them. He, however, shrai* from com-
plete aLeKation of the Punjab in view of the necessity of greater
forces for this purpose than what he had at his disposal; and he
also abstained from the expedient of subsidiary alhan^ m con-
sideration of the future disadvantages of this course He <hoteted a
treaty to the vanquished Sikhs in their own capital on the 9th
March, 1846. By it the Sikhs were required to cede to the British
all territories to the left of the Sutlej, together ^
Jullundur Doab, lying between the Sutlej and the Beas. A heavy
war indemnity amounting to one and a half crores of rupees wm
to be paid by the Lahore Darb&r, partly m cash and partly by
aivina to the British the hill districts between the Beas and the
Lduf including Kashmir and Hanara, Tie Sikh army ™ ^u“d
to 25 battalions of infantry and 12,000
besides those already captured, were surrendered to the English.
The Sikhs were prevented from employing any British, European
or American subject, and from changing the limits of their territory,
mthout the consent of the British Government. The minor Dahp
Singh was recognised as the Maharaja with Ram Jhmdan as his
regent and Lai Singh as the chief minister,
a^eed not to interfere in the internal admmistration of the Lahore
State. But it was provided that a British force, sufficient to protect
the person of the Maharaja, should be stationed at Lahore till
the dose of the year 1846; and Henry Lawrence was a^omted
British Resident ihere. To reduce the Lahore State m size, Kashmir
was sold by the English to Golab Singh, a sardar of the Lahore
Darbar, in return for one million sterling, by a separate treaty
concluded with him at Amritsar on the 16th March. This
arrangement, remarks Cunningham, “was a dexterous one, it
reference be only had to the poHcy of reducing the power of the
Sikhs; but the transaction scarcely seems worthy of the Britisn
name ’and greatness, and the objections become stronger when it
is considered that Golab Singh had agreed to pay sixty-eight lacs
of rupees as a fine to his paramount authority before fke war
broke out, and that the custom of the East as well as of the West
requires the feudatory to aid his lord in foreign war and domestic
strife Golab Singh ought thus to have paid the deficient miUion
of money as a Lahore subject, instead of being put in possession
of Lahore provinces as an independent prince”.
The outbreak of some disorders, particularly an insurrection
against Golab Singh at the instigation of Lrd Singh, who was
745
EXPANSION OF BRITISH DOMINION
dismissed for this offence, led to a revision of the original Lahore
treaty on the 16th December, 1846, in such a manner as served
to bring the Punjab under the more effective control of the
English. It transferred the Lahore administration to the hands of
a Council of Regency of eight Sikh sarddrs, who were to act under
the virtual dictatorship of the British Resident. A British force
was to be maintained at Lahore, the Government of which was
to pay twenty-two lacs of rupees for its expenses. It was laid
down that the new arrangements were to continue till the Maharaja
attained his majority on the 4th September, 1854, or till such
period as the Governor-General and the Lahore Darbar might think:
necessary. The British Resident, Sir Henry Lawrence, sailed for
England with Lord Hardinge on the 18th January, 1848; and
his office, being held, for a brief interval, by his brother Sir John
(afterwards Lord) Lawrence, was given to Sir Frederick Currie
on the 6th April, 1848.
D. The Second Anglo-Sihh War and Annexation of the Punjab
Lord Hardinge’s arrangements in the Punjab with the Sikh
chiefs lacked any “prospects of permanence”. The defeat of
the Sikh army did not mean the extinction of national aspirations
among the Sikh people, who had behind them traditions of brilliant
achievements and had so recently opposed the English with grim
determination. They justly attributed their humiliation to the
treachery of their leaders and chafed under the ascendancy of the
English in the Punjab. The removal of the Queen-mother, Rani
Jhindan, from Lahore, on a charge of conspiracy against the British
Resident, added to their discontent. A violent outburst in the
shape of a national rising was imminent. Another trial of strength
between the disaffected Sikhs and their victorious adversaries was
inevitable, and it occurred very soon, the immediate occasion
being supplied by an incident in the city of Multan.
Diwan MuJraj, governor of Multan, was in financial trouble through
a fall in the revenue-coUection in his district, and on being pressed
by the Lahore Darbar for a payment of one million sterling,
as the price of his office, he resigned in anger in March, 1848. The
Lahore Darbar appointed Sardar Khan Singh in his place and
sent him to take charge of Multan in the company of two young
British officers, Vans Agnew of the Civil Service and Lieutenant
Anderson of the Bombay European Regiment. These two officers
were murdered on the 20th April. It was believed that the crime
was committed at the instigation of Mulraj, who made preparations
746
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
for resisting the English. The Commander-in-Chief, Lord Gough,
and . the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, did not adopt any
immediate measures to suppress the rising but decided to wait
till the cold weather. Their policy was approved by the home
authorities but was subjected to much criticism in other quarters.
It is, however, true that there were political motives behind their
action. Besides taking into consideration the difficulties of distant
campaigns and the movement of troops during the hot weather
and the rams, they wanted to gauge the strength of the Lahore
Government and its ability to quell the disturbance, which it was
technically bound to do, and also not to risk much in trying only
to reduce it when there were sufficient indications of a widespread
Multan rising. Despite the “wait and see*’ policy of the Supreme
Government, a young British lieutenant named Herbert Edwardes,
who was employed under the Sikh Council of Regency, and the British
Resident, Currie, made some unsuccessful attempts to suppress the
rising and besiege Multan. Sher Singh, son of Chatter Singh, the
Sikh governor of the Hazara district, unwisely sent by the British
Resident to join the besieging troops at Multan, went over to the
side of Mulraj on the 14th September, 1848. The activities of
Rani Jhindan added fuel to the fire of Sikh discontent, and the
veteran Sikh leaders began to rally round Sher Singh. Thus
the Multan revolt soon assumed the nature of a Sikh national
movement, and the inevitable Second Anglo-Sikh War began.
The Sikhs had this time won over their old foes, the Afghans, to
their cause by holding out to them the city of Peshawar as a bait.
By this time Lord Dalhousie had resolved to meet openly the Sikh
national challenge. He declared on the 10th October, 1848: “Un-
warned by precedent, uninfluenced by example, the Sikh nation
has called for war, and on my word, sirs, they shall have it with
a vengeance.” Lord Gough crossed the Ravi with a British army
on the 16th November and had an indecisive engagement with Sher
Singh at Ramnagar on the Chenab. The Sikhs then entrenched
themselves in a stronger position at Chilianwala, where a terrible
battle was fought on the 13th January, 1849, The Sikhs “of all
arms” fought desperately, and contested the field bravely. The
British at last won a “Pyrrhic” victory at a high cost. Of their
soldiers 602 were killed and 1,651 were wounded, and the colours
of three regiments and four of their guns were captured. The Sikhs
lost some brave soldiers and twelve guns. Better success, however,
attended English arms at Multan, the citadel of wffiich was stormed
on the 22nd January, 1849. Mulraj, after being tried by a military
court, was transported for life beyond the seas, where he soon
747
EXPANSION OF BRITISH DOMINION
expired. The news of British losses at Chilianwala gave rise to bitter
criticisms against Lord Gough, both in India and England, and the
Court of Directors appointed Sir Charles Napier to supersede him.
But before the latter reached India, Lord Gough had been able to
inflict a crushing defeat on the Sikhs and their Afghan allies, on
the 21st February, 1849, at Gujarat, a town near the Chenab, where
they had shifted themselves from their strong entrenched position
at Chilianwala, owing to lack of supplies. In the battle of Gujarat,
which “was essentially an artillery action and is known as the battle
of the guns ”, the Sikh soldiers fought as before with resolute courage
but were defeated through lack of efficient leadership. “No troops
could have fought better,” remarks MaUeson, “than the Sikhs
fought, no army could have been worse led.” The Sikhs suffered
immense losses and their defeat was complete, leaving no chance
of further resistance. The British loss was comparatively small.
Only 69 were killed and 670 wounded ; and their victory was decisive.
The battle of Gujarat, observed the Governor-General, “must ever
be regarded as one of the most memorable in the annals of British
warfare in India ; memorable alike from the greatness of the occasion,
and from the brilliant and decisive issue of the encounter”. On
the 12th March, Sher Singh, Chatter Singh and aU the Sikh chiefs
and soldiers laid down their arms, and the Afghans were chased
by Sir Walter Gilbert to the Khyber Pass and Kabul.
It was no longer possible for the Sikhs to preserve their independ-
ence. On the 30th March, 1849, Lord Dalhousie, on his own res-
ponsibility, annexed the Punjab by a proclamation, against the
wishes of Sir Henry Lawrence and Lord EUenborough and also
of the Oabiuet. He declared: “However contrary it may be to
our past views and to our present views, annexation of the Punjab
is the most advantageous policy for us to pursue. I firmly believe
we shall not succeed in estabhshmg a friendly Sikh power.” There
is no doubt that the Governor-General’s bold policy secured a
valuable advantage to the British Empire in India by pushing its
frontiers to “the natural limits of India, the base of the mountains
of Afghanistan”. The unfortunate young Dalip Singh had to suffer
for the sins of others, and had to rest content with a pension of five
lacs of rupees a year. Sent to England with his mother. Rani
Jhindan, he ultimately embraced Christianity and lived for a time as
an English landowner in Norfolk. He subsequently came back to
the Punjab and returned to his old faith but not to his old
position. Rani Jhindan died in London.
The success of arms in establishing British political supremacy
in the Punjab was supplemented by the administrative measures
748
AN ADVANCEB HISTORY OF INDIA
of a band of able British officers like Sir Henry Lawrence, his
brother John Lawrence, Herbert Edwardes, J ohn Nicholson, Richard
Temple, and many others, who, under the supervision of the
Governor- General, introduced reforms in various branches of admin-
istration, such as the army, the police. Justice, land revenue,
industry, agriculture, etc. The Governor-General at first constituted
a Board of three, consisting of Sir Henry Lawrence, as its President,
his brother, John Lawrence, and Charles G. Mansel, who had to
make room for Robert Montgomery in 1851. But in 1853 the Board
was abolished, Sir Henry Lawrence was sent to Rajputana as agent
to the Governor-General, and John Lawrence was made the first
Chief Commissioner of the Punjab. The Sikhs henceforth became
loyal to the British Empire and served its cause faithfully during
the Second Anglo-Burmese War and the Revolt of 1857-1859.
4 . Afghanistan and the Company ,
A. The. Durrani Menace and British North-West Frontier Policy
Prom 1757, or more definitely from the year 1765 — ^when, after
the English victory at Buxar (22nd October, 1764), the defence
of Oudh, situated on the north-west frontier of Bihar, became a
matter of vital necessity and fixed policy to the English in Bengal
— till the close of the eighteenth century, the dread of Durrani
invasion constantly haunted the minds of British statesmen in
India. The Company’s Government in Calcutta apprehended an
Afghan dash upon Oudh and then upon Bengal. As a matter
of fact, a collision between the Afghans, aiming at political
supremacy in Hindustan on the wreck of the Mughul Empire, and
the English, trying for the same object, lay almost in the logic of
history, as was the case with the Maratha- Afghan clash of 1761.
It was fortunate for the English that Ahmad Shah Abdali, after
his victory at Panipat, was prevented from pushing further east
owing to troubles at home. There was an ebb-tide in the fortunes
of the Durranis after the death of Ahmad Shah Abdali in June,
1773, and his weak and indolent son and successor, Timur Shah
(1773-1793), could not pursue the vigorous policy of his predecessor.
But Timur’s fifth son and successor, Zaman Shah, who ascended
the throne of Kabul in May, 1793, was an able and ambitious ruler.
After having suppressed the forces of disorder at home, he advanced
to Lahore in 1798 and cherished the dream of invading the interior
of Hindustan lilce Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali. Though the
project of Zaman Shah was treated “very lightly” by some of
EXPANSION OF BRITISH DOMINION 749
his contemporaries, and most of the modem writers have pointed
out the impossibility of its then being carried into effect in view
of the changed pohtical circumstances, the Company’s Government
in Bengal could not consider “the idea of an invasion from Cabui
as a mere visionary danger”. Zaman Shah received invitations from
Tipu Sultan, Wazir ‘Ali, then tr5dng to organise a conspiracy
against the Company, and Nasir-ul-mulk, the discontented Nawab
of Bengal. In fact, the prospect of Zaman Shah’s invasion of
Hindustan “kept the British Indian Empire in a chronic state
of unrest” during the administrations of Sir John Shore and Lord
Wellesley. Dundas, President of the Board of Control, being con-
firmed “in the belief of his (Zaman Shah’s) hostile designs”,
instructed Lord Wellesley “to keep a very watchful eye upon the
motions of that Prince, whose talents, military force, and pecuniary
resources, afford to him the means of being a formidable opponent”.
The Governor- General maintained a large British force in Oudh,
under Sir J. Craig, to protect that kingdom against the apprehended
Afghan invasion, and claimed to have averted it by sending two
missions in 1799 to Persia, whose relations with Afghanistan were
then strained. The first mission was that of Mehdi ‘Ali Khan, a
naturalised Persian then acting as the Company’s Resident at
Bushire, and the next that of Captain John Malcolm. Persian
friendship was also necessary for the English, to counteract the
Asiatic designs of France; and the missions of Wellesley proved
successful from both points of view. The Persian pressure
compelled Zaman Shah to return from Lahore to Peshawar,
to the immense relief of the English. This is clear from Lord
Wellesley’s letter to the Secret Committee in London, dated the
28th September, 1801. Harassed by revolts at home, due chiefly
to the strife between the Sadozais (members of the royal family)
and the Barakzais under Payendah KJian and his eldest son,
Fateh Khan, Zaman Shah was ultimately overthrown and blinded
and fled to Bukhara, then to Herat and finally to India, where
at Ludhiana he survived for many years under pathetic conditions
as a pensioner of the British Government, which had once been so
much perturbed by the threat of his mvasion.
B. Chronic Troubles in Afghanistan after Zaman Shah
The removal of Zaman Shah was followed by a period of chronic
troubles and disorder in the kingdom of Afghanistan. His brother,
Mahmud Shah, the next ruler (1800--1803), became a puppet in
the hands of the Barakzai chief, Fateh Khan, and proved himself
750
AN ADVANCED HISTOBY OE INDIA
utterly incompetent to suppress disorders in Kabul. In 1803
Shuja Mirza, a grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani, seized the
throne, of Kabul. But Shah Shuja also proved himself incapable
of establishing an efficient rule. “His resources were limited,
and his qualities were of too negative a character to render him
equal to the demands of such stirring times. He wanted judgment ;
and above aU, he wanted money.” By the middle of the year
1809, he was defeated by the Barakzais, the partisans of Mahmud
Shah, who was thus restored to the throne of Afghanistan. After
some fruitless attempts “to splinter up his broken fortune”
Shah Shuja reached Ludhiana in 1816 to remain there under
British protection like his brother, Zaman Shah. Mahmud Shah,
a tool in the hands of the Barakzais, gradually grew impatient of
their control, and caused their leader, Fateh Khan, to be killed
most cruelly in 1818. This made the Barakzais furious, and they in
the course of a few years brought under their control the whole
country of Afghanistan, except Herat, where Mahmud Shah and
his son, Kamran, found refuge and acknowledged the suzerainty
of Persia. Kamran continued to hold Herat after the death of
Mahmud in 1829.
C. Dost Muhammad
In the meanwhile. Dost Muhammad, an able member of the
Barakzai clan, had made himself king of Kabul in 1826 and had
been proclaimed Amir with all the necessary formalities. More
courageous and active than his contemporaries. Dost Muhammad
frustrated an attempt of Shah Shuja to regain Kabul in 1833
with the support of Ranjit ; but about the same time Peshawar was
captured by the Sikhs owing to the support they received from Dost
Muhammad’s brother, Sultan Muhammad Khan. In fact, Dost
Muhammad’s position was beset with dangers on all sides. “On
the north there were revolts in Balkh ; on the south one of his
brothers was holding out against him at Kandahar ; on the east he
was harassed by Banjit Singh at Peshawar with Shah Shujii and the
British Government in the background; on the west there was
Mahmud Shah and Kamran at Herat, with Persia plotting behind
and Russia lurking in the distance.” All this naturally made Dost
Muhammad eager for friendship with the English. Thus after the
arrival of Lord Auckland (1836-1842), as the Governor-General of
India in March, 1836, Dost Muhammad sent him a congratulatory
letter in the month of May and sought British help against the Sikhs
and Persia. But the Governor-General declared the unwillingness
of the British Government to interfere in the affairs of other States.
EXPANSION OF BRITISH BOIMINION 751
To put diplomatic pressure on the British Government, the Amir
of Afghanistan made overtures to Persia and Russia.
The course of European politics exercised at this time, as it
had done before, since the middle of the eighteenth century, a
profound influence on the history of Asia. From the early years
of the nineteenth century, Russia was actuated by designs of
expansion in the East, for which she concluded the Treaty of
Giilistan with Persia in 1813. For the tune being England succeeded
in detaching Persia from her friendship with Russia, and signed
the Treaty of Teheran with the former on the 25th November, 1814,
according to which “all alliances between Persia and European
nations hostile to Great Britain were made null and void, and all
European armies were to be prevented from entering Persia, if
hostile to Great Britain”. But in the course of a few years, the new
Shah of Persia, Muhammad Mirza, son of ‘Abbas Mirza, who had
died in the autumn of 1833, turned out to be a friend of Russia,
and Russian influence became predominant at the Persian court,
Russia, “making a cat’s-paw of Persia”, instigated the Shah
to besiege Herat (November, 1837, to September, 1838), which
occupied a position of strategic importance from the stand-
point of the interests of the British Indian Empire. “Near Herat, ”
writes Sir T. H. Holdich, “there exists the only break in the other-
wise continuous and formidable wall of mountains which traverse
Asia from the Bering Strait to the Caspian Sea. Near Herat it is
possible to pass from the Russian outposts ... to India without
encountering any formidable altitude — and this is possible nowhere
else.” The heroic defence of the Afghans, aided by the courageous
efforts of a young British officer, Eldred Pottinger, who was
then travelling in Afghanistan, baffled the Persian attempt on
Herat. It served, however, to deepen the ever-increasing British
anxiety about Russian ambitions in Asia.
D. The First Anglo-Afghdn, War
It would undoubtedly have been difficult for Russia to
realise her Asiatic ambitions from distant Moscow, and to
advance on the frontier of the British Indian Empire by
traversing the frowning plateau of Afghanistan and then by
defeating the trained army of the Punjab, whose ruler was a
British ally. Nevertheless the movements of Russia alarmed
British statesmen. They largely influenced Lord William Bentinck’s
policy towards the Amirs of Sind and created much uneasiness
in the mind of Lord Auckland, especially when the Amir
752
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of Afghaiiistan, annoyed with the English for their refusal of
help against the Sikhs, had begun negotiations with Persia and
Russia. This “Russophohia” also deeply stirred the Whig Cabinet
of Lord Melbourne in England. The enterprising Foreign Secretary .
Lord Palmerston, saw in Russian designs “imminent peril to the
security and tranquillity” of the Indian Empire, and goaded on
the Government of In^a to take effective steps to checkmate
them. The Secret Committee of the Court of Directors wrote to
the Governor-General on the 25th June, 1836, to “judge as to
what steps it may he proper and desirable ... to take to watch
more closely, than has hitherto been attempted, the progress of
events in Afghanistan and to counteract the progress of Russian
influence in a quarter which, from its proximity to our Indian,
possessions, could not fail, if it were once established, to act mjuri-
ously on the system of our alliances and possibly to interfere even
with the tranquillity of our own territory. The mode of dealmg
with this very important question, whether by despatching a
confidential agent to Dost Muhammad of Kabul merely to watch
the progress of events, or to enter into relations with this chief,
either of a political or merely, in the first instance, of a commercial
character, we confide to your discretion, as well as the adoption
of any other measures that may appear to you desirable in order
to counteract Russian advances in that quarter, should you be
satisfied from the information received from your agents on the
frontier, or hereafter from Mr. McNeill, on his arrival in Persia,
that the time has arrived at which it would be right for you to
interfere decidedly in the affairs of Afghanistan. Such an inter-
ference would doubtless be requisite, either to prevent the extension
of Persian dominion in that quarter, or to raise a timely barrier
against the impending encroachments of Russian influence”.
On the strength of this despatch, the Governor-General sent
Alexander Burnes from Bombay to Kabul in November, 1836,
under the pretence of a commercial mission, but in reality, as
Burnes himself says, “to see into affairs and judge of what was to
be done hereafter”. Burnes reached Kabul on the 20th September,
1837. Dost Muhammad, who obviously preferred the friendship of
the English to that of the Russians, expressed his willingness to
accept British overtures, provided the British Government agreed
to put pressure on Ranjit Singh to restore Peshawar to him. Burnes
also recommended an alliance with the Amir. But Lord Auckland
and his two secretaries, William Macnaghten and John Colvin,
turned a deaf ear to his suggestion. The hope of an Anglo- Afghan
alliance was thus destroyed, and Burnes' mission having failed,, he
EXPAITSION OF BRITISH DOMINION
753
left Kabul on the 26th April, 1838. Disappointed in securing
British friendship, the Amir naturally sought Perso-Russian alliance,
and the Russian envoy, Viktevitch, who had been hitherto treated
“in a scurvy and discouragmg manner”, was received by biTu with
much favour.
Lord Auckland, who had so recently pleaded the doctrine of
non-intervention in the affahs of other States when Dost Muhammad
solicited British help in the recovery of Peshawar from the Sikhs
now felt no scruple in taking steps to depose Dost Muhammad
and to restore the exiled Shah Shuja to the throne of Kabul with
the help of Ranjit Singh. To carry this resolve into effect, he sent
Macnaghten, Secretary to the Government, to Lahore, and a
Tripartite Treaty was signed between Shah Shuja, Ranjit Singh
and the English on the 26th June, 1838. A war of the English
^ with Afghanistan was a logical outcome of this step. On the 1st
October, 1838, the Governor-General issued from Simla a manifesto
by way of an official justification of the intended war, in which, as
Herbert Edwardes writes, “the views and conduct of Dost
Muhammad were misrepresented with a hardihood which a Russian
statesman might have envied”. “Lies were heaped upon lies”
in the Simla manifesto. The Governor-General’s remark about
Dost Muhammad’s “unprovoked attack upon our ancient ally”
has been aptly compared by Trotter “for truthfulness with the
I wolf’s complaint in the fable against the lamb”.
Lord Auckland’s policy is indefensible from aU points of view.
As an independent ruler of Afghanistan, Dost Muhammad had
every right to enlist Perso-Russian alliance on his side however
prejudicial it might be to British interests. It should also be noted
that Dost Muhammad decided to accept Perso-Russian alliance after
the failure of his eflibrts to secure British friendship. “We had our-
selves, ” observes Kaye justly, “alienated the friendship of the
i Barakzye Sirdars. They had thrown themselves into the arms of
the Persian King, only because we had thrust them off.” Further,
the poor excuse of Perso-Russian aggression as a danger to British
interests ceased to have any force whatsoever after the withdrawal
of the Persians from Herat in September, 1838 ; this “cut from under
the feet of Lord Auckland aU grounds of justification and rendered
the expedition across the Indus at once a folly and a crime”,
r, Politically considered, the Governor-General’s pohcy was ill-advised
; and inexpedient. Dost Muhammad, whom he wanted to depose,
" was an efficient ruler having sufficient control over the unruly Afghan
tribesmen, whereas his nominee, Shah Shuja, though possessed of
; some capacity, had hitherto met with nothing but failure, and
754
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
had no prospect of gaining popularity among the Muslims of
Afghanistan by being reinstated through the assistance of the
Sikhs, the old enemies of the Afghans, and of the Christian British
power. Shah Shuja was a man “whom the people of Afghanistan
had repeatedly, in emphatic, scriptural language, spued out for
these Barukzye (Barakzai) chiefs, who, whatever may have been the
defects of their Government, had contrived to maintain themselves
in security, and their country in peace, with a vigour and a constancy
unknown to the luckless Suddozye Princes In short, the Afghan
war was launched, as Kaye pointed out, “in defiance of every con-
sideration of political and military expediency ; and there were those
who, arguing the matter on higher grounds than those of mere
expediency, pronounced the certainty of its failure, because there
was a canker of injustice at the core. It was, indeed, an experi-
ment on the forbearance aKke of God and of man; and, therefore,
though it might dawn in success and triumph, it was sure to set
in fafiure and disgrace”. Among the many contemporary critics of
Lord Auckland’s policy, the Duke of Wellington wrote to Mr.
Tucker that “the consequence of crossing the Indus, once, to settle
a Government in Afghanistan, will be a perennial march into
that country”. His remark was prophetic.
Regardless of these considerations. Lord Auckland, largely
influenced by his private advisers, John Colvin and W. H.
Macnaghten, passed orders to assemble “the army of the Indus” to
invade the kingdom of Dost Muhammad. Owing to Ranjit Singh’s
objection to the passage of the British troops through his kingdom,
and certain other reasons, it was arranged that the main British force
under the command of Sir John Keane and Sir Willoughby Cotton,
accompanied by Shah Shuja, would advance from Ferozepore to
Kabul by way of Bahawalpur, Sind, Baluchistan, and the Bolan
and Khojak Passes over a distance of one thousand miles,
while the Sikh army, accompanied by Colonel Wade and Shah
Shuja’s son, Timur, would march from the Punjab through
Peshawar and the Khyber Pass. As Dr. Smith observes, “the
plan violated all the conditions of sound strategy, and was that
of a lunatic rather than of a sane statesman”. Further, the
march through Sind meant a gross violation of the treaties of 1832
with the Amirs of Sind. The British army was considerably
reduced in numbers through lack of water supply and provisions
before it reached Qandahar. Sir W. H. Macnaghten accompanied
the expedition in charge of its political affairs with Sir Alexander
Burnes as his principal lieutenant.
The allies at first gained successes. Under the supreme command
755
EXPANSION OF BRITISH DOMINION
of Sir John Keane, they occupied Qandahar in April, 1839, stormed
Ghazni on the 23rd July, and Kabul fell into their hands on the
3rd August, 1839, when Dost Muhammad evacuated it. Shah Shuja
was triumphantly enthroned in Kabul without any welcome, or
even a “common salaam”, from the people. “It was,” remarks
Kaye, “more like a funeral procession than the entry of the King
into the capital of his restored dominions.” For a while the British
arms seemed to have received additional lustre. But by the
end of the year 1841, “that lustre, such as it was, had been
lamentably besmirched”.
Serious dangers were lurking in the situation. Restored by
force of British arms and Sikh help, Shah Shuja failed to evoke
national sympathy and support; and “it was necessary still to
hedge in the throne with a quickset of British bayonets” even
after Dost Muhammad had surrendered himself in 1840 and had
been sent to Calcutta as a prisoner. But the British army was
maintained in Afghanistan at a huge cost, entailing a heavy drain
on the resources of India; and its presence there increased the
prices of the articles of common consumption, which affected the
rich as well as the poor people. The poplar discontent at foreign
domination was aggravated by lapses on the part of the British
troops, stationed in the land of the freedom-loving Afghans. In
fact, the system of government imposed on the Afghans “was
becoming a curse to the whole nation”.
When Shah Shuja was not accepted by the nation, it would have
been wiser for the British to withdraw with him. Considering the
dangers of the situation in Afghanistan, the Court of Directors
wisely suggested “the entire abandonment of the country, and a
frank confession of complete failure”. But Macnaghten, who
fondly believed that British prospects were “brightening in every
direction” and that everything was “couleur de rose’’, considered
the proposal of withdrawal as “an unparalleled political atrocity”
and rejected it. Lord Auckland also would not agree to confess the
absolute failure of his policy and took recourse to half-measures,
which were at once risky and discreditable. The British army
of occupation was retained in Afghanistan and an attempt was
made to economise by reducing the subsidies of the tribal chiefs
of eastern Afghanistan, which alone had so long tempted them
to adliere to the English. As a natural result of this “mis-
placed economy”, the chiefs broke out in insurrection in different
parts. Two other serious mistakes were committed by the Governor-
General. His appointment of General Elphinstone, an elderly
invalid, to succeed Cotton in April, 1841, as the commander of the
756
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
army in Kabul, against the desire of the Commander-in- Chief, who
preferred Nott, the commander at Qandahar, was a calamitous
step. It was also unwise on his part to permit Shah Shuja to use
the citadel of Kabul, known as the Bala Hissar, for his seraglio,
while the troops were badly placed in ill-fortified cantonments out-
side the city at a distance from the commissariat stores. Further,
Sikh help for the British ceased to be forthcoming owing to the
prevailing disorders in the Punjab, after the death of their friend,
Ranjit Singh, on the 27th June, 1839.
Disturbances broke out by the autumn of 1841. On the 2nd
November a howling mob pulled Alexander Burnes out of his
house, murdered him, his brother Charles, and also Lieutenant
William Broadfoot. The EngHsh officers, civil as well as military,
and the troops betrayed a regrettable lack of promptness and
ability, and thus allowed “the little fixe” to grow “by sufferance
into a wide conflagration”, under the leadership of Akbar Khan,
son of Dost Muhammad. They quarrelled among themselves and
failed to realise the formidable nature of the outbreak. “There
appears to have been,” comments Thornton, a contemporary writer
“an almost unanimous determination to shut the ears against all
intimations of danger, and indulge in a luxurious dream of safety
equal to that within the Maratha ditch.” On hearing of these
disasters, Lord Auckland was greatly perturbed. He realised
rather too late the folly of wrestling “against the universal opinion,
national and religious”, and became eager “to consider in what
manner aH that belongs to India may be most immediately and
most honourably withdrawn from the country”. The feeble
General Elphinstone allowed the stores depots to be captured by
the insurgents without striking a blow; and Macnaghten, the
irresolute British political officer in Afghanistan, fearing to be
starved out, concluded a humiliating treaty with Akbar Khan
on the 11th December. It was agreed that the British forces should
evacuate Kabul as soon as possible, that Dost Muhammad should
return to Kabul, and that Shah Shuja should either remain in
Afghanistan on a pension or should go to India with the British
army. But Macnaghten, far from being sincerely disposed to
observe these terms, entered within a few days into objectionable
negotiations with the rival Ghizali and QizilbasM chiefs. He was
paid back in his own coin for this unwise act, as these chiefs
betrayed him, inveigled him into an interview with Akbar IChan
on the 23rd December, and slew him with one of his companions,
Captain Trevor ; hiS two other companions, Lawrence and Mackenzie,
got off with their lives but were made prisoners.
EXPANSION OF BRITISH DOmNION 767
Macnaghten’s successor, Major Eldred Pottinger, wanted to
break off all negotiations with the Afghans and either to occupy the
Bala Hissar and hold out till help came or to proceed to Jalalabad
which was bravely defended by Sale. But Elphinstone and other
military officers, who had not the courage to stand and vindicate
their national honour, disregarded his suggestions and stooped to
make more concessions. They surrendered guns, muskets and
ordnance stores and ratified the treaty on the 1st January, 1842.
On the 6th January, the “crouching, drooping and dispirited”
British troops and camp-foUowers, 16,500 men in a,U, set out on
their return journey towards India, struggling through the stinging
snow of the winter and a constant shower of bullets from the Afghans,
whose fanatical rage Akbar Khan was unable to check. Within
a few days the women and children and some officers, including
Pottinger, Lawrence and Elphinstone, were given to Akbar Khan
as hostages. But the slaughter of British troops continued and on
the 10th January only about a quarter of the force was left. In the
pithy phrase of Roberts, “the retreat became a rout, the rout a
massacre.” Thus considerably thinned, the retiring troops made the
last desperate stand at the Pass of Jagdalak on the 11th January
only to lose twelve of their officers. Of the 16,600 men that had
started from Kabul a week before, all were destroyed excepting 120
prisoners under Akbar Khan, and only one, Dr. Brydon, reached
Jalalabad, severely wounded and utterly exhausted, on the 13th
January, to narrate the painful story of the tragic retreat, i
The gallant defence of Qandahar by Nott and Rawlinson, and of
Jalalabad by Sale and Broadfoot, may be considered as the only
streak of light in the enveloping darlmess of disaster. Naturally
shocked and mortified by these calamities. Lord Auckland
tried to conceal his lack of foresight by describing the terrible
catastrophe in the General Order issued on the 31st January as “a
partial reverse”, which afforded “a new occasion for displaying
the stability and vigour of the British power, and the admirable
spirit and valour of the British-Indian army”. He made some
ill-fated efforts to retrieve British prestige, but was soon com-
pelled to leave his office, and Lord Ellenborough (1842-1844)
took charge of it on the 28th February, 1842.
^ There is, however, a reference in Macdonald’s letter, dated the 17th June,
1842, to an account in the Journal of the Serjeant of the 37th Native Infantry,
who was an eye-witness of the events that happened from the date of the
departure of Elphinstone’s force from Kabul till its final destruction, and
made his escape to Jalalabad. “It is a far better account than Brydon’s,
who seems scarcely yet to have recovered his reason, which in his fright
he certainly lost for the time being.” J.!.!?., August, 1933.
758
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
There is no doubt that the Afghan War was an unjust
proceeding on the part of the Company’s Government in India,
and as such it merited, in the opinion of some writers, the “tremen-
dous Nemesis” which overtook it. Kaye significantly observes:
. . the wisdom of our statesmen is but foolishness, and the
might of our armies is but weakness when the curse of God is
sitting heavily upon an unholy cause,” Further, the feeble and
unwise manner in which it was conducted made its failure inevit-
able. In critically examining the causes of the British reverses
and disasters in connection with the Afghan War, Captain Trotter
remarks that “the utter collapse of that (Lord Auckland’s) policy,
baleful, lawless, and blundering as it was, sprang mainly jfrom the
choice of agents ill-fitted for their work. Macnaghten’s cheery
trustfulness, Elphinstone’s bodily and mental decay, Shelton’s
stupid wilfulness, chronic dissensions between the civil and military
powers, Sale’s withholding of timely succour, aU. conspired with
Lord Auckland’s half-measures and ill-timed economies, to work
out the dramatic Nemesis of an enterprise begun in folly and
wrong-doing”.
E. Lord Ellenborough (1842-1844) and Afghan Affairs
In view of the overwhelming disaster of the late Afghan War, Lord
Bllenborough declared in a letter to the Commander-in-Chief,
written on the 15th March, 1842, that the British Government
would no longer “peril its armies and with its armies the Indian
Empire” to support the Tripartite Treaty, but would aim at the
establishment of its military reputation “by the infliction of some
signal and decisive blow upon the Afghans ”. He changed this reso-
lution, however, on hearing the news of General England’s defeat
at Hakalzai and Palmer’s surrender of Ghazni, and ordered
the immediate withdrawal of the British troops that still remained
in Afghanistan, without thmking any longer of reprisals or of
releasing the prisoners. This order fell on the army, as Outram
recorded, “like a thunder-clap” and raised a storm of indignation
both in England and India. Shah Shuja had rneanwlnle been
murdered. Both Nott and PoUock showed no disposition to retire
but maintained their positions, pleading want of transport as
a reason for their hesitation to withdraw. Lord Ellenborough
at last “discovered a way to maintain a particularly empty show
of consistency, and at the same time to satisfy the universal
demand for the decisive reconquest of Kabul and recovery of
the prisoners as a preluninary to withdrawal”. On the 4th July
EXPANSION OF BRITISH DOMINION
759
he sent letters to Nott and Pollock repeating the order for with-
drawal from Afghanistan, but at the same time gave Nott vide
discretion to retire to India, not by the Bolan Pass, but by Ghazni
and Kabul through the Elhyber, and also ordered Pollock to act
in concert with Nott in this matter of retreat. It is clear that the
Governor-General thus threw the responsibility for decision on
the generals, who, however, accepted it without any hesitation.
On the 20th August, Pollock started from Jalalabad with 8,000 of
his choice troops ; defeated the Afghans at Jagdalak on the 8th
September and at Tezin on the 13th September, reached Kabul
on the 15th September and once more hoisted the British flag at
the Bala Hissar. On the 17th September he ioined Nott, who had
already destroyed the town and fortifications of Ghazni on the
6th September and had, according to the instructions of Lord
EUenborough, carried away the “so-caUed gates of Somnath”,
which Sultan Mahmud was supposed to have carried off in the
eleventh century. The English prisoners were rescued; but “the
glory of the avenging army at Kabul was marred by acts of
barbarity” when it blew up the great bazar of Kabul with gun-
powder and the city was ruthlessly sacked, many inoffensive people
being subjected to great suffering, before it was evacuated on
the 12th October. The returning army was welcomed by the
Governor-General at Ferozepore with “triumphal arches and
histrionic paeans of victory”. In a proclamation issued from
Simla on the 10th October, though it was dated the 1st October,
Lord EUenborough denounced in strong language the policy of
his predecessor and expressed his willmgness “to recognise any
government approved by the Afghans themselves, which shall
appear desirous and capable of maintaining friendly relations
with neighbouring States”. In another bombastic proclamation,
addressed to the princes, chiefs and people of India, the
Governor-General announced: “Our victorious army bears the
gates of the temple of Somnath in triumph from Afghanistan and
the despoiled tomb of Sultan Mahomed looks upon the ruins of
Ghaznee. The insult of 800 years is avenged.”
The unwisdom and uselessness of the second proclamation can
hardly be doubted. “The foUy of the thing,” observes Kaye,
“was past all denial. It was a foUy, too, of the most senseless
kind, for it was calculated to please none and to offend many.”
It wounded the feelings of the Muslims ; and the Hindus remained
indifferent about the gates, which, as the antiquarians rightly
held, had been built much later than the eleventh century “of
no wood more precious than deal or deodar”. The Governor-
760 AN ADVANCED HISTOBY OP INDIA
General’s “glorious trophy of a successful war” was in the end
consigned to a lumber-room in the fort of Agra, and he
made himself subject to ridicule and censure, though he was
powerfully supported by the Duke of Wellington and Lord Hardinge.
Dost Muhammad was allowed to reoccupy his throne uncondition-
ally, and he held it till his death, at the age of eighty, in 1863.
His friendly attitude towards the English and opposition to Persia
showed that the “whole disastrous episode”, which cost no less
than 20,000 human lives and fifteen millions of money, was “entirely
superfluous”.
5. The Annexation of Sind
The Afghan War was very closely connected with the conquest
of Sind, which followed it. Sind embraced the lower valley of the
Indus and was included within the empire of Ahmad Shah Durrani.
But, during the closing years of the eighteenth century, it owed only
a nominal allegiance to Afghanistan and was governed in practical
independence by the Mirs or Amirs of the Talpura tribe, which,
coming originally from Baluchistan, had overthrown the last of
the Kaloras in a.d. 1783. The three important branches of the
Talpura chiefs were seated at Hyderabad, Khairpur and Mirpur.
The English had had commercial interests in Sind for a long
time ; a factory established by them at Thatta in 1758 was abandoned
in 1775 and their commercial mission to the Talpura Mirs in 1799
produced no important result. With a view to excluding French
influence from Sind, the British Government concluded a treaty with
the Amirs of Sind in 1809, which was renewed in 1820. The journey
of Alexander Burnes in 1831 up the river Indus on his way to Lahore
disclosed to the English the importance of Sind from the political
as well as commercial point of view, and since then its absorption
into the growing British Empire had been only a question of time.
“Adas,” observed a Seiad, “Sind is now gone since the English
have seen the river.” As we shall see, this proved wholly true as
a prophetic prediction.
Sind had an ambitious neighbour in the SiJih ruler, Ran] it
Singh, who coveted it as a natural sphere of expansion for
his empire. But his attempts were thwarted by his friends, the
English, who in their turn lost no opportunity of increasing their
influence over that territory. Thus in 1831 Lord William Bentinck
opposed Ranjit Singh’s proposal for a partition of Sind. But the
Amirs of Sind had to conclude a treaty wdth the British Govern-
ment, rather reluctantly, on the 20th April, 1832, which provided
that “the rivers and roads” of Sind should be opened to the
EXPANSION OE BRITISH DOMINION
761
“merchants and traders of Hindoostan”, but that no “military
stores” and “armed vessels or boats” should come through these.
As a sort of precaution against the apprehended absorption of
their territory by the British, the Amirs took care to include
another stipulation to the effect that “the two contracting powers
bind themselves never to look with the eye of covetousness on the
possessions of each other”. This treaty was renewed in 1834.
Up to 1838 Ranjit Singh often contemplated the incorporation of
Sind into his empire, but was thwarted by the English, who now
with a view to strengthening the ties by which the Amirs of Sind
were “connected with the British Empire”, proceeded to extort
from them favourable terms as a reward for their protection
against Sikh aggression. By a treaty concluded on the 20th April,
1838, Lord Auckland forced on them an accredited British Resident.
In fact, Sind soon feU out of the frying-pan into the fire. Sikh
ambition in regard to it could not be realised, but it was to pay a
high price for the uncalled-for British protection by being deprived
of its independence through questionable means adopted by British
officers.
On the outbreak of the First Anglo-Afghan War, the English,
in violation of the treaty of 1832, took an armed force through
Sind, and informed the Amirs that “while the present exigency
lasts . . . the article of the treaty (of 1832) prohibiting the
use of the Indus for the conveyance of military stores must
necessarily be suspended”. Greater humiliation and loss were
inflicted on the Amirs when Lord Auckland demanded from them
a heavy sum as a price for unsolicited British mediation in efFectiog
a commutation of the pecuniary demands of Shah Shuja on Sind.
The Amirs, who had stopped the pajunent of any tribute to Shah
Shuja during his thirty years’ exile and had also been granted
an exemption by Shah Shuja in 1833 from all claims, naturally
hesitated to comply with Lord Auckland’s demand. But they
were given a warning to the effect that the British Government
had the “power to crush and annihilate them, and . . . will not
hesitate to call it into action, should it appear requisite, however
remotely, for either the integrity or safety” of the Empire, or its
frontiers. The Amirs had no other option but to submit to the
Governor-General’s exaction. Further, the threat of Sir John
Keane’s march On the capital of Sind compelled them to accept
fresh terms from Lord Auckland in February, 1839, by which they
were bound to pay a sum of three lacs of rupees per annum for
the maintenance of a British force in their territories, and Sind
was “formally placed under British protection”. This treaty was
762
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
again revised by Lord Auckland and his advisers in their own way
and was sent back for final signature to the Amirs, who “objected,
implored and finally gave way, by affixing their seals to the revised
documents”.
A worse fate was, however, in store for Sind. She had been
intimidated and coerced by Lord Auckland ; but his successor went
further and imposed on her the yoke of British authority by
sheer force. During the critical years of the disastrous Afghan War,
the province had been utilised as a base of operations by the British
Government, and its Amirs had remained steadfastly loyal to their
agreements with the English. But far from being duly rewarded
for their attachment, the Amirs were unjustly charged with dis-
affection and hostility against the British Government by Lord
Ellenborough, who sought a convenient pretext to give effect to
his design of annexing Sind. To make matters easy for himself,
the new Governor-General removed Major James Outram, the
Resident at Hyderabad, who had some experience of local affairs,
and sent to Sind Sir Charles Napier with full civil and military
powers as a representative of the Governor-General. Sir Charles
Napier, a hot-headed and impulsive officer, acted on “the theory
that the annexation of Sind would be a very beneficent piece of
rascality for which it was his business to find an excuse — a robbery
to be plausibly effected”. He took it for granted that the vague
charges against the Amirs had been proved, and, besides arbitrarily
interfering in a succession quarrel at Khairpur, dictated a new
treaty by which the Amirs were required to cede certain important
territories in heu of the tribute of three lacs, to provide fuel for
British vessels navigating the Indus, and to give up the right of
coining money in favour of the British Government. He did not
stop with these demands, which amounted to an absolute surrender
of national independence by the Amirs, but acted as if Sind had
already become a part of the British Empire and “as though the
right of the Governor-General of British India to parcel it out at
his pleasure was unquestioned and unquestionable ; and, moreover,
as if it were desired to exercise this right m a manner as offensive
as possible to those who were to suffer privation from the exercise”.
Thus before the acceptance of a fresh treaty by the Amirs, he
occupied the territory in question, and issued proclamations in
strong language. Further, while talking of treaties, he sought
to intimidate the Amirs by marching upon Imamgarh, a famous
desert fortress lying between Khairpur and Hyderabad, without
formally declaring war, and destroying it early in January, 1843.
These high-handed acts of Napier sorely tried the patience of
763
EXPANSION, [OF BRITISH DOMINION
the warlike Baluchis, and in a state of excitement they attacked
the British. Residency on the 15th February, 1843, whereupon
Outram, who had returned to Sind as a British Commissioner,
fled for refuge to a steamer. Thus war was now openly declared.
A Baluchi army of about 22,000 men was defeated on the 17tb
February at Miani, a few miles from Hyderabad, by Napier fighting
with 2,800 men and 12 guns. This was followed by the immediate
submission of some of the Amirs, but Sher Muhammad, “the
Lion of Mirpur ”, stiU held out bravely. He was, however, thoroughly
vanquished on the 24th March at Dabo, six miles from HyderaNld,
whereupon Napier occupied Mirpur on the 27th March, Amarkot
on the 4th April and conveyed the news of his victory to Lord
EUenborough in the punning message, “Peccavi”, i.e. “ I have
Sind Sher Muhammad was driven out of Sind in J une and the war
came to a close. Sind was formally annexed to the British Empire
in August, 1843, and the Amirs were exiled. Napier unhesitatingly
accepted £70,000 as his share of the prize money, while Outram,
in spite of being a man of comparatively small resources, did not
take his own share amounting to £3,000 but gave it to some
charitable iastitutions. Outram, in fact, had no liking for Napier’s
policy and wrote to him : “I am sick of policy ; I will not say yours
is the best, but undoubtedly it is the shortest — ^that of the sword.
Oh, how I wish you had drawn it in a better cause ! ”
The policy of Lord EUenborough, and the high-handed acts of
Sir Charles Napier, with regard to Sind, have been justly con-
demned by most writers. There is no doubt that they acted on
purely imperialistic motives and resorted to highly objectionable
means, by cynical violations of treaty obligations, to reduce the
Amirs, who had inflicted no injury on the British, to a state of
vassalage. “If the Afghan episode,” observes Innes, “is the most
disastrous in our annals, that of Sind is moraUy even less excus-
able.” While trying to defend the policy by various laboured
arguments, which are at once irrational and unhistorical, Napier
has admitted in his Diary: “We have no right to seize Sind,
yet we shall do so, and a very advantageous, useful, humane
piece of rascality it will be.” Strangely enough, the Court of
Directors, while condemning the policy of annexing Sind, did
nothing to undo the wrong. Napier was appointed the first
G-overnor of Sind, and he tried hard during his rule of four years
to consolidate British authority in the province.
CHAPTER VI
THE COMPANY AND THE MINOB INDIAN STATES (1774-1858)
I. Early Relations, 1774-1823
The rapid strides witli which British imperialism had advanced in
India since at least the time of Wellesley, if not earlier, inevitably
affected the destiny of the Indian States that had arisen on the
ruins of the Mughul Empire. Their relations with the Company’s
Government varied according to changing political conditions and
the personal views and ambitions of the Governors-General ; but
the “conviction which developed with Wellesley and continued up
to our own time, that the government of the whole of India directly
or indirectly by the British is part of a preordained system” had a
considerable influence in shaping British policy towards the Indian
States. Warren Hastings, confronted with the task of safeguarding
British territories against the encroachments of the MarS/thas,
and the militant rulers of Mysore, adopted the policy of a “Ring-
Fence'\ that is, sought to guard the frontiers of the neighbouring
States by way of precaution. But some of his transactions, such
as his demands on Chait Singh of Benares and the Begams of Oudh,
and conduct towards Eaizulla Khan of Rampur, involved breach
of treaties or betrayed a lack of moral scruples. The subsidiary
treaties of Lord Wellesley established in fact British predominance
over some of the Indian States. But in theory these States did not
thereby become subject to British paramountcy as they retained
their independence in matters of internal administration. All the
treaties of Wellesley, except that with Mysore, were negotiated on
terms of equality. Being, however, dependent on the Company
for self-protection, States like Oudh, the Carnatic and Tanjore began
to suffer from aH the evils of “double government” like those which
had distracted Bengal since 1765. It was Lord Hastings who trans-
formed the treaties of “reciprocity and mutual amity” into those
of “subordinate co-operation”, and established British paramountcy
over most of the Indian States by compelling them to surrender
then* sovereign rights of making war or peace and negotiating
agreements with other powers. Formally, these States retained
764
THE COMPAOT AND MINOR INDIAN STATES 765
internal sovereignty, but in actual practice they were subject to
frequent interference in the affairs of internal government by British
Residents, the quality and amount of this interference varying with
the difference in “personality and temperament” of the officers
concerned. Lord Hastings was not, however, “an annexationist”.
2. Relations between 1823 and 1858
The period intervening between the departure of Lord Hastings
and the outbreak of the Revolt saw the weight of British influence
falling more heavily on the Indian States, owing on the one hand
to the growing executive and controlling authority of the British
Residents in the sphere of internal administration of these States,
and on the other to the frank enunciation of the policy of amiexa-
tion by the British Government. This policy of annexation, formu-
lated by the Court of Directors as early as 1834, and more clearly
emphasised by them in 1841, was applied vigorously in the time
of Lord Dalhousie. It was the outcome of two motives on the
part of the Company’s Government, namely those of extending
British political influence by incorporating new territories into
the Empire and of securing greater facilities for the transport of
merchandise and the collection of revenues. Both were intended
to tighten the hold of British Paramountcy over India.
Lord Wniiam Bentinck was tied to the policy of “let alone”
by the authorities in England, when he came to India. But he
departed from it drastically in some cases and his masters also
enunciated the policy of annexation in the course of a few years.
Thus in 1831 he took over the administration of Mysore, which
had been misgoverned by Raja Krishna Udaiyar and consequently
fell into disorder; the Raja was pensioned off and the Mysore
administration remained in the hands of the British Government
till 1881. Bentinck also absorbed some other States into the British
Empire. The principality of Cachar, where the royal line had come to
an end on the death of its last ruler, was annexed in August, 1832,
as the British Government did not accept as valid the claims of any
candidate for the vacant throne. The lands of the Raja of Jaintia in
Assam were incorporated in the British Empire in March, 1835, as
the new ruler refused to accept the stringent terms imposed on him.
Viraraja the younger, king of Ooorg, was accused of monstrous
cruelties towards his subjects and secret conspiracy against the
British. Although these charges were not supported by any positive
evidence, and later proved to be mostly unwarranted or false,
British forces were sent to Coorg and it was annexed by a formal
766
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
proclamation dated the 7th May, 1834. Thus minor Indian States
were annexed on pretexts which will not stand any serious examina-
tion. Lord Auckland, whose energies were preoccupied with the
Afghan War, could not pay much attention to the States,
but he annexed the territory of the Nawab of Karnul, in
Madras, on suspicion of his hostile designs against the British
Government.
TT is successor, Lord EUenborough, had to deal with a formidable
outbreak in Gwalior. At the close of the Maratha War of 1817-
1819, GwaHor had remained under Daulat Rao Sindhia as the
most powerful Indian military State south of the Sutlej. Daulat
Rao died in 1827, when one of his youthful relatives, Jankoji Rao
Sindhia, was installed as the Raja with an ambitious woman,
Maharani Baiza Bai, widow of Daulat Rao Sindhia, as the regent.
The weakness of the new ruler, and the activities of the regent,
gave rise to various intrigues and disorders in the State, which
did not end even when the latter was expelled in 1833. In the midst
of these troubles Jankoji died in 1843 without issue. A minor named
JayajI Rao was then raised to the Gadi ; but intrigues and counter-
intrigues quickly multiplied, especially through the machinations
of two rival parties over the selection of a regent for the boy king.
The Governor-General’s candidate, Krishna Rao Kadam, the Mama
Saheb or the maternal-uncle of the deceased ruler, was removed
from office by the youthful widow of the late ruler, .who jDreferred
the appointment of Khasgi-wala. As is natural during civil strife
in a State, the Gwahor army, 40,000 strong, became restless, which
caused anxiety in the mind of the Governor-General. The latter
feared that the combination of this army with the Khalsa army,
about 70,000 strong, in the Punjab, where also a civil war was
about to break out after the assassination of Sher Singh, would
prove to be a serious menace to the British Government. Haunted
by this fear. Lord EUenborough assumed a dictatorial attitude, and
even though the Gwahor authorities accepted all his demands, which
were unjust and unreasonable in the extreme, he personally led an
army into the territory of Sindhia. Not unnaturally, the Gwalior
troops keenly resented this insult to their master, and advanced to
oppose the British forces. But they were defeated on the 29th
December, 1843, in two engagements— one at Maharajpur, north, of
Gwalior, by Sir Hugh Gough, and the other at Paniar, by General
Grey. Gwalior, now reduced definitely to the status of a protected
State, was placed under a Council of Regency, which was to manage
its affairs during the minority of the Maharaja subject to the control
of a British Resident. The army was cut down to 9,000 men and a
THE COMPANY AND MINOE INDIAN STATES 767
British contingent of 10,000 men was placed there. Curiously enough,
during the Revolt, the Gwalior army under the command of
Dinlrar Rao, minister of the State, supported the English, while
the Company’s contingent there rose against them.
The Governor-Generalship of Lord Dalhousie was marked by
a stupendous growth of the British Empire at the expense of many
of the Indian States. Lord Dalhousie annexed a large number
of States in pursuance of what is known as the “Doctrine of
Lapse”, which means that, on the failure of natural heirs, the
sovereignty of the “dependent” States, of those created by the
British Government, or held on a subordinate tenure, lapsed to
the Paramount Power, a position which, it was agreed, the British
Government had acquired after the fall of the Mughul Empire;
it also did not acknowledge the right of those States to adopt heirs,
which had been a long-standing practice among the Hindus, without
the consent of the suzerain authority. The doctrine did not apply
to “ protected allies”. Referring to the glaring abuses in the govern-
ment of some of the Indian States, the Governor-General declared
that the British Government “in the exercise of a wise and sound
policy is bound not to put aside or neglect such rightful opportunities
of acquiring territory or revenue as may from time to time present
themselves, whether they arise from the lapse of subordinate states
by the failure of all heirs of every description whatsoever,
or from the failure of heirs natural where the succession can be
sustained only by the sanction of the government being given
to the ceremony of adoption, according to Hindu law. The govern-
ment is bound, in duty as well as in policy, to act on every such
occasion with the purest integrity, and in the most scrupulous
observance of good faith. When even a shadow of doubt can be
shown, the claim should at once be abandoned”. It is true that
the principle applicable to adoption, and the policy of annexation,
were not invented by Lord Dalhousie. Both of these had been asserted
by the Court of Directors earlier siace 1834 and had been applied in
some cases. We have already noted earlier instances of annexation ; as
for the “Doctrine of Lapse” it had already been applied to Mandavi
in 1839, to Kolaba and Jalaun in 1840, and to Surat in 1842.
But there is no doubt that Lord Dalhousie advocated and applied
the principles most vigorously. “There was,” observes Innes,
“fuUy adequate precedent for every one of his annexations.
But his predecessors had acted on the general principle of avoiding
annexation if it could be avoided ; Dalhousie acted on the general
principle of annexing if he could dp so legitimately.”
The States that were absorbed into the British Empire according
768
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
to the Doctrine of Lapse were Satara in 1848, Jaitpur and Sam-
balpur, in Baghat, a Cis-Sutlej hill State, in 1850, Udaipur
in 1852, Nagpur in 1853, and Jhansi in 1854. It should be noted
that the distinction between “dependent” States and “protected
allies ” was very subtle ; and it is doubtful if aU these States could
be rightly regarded as “ dependent ” ones. The kingdom of Satara
was a British creation in the sense that, after the fall of the Peshwa
in 1818, it had been given by Lord Hastings to a member of the
house of Shivaji. In 1839 the Raja was deposed on a charge of
misgovernment and his brother was raised to the Gadi. The latter
having no issue adopted a son, before his death in 1848, without
consulting the Governor-General or the British Resident. Lord
Dalhousie, supported by all his leading colleagues, considered this
adoption to be invalid and declared that the State of Satara lapsed
to the sovereign power. The Court of Directors also agreed with
his view as “being in accordance with the general law and custom
of India”. Nagpur also had fallen under British control in 1818,
but Hastings had bestowed it on a member of the old ruling house.
The Raja died in 1853, leaving no lineal descendants or adopted
son. Dalhousie annexed it on the ground of its being a creation
of the Company. Whatever might have been the legal position
of Satara and Nagpur in relation to the British Government, it
is clear that Dalhousie’s motives in amiexing them were purely
imperialistic. It has been admitted even by Lee- Warner, a strong
apologist of Dalhousie, who writes that with regard to Satara and
Nagpur “imperial considerations weighed with him . . . they
were placed right across the main lines of communication between
Bombay and Madras and Bombay and Calcutta”, Further, the
disposal of the State funds and treasures of Nagpur by public
auction, which has been characterised by Kaye in his Sepoy War
as “spoliation of the palace”, was certainly an undignified and
tactless measure. Jhansi, a district of Bundelkhand, was given
to the English by the Peshwa in 1818, and the English placed a
ruler on its throne on terms of “subordinate co-operation”. On
the death of its last ruler in November, 1853, leaving no issue
but only an adopted son, Dalhousie annexed it. A part of SOddm.,
about 1,676 square miles, was taken over by the Company in 1850
as a punishment on its chief for capturing the representative of
the British Government and ill-treating two British subjects.
Sambalpur was annexed to the British Empire in 1850 on the
death of its ruler Narayan Singh without any heir. Lord Dalhousie’s
decision with regard to Baghat and Udaipur was reversed by Lord
Canning ; and the Court of Directors did not approve of his proposal
THE COMPANY AND MEsTOR INDIAN STATES 769
for the annexation of Karauli in Rajputana, on the ground that
it was a “protected aUy” and not a “dependent” State.
The principle of lapse was also applied to sweep away the titles
and pensions of the rulers of some States, on the ground that
“appearances without the reality of authority were sure to shake
Native confidence” in the “good faith” of the Company. Thus
on the death of the Nawab of the Carnatic in 1853, Lord Dalhousie
decided not to recognise any one as his successor. Similarly, when
the Raja of Tanjore died in 1855, leaving behind him oMy two
daughters and sixteen widows, the Governor- General abolished
the Rajaship of this State for good. He wanted also to abolish
the title of the nominal Delhi Emperor, in which, however, he was
not supported by the Court of Directors. On the death of the
ex-Peshwa, Baji Rao II, in 1853, the pension of eight hundred
thousand rupees, which had been granted to him by Sir John
Malcolm, was not allowed by Lord Dalhousie to be paid to his
adopted son, Dundu Pant, later on known as Nana Saheb, on
the ground that the pension had been a personal allowance of his
adoptive father and so could not pass on to Ms successor. This
measure has been described by Kaye as “harsh” and by Arnold
as “grasping”. The Nizam of Hyderabad in the Deccan was in
arrears with the payment of a British contingent, which he was not
actually obliged to maintam by the terms of Ms treaty with the
British. Dalhousie nevertheless coerced him into making territorial
cessions for the regular payment of the “Hyderabad Contingent”.
By an arrangement made in May, 1853, the cotton-producing
province of Berar was given to the Company in lieu of the
subsidy.
Besides conquest and lapse, the maxim of “the good of the
governed ” was also enunciated by the British Government in annex-
ing some States whose administrations were “fraught with suffering
to milli ons”. The case of Oudh is the most tj^pical example of the
application of this maxim. Since Lord Wellesley’s treaty of 1801,
Oudh had been kept as a “protected feudatory State” with control
over internal administration. It was indeed an unwise arrange-
ment, under wMch the ruler of Oudh was invested with responsi-
bility without power, and its natural consequence was that the
administration of the State degenerated terribly, to the great
suffering of its people. The British Govemmest realised the evils
of Oudh administration, and successive Governors-General, especially
Lord WiUiam Bentinok and Lord Hardinge, warned its ruler ; but
none did anything to remedy the fundamental defect of the sub-
770
Alsr ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
sidiary system, wtdch by guaranteeing British protection to the
ruler of Oudh made him munindful of the real interests of the
State and saved him from “justifiable revolt on the part of his
subjects”. The growing deplorable situation in Oudh, to which
the attention of the British Government was drawn, more clearly
than before, by Colonel Sleeman, Resident in Oudh from 1848 to
1854, and his successor, Colonel Outram, both of whom were
opposed to the policy of lapse, convinced the Governor-General of
the necessity of the adoption of a bolder policy with regard to
Oudh. The existence of the ill-governed State of Oudh, almost
in the centre of the rapidly expanding British Empire in India,
could not but appear to the architects of the latter as a gross
anachronism, which should be removed as quickly as possible to
facilitate their own task. There could be no better or more convenient
pretext than to hold out the prospect of good government,
for the absorption of a kingdom whose subjection to British
control dates back to the time of Warren Hastings. Lord Dalhousie
was inclined to solve the Oudh problem not by annexing it but
by merely taking over its administration and by allowing its ruler
to retain only his palace, rank and titles. But the Court of Directors
ordered its complete annexation, which was formally proclaimed by
Outram on the 13th February, 1856. Wazid ‘Ali Shah, the last
ruler of Oudh, was deported to Calcutta, where he had to spend
his last days on an annual pension of twelve lacs of rupees.
The annexation of Oudh was an instance of territorial aggran-
disement which was “not warranted by international law”, as
Dalhousie himself expressed it in his letter to Sir George Couper,
dated 15th December, 1855. It should be noted that for the
misgovemment of Oudh, which was utilised as the ground for its
annexation by the Company, then eager to consolidate its posses-
sions in India, the responsibility lay mainly on the English,
who had thrust upon that kingdom the impolitic arrangement of
the subsidiary system and had unceasingly interfered in its affairs,
“The facts furnished by every writer on Oudh affairs, all testify,”
Sir Henry LavTence stated, “to the same point, that British
interference with that province has been as prejudicial to its
court and people as it has been disgraceful to the British name.”
Further, no consideration was shown for the unflinching loyalty
of the ruUng house of Oudh to the British Government. It has
also been held by some that the annexation of Oudh meant a
“gross violation of national faith” involving disregard of an old
treaty. In 1837 Lord Auckland had concluded an agreement with
the ruler of Oudh, which bound him either to introduce reforms or
THE COMPANY AHD MINOB INDIAH STATES 771
to make over the administration to the British Government while
retaining the sovereignty. Though this treaty was not sanctioned
by the Court of Directors, Lord Auckland intimated to the Oudh
ruler the disallowance of only one clause of it and, somehow
or other, “the treaty was actually included in a subsequent Govern-
ment publication and was referred to as still in force by succeeding
Governors- General”. When the Court of Directors decided on
annexing Oudh, the British Government suddenly informed the
ruler of Oudh that the treaty of 1837 was “a dead letter”.
CHAPTER VII
THE INDIAH BEVOLT OE 1857-59
I. Presages of the Revolt
' The rapid expansion of the British dommion in India, attended as
it was by changes in the administrative system and modes of
existence to which the people had been accustomed through long ages,
disturbed the placid currents of Indian life and produced commo-
tions in different parts of the country. Mention may be made, in
thiq connection, of the Bareilly rising of a.d, 1816; the Cole out-
break of 1831-1832, and other minor risings in Chota Nagpur and
Palamu; the Muslim movements like the Eerazee disturbances at
Barasat (Bengal) in 1831 under the leadership of Syed Ahmad
and his disciple, Meer Niser ‘Ali or Titto Meer, and later in 1847
at Earidpur (Bengal) under the guidance of Deedoo Meer; the
Moplah outbreaks in 1849, 1851, 1852, and 1865 ; and the Santal
insurrection of 1855-1857. These risings testify to the general
ferment in the British Empire in India, the last and the most
severe being the Revolt of 1857-1859, which shook its mighty fabric
to its very foundations.
2 . Causes of the Revolt
The Revolt was the outcome of the changing conditions of the
time ; and its causes may be conveniently summed up under four
heads — political, economic and social, religious, and military.
The political causes had their origin in Dalhousie’s policy of annexa-
tion, the doctrine of lapse or escheat, and the projected removal
of the descendants of the Great Mughul from their ancestral palace
to the Qutb, near Delhi. All this naturally gave rise to considerable
uneasiness and suspicion in the minds of the old ruling princes,
Muslim as well as Hindu.! The annexation of Oudii, and the
idea of doing away with the bedimmed splendour that still sur-
rounded the Mughul Emperor, wounded Muslim sentiments ; and the
refusal to continue the pension of the ex-Peshwa, Baji Rao II, to
his adopted son, Nana Saheb, agitated some Hindu minds. As a
772
THE INDIAN REVOLT OF 1857-69
773
matter of fact, some of the discontented rulers and their friends
were conspiring against the Conapany’s government even before
the Revolt. The more important among them were Ahmad UUah,
an adviser of the ex-Eang of Oudh; Nana Saheb; Nana Saheb’s
nephew, Rao Saheb, and his retainers, Tantia Topi and ‘Azimullah
Khan; the Rani of Jhansi; Kunwar Singh, the Rajput chief of
Jagadishpur in Bihar, who had been deprived of his estates by
the Board of Revenue ; and Firuz Shah, a relation of the Mughul
Emperor, Bahadur Shah.
* The expropriation of some landlords by the British Government,
and the growing unemployment among the followers and retainers
of the dispossessed princes, gave rise to acute economic grievances
and social unrest in different parts of the country. The resumption
of rent-free tenures by Bentinck no doubt secured for the State
increased revenue but at the same time it reduced many of the dis-
possessed landlords to a state of indigence. During the five years
before the outbreak of the Revolt, the Inam Commission at Bombay,
appointed by Lord Dalhousie to investigate the titles of landowners,
confiscated some 20,000 estates in the Deccan, without considering
for a moment that such a drastic measure was sure to create com-
plications in the economic condition of the country. In Oudh
especially, there prevailed terrible bitterness of feeling, particularly
after Sir James Outram was succeeded as its Chief Commissioner by
Coverly Jackson, a man of unsympathetic attitude and overbearing
disposition. The King’s stipendiaries and officials ceased to have
their allowances and pensions; his capital was occupied by the
new Chief Commissioner; and the disbandment of his army
deprived the professional soldiers of their means of Hveli-
hood.J All these converted Oudh, “the loyalty of whose inhabitants
to the British had become proverbial, into a hot-bed of discontent
and of intrigue”. Matters were to some extent improved by the
recall of Jackson and the appointment of Henry Lawrence; but
discontent could not be completely allayed. \
The conservative sections of the Indian population were alarmed
by the rapid spread of Western civilisation in India during the
closing years of the eighteenth century and the first half of
the nineteenth. They saw in inventions like the railway and
the telegraph, in the extension of Western education, in the
abolition of practices like 8atl and infanticide, in the protection
of the civil rights of converts from Hinduisi^j by the Religious
Disabilities Act of 1856, (m the legalisation of widow remarriage)
by the Hindu Widows Remarriage Act of 1856, /and in the
unwarranted aggressive spirit of some Christian ''missionaries.
774 AU ADVANCED HISTORY OR INDIA
attempta on the part of the Government to destroy their social polity,
to westernise their land at the cost of their time-honoured customs
and practices and to convert India to Christianity. The ai^vities of
the Wahhabi ject must have contributed to mflame the feelings of
theMushms. / . 4 .
Thus several factors generated fumes of discontent m different
parts of the country, the bursting of which into a devourmg
flame would not, however, have been possible
had remained, as before, loyal to the Company. In the control of
the Sepoy Army lay,” observes Innes “the crux of the Po^ifion.
But, for several reasons, the attitude of the Sepoys tow^ds the
Company had become by this time far from friendly.
engagement in prolonged campaigns in distant lands, which the
Sepoys disliked, had severely tried their loyalty. Some regiments of
Sepoys had already mutinied on four occasions, durmg the thirteen
years preceding the outbreak of 1857, as their demands for extra
aUowances for fighting, in remote
Company’s government?: the 34th N.I. m
1849, the 66 th N.I. in 1850 and the 38th NJ.^m l 8 o 2 .i Further,
the discipline of the Sepoy Army, especially of the Bengal Division,
had been rapidly deteriorating,^owing largely to the defective ^hcy
of the Government which unwisely transferred able military officers
from the field to political jobs and retained the rule of promotion
by seniority, irrespective of any consideration of age or efficiency.
General Godwin, for example, commanded in the Second Bmmese
i War at the age of seventy. ( The so-called “Bengal
recruited not in Bengal proper, but from high-caste men ^udh and
the North-Western Provinces. Being very sensitive about their caste
i privileges they were not easily amenable to discipline and also shared
> the general suspicion as to the westernising and Chnstiamsmg policy
• of the Government. The feeUng of discontent was intensified by
* Lord Canning’s General Service Enlistment Act ordering all recrmts
to the Bengal Army to be ready for service both within and outside
India. The disparity in numbers between European and Indian
troops had become glaring during the recent years ; thus at the time
of Lord Dalhousie’s departure from India, the former numbered
45,322 and the latter 233,000. The distribution of the
defective. Places of strategic importance like Delhi and Allahabad
were whoUy held by the Sepoys; and between Calcutta and Allah-
abad there was only one British regiment at Dinapore near Patna.
Again, England was then engaged in several extra-Indian wars
like the Crimean War, the Persian War and the Ohiuese War,
which sorely taxed her resources. A belief was engendered in the
THE INDIAN REVOLT OF 1857-59
775
minds of the Sepoys that England was in a critical situation and
that, the British Army in India being so small, the safety of her
Indian Empire depended on the Sepoys. “A consciousness of power,”
wrote the Commissioner of Meerut, “had grown up in the army
which could only be exorcised by mutiny, and the cry of the
cartridge brought the latent spirit of revolt into action.” The
introduction of the Enfield rifle, the cartridges for which were
greased with animal fat, was indeed an fll-considered measure.
It set the spark that enkindled the embers of discontent, which
was being fanned sedulously among the army by Nana Saheb, the
partisans of the King of Oudh, the Rani of Jhansi and a few others.
There were some grounds for the belief of the Sepoy Army
that the grease was made from cow or pig fat, obnoxious to both
the Hindus and the Muslims. “On this inflammable material,”
writes Atchison, “the too true story of the cartridges fell as a spark
on dry timber,” and the whole country from the Sutlej to the
Narmada was ablaze.}
3. The Outbreak of the Revolt and Its Suppression
, first signs of unrest appeared early in 1857 at Barrackpore
I and Berhampore in Bengal; they were, however, quickly sup-
pressed and the culprits were punished. But the Sepoys broke out
into open revolt at Meerut on the 10th May, 1867, swarmed
into the prisons, released their imprisoned comrades, murdered a
few European officers and burnt their houses. General Hewitt, the
incapable commanding officer at Meerut, although he had 2,200
European troops imder him, took no steps to suppress the mutineers,
who galloped the next morning to Delhi, where not a single British
regiment was stationed at that time, and brought it under their
control. They massacred many Europeans and destroyed their
houses. Two signallers in the telegraph office, outside the city,
warned the authorities in the Punjab m time by sending them
a telegraphic message. Lieutenant Wflloughby, the officer in charge
of the magazine, defended it for a few days with his eight brave
companions, but at last finding himself overwhelmed he blew it
up. This caused great losses to the mutineers, who, however,
soon occupied the palace and proclaimed the aged nominal king,
Bahadur Shah 11, whose name still conjured up to many the
vanished glories of the once mighty Mughul Empire, Emperor
of Hindustan. The loss of Delhi, which had fallen into British
hands as a result of much hard fighting and diplomacy, dealt a
severe blow to the prestige of the British Empire.^
776
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
There was a comparative respite of about three weeks, during
which Sir John Lawrence, the Chief Commissioner of the Punjab,
managed to keep that province tranquil. But before any attempt
could be made to recover Delhi, insurrections broke out by the
first week of June in almost all the upper Gangetic provinces
and parts of Central India^— at Nasirabad in Rajputana, at Bareilly
in Rohilkhand, at Cawnpore, at Lucknow in Oudh, at Benares
and in certain parts of Bihar. The Bihar movement under the
leadership of Kunwar Singh of Jagadishpur near Arrah was put
down by William Tayler, Commissioner of the Patna Division,
and Major Vincent Eyre of the Bengal Artillery. The Benares
outbreak was suppressed by Colonel NeiU of the 1st Madras Fusiliers,
who put to death all the mutineers who could be captured; and
in the surrounding districts that were placed under martial law
by the Governor-General, “rebels, suspects, and even disorderly
boys were executed by infuriated officers and unofficial British
Residents, who volunteered to serve as hangmen”. The famous
fort of AUahabad, defended bravely by Captain Brasyer with a
small Sikh force, was relieved on the 11th June by NeiU. ( The
mutineers became very active at Cawnpore, Delhi and Lucknow.
But, fortunately for the EngUsh, the regions south of the Narmada
were not on the whole affected by the revolt. Lord Elphinstone
preserved comparative tranquillity in the Bombay Presidency,
though an Indian regiment mutinied at Kolhapur, and George
Lawrence was able to keep Rajputana quiet. The Punjab and
particularly its Sikh chiefs, Gulab Singh of Kashmir, and many
zamindars and Indian officers, remained loyal to the Company.
Valuable services were rendered by some famous Indian rulers and
statesmen, like Sindhia and his minister, Sir Dinkar Rao,
Sir Salar Jang, the minister of Hyderabad^: the Begam of Bhopal
and Sir Jang Bahadur, the able minister of Nepal, to arrest the
spread of the movement. (In the opinion of Innes, Sindhia’s loyalty
“saved India for the British”; and Holmes, well known for his
important work on the history of the Indian Mutiny, has described
Sir Salar Jang as “a man whose name deserves to be ever
mentioned by Englishmen with gratitude and admiration
The mutineers at Cawnpore were led by Nana Srdieb, who had
been living at Bithur near Cawnpore and had proclaimed himself
as Peshwa. They invested the British entrenchments, which had
been hurriedly constructed, in a manner too inadequate for effective
defence, by Sir Hugh TOeeler, the seventy-five-years-old com-
mander of that station./From the 8th tUl the 2Gth of June, the
invested garrison, eonsi^ng of about four hundred men capable
777
THE INDIAN REVOLT OE 1857-59
of bearing arms and a number of women and children, defended
themselves bravely in the midst of dreadful suffering and privation.
They surrendered on the 27th, being given assurances of safe conduct
to Allahabad. But as the deluded British garrison were leaving the
place in boats, a murderous fire was opened on them with the result
that most of the men were massacred at the river-side, only four
being able to escape. Two hundred and eleven women and children
were confined in a building, known as the Bibigarh, where they
were mercilessly put to death on the 15th July, by orders of Nana
^ Saheb and his friend, Tantia Topi, and their bodies were flung
into a well. It is difficult to say definitely how far these atrocities
were perpetrated as a reprisal for the repressive measures of British
and Sikh soldiers at Benares and Allahabad. The results of the Cawn-
pore massacre were very lamentable. It aroused a burning desire
for revenge in the minds of Enghshmen, both in India and England,
and led the Company’s troops to perpetrate acts that have left very
unpleasant memories. ) An avenging British force, under Neill and
Havelock, reached Cawnpore one day after the tragic incident. The
city was occupied by the mutinous GwaHor contingent on the 27th
and 28th November, but Sir Colin Campbell recovered it on the
6th December.
The recovery of Delhi, the important rallying centre of the
insurgents, could not but engage the serious attention of the British
Government. ■ On the 8th June a relieving British force from
Ambala, joined by a party from Meerut, defeated a mutinous
army at Badli Sari and took up a position on the famous Ridge
overlooking the city of Delhi. Additional reinforcements, including
a number of Sikhs, were sent from the Punjab by Sir John Lawrence,
under a brave officer named Nicholson, to join the British troops
on the outskirts of Delhi. Nicholson frustrated an attempt of the
opposing force to intercept his advance, and assisted by Sir Archdale
Wilson, Baird Smith and Neville Chamberlain, delivered a vigorous
assault on the mutineers. On the 14th September, the Kashmir
Gate was blown up, and the city and the palace were captured after
six days’ desperate fighting. Nicholson received a mortal wound.
The city was sacked by British soldiers, and in the process many
of its innocent male citizens were slaughtered. The Bombay Telegraph
reported: “Ah the city people foimd within the walls when our
troops entered were bayoneted on the spot; and the number was
considerable, as you may suppose when I tell you that in some
houses forty or fifty persons were hiding.” The titular Delhi
Emperor, Bahadur Shah II, was arrested at the tomb of Humayiin^
by Lt. Hodson, a fierce cavalry officer^and bis sons and a grandson
778 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
surrendered to Hodson as prisoners of war. ' Bahadur Shah II
was deported to Rangoon, where he spent his last years in exile,
'^till he died in 1862;} at the age of eighty-seven. .The princes were
shot down by Hodson, who had persuaded himself that they
had been guilty of murdering Englishmen and women and that
they would be rescued by a mob before he could take them to
a place of safety. Thus came to an end the Mughul imperial dynasty.
There is no doubt that Hodson’s act was “most uncalled-for”.
The charges against the victims were not proved by any definite
evidence, nor was any attempt made by the crowd to save them.
Malleson observes that “a more brutal or a more unnecessary outrage
was never committed. It was a blander as well as a crime ”. j
At Lucknow, the revolt broke out on the 30th May, and Sir
Henry Lawrence, who had succeeded Mr. Jackson as Chief Com-
missioner, retired at the beginning of July to the Residency, with
all the Europeans and Christians and about 700 loyal sepoys, and
held out there only for a few days, as he was shortly afterwards killed
by the bursting of a shell. The command of the besieged garrison
then fell on Brigadier Inglis, who bravely defended the place
against numerous assaults until Havelock and Outram fought
their way at the point of the bayonet into the Residency on the
25th September with much-needed reinforcements. General NeOl,
who had “the energy of one of the most determined characters
ever bestowed on man”, died at this time at Lucknow. Inglis,
Havelock and Outram could not make their way out with the be-
sieged garrison. Their final relief was effected by the middle of
November by Sir Colin Campbell (afterwards Lord Clyde), who came
from England as Commander-in-Chief. Sir Colin Campbell took
vigorous action to suppress the risings in Oudh and Rohilkhand.
With the valuable help of Jang Bahadur of Nepal, who joined him
at the head of a powerful Gurkha contingent, he finally brought
Lucknow under British control on the 21st March, 1858. Bui\ the
Talukdars of Oudh had been infuriated by a singularly injudicious
proclamation, issued by Canning at the end of March to the eflect
that the lands of aU the Talukdars were liable to forfeiture “except
those of six specifically mentioned and of others who could prove
their loyalty”. They carried on a guerilla warfare. The capture
of Bareilly in Rohilkhand in the month of May greatly disliearteiied
them and they were thoroughly vanquished by the end of the year.J
Many of the insurgents fled across the British frontier to Nepal,
to perish there misembly.
cSleanwhile, the insurgents in Central India had found an able
leader in Tantia Topi, a Maratha Brahmana, who with the mutinous
779
THE INDIAN REVOLT OF 1857-59
Gwalior contingent^ 20,000 strong, crossed the Jumna at Kalpi,
joined the troops of Nana Saheb, and repulsed General Windham,
who had been left in charge of Gawnpore. But he was defeated,
and driven out, on the 6th December, 1857, by Sir Colin Campbell.
Tantia Topi then joined Raru Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi and carried
on a desperate fight in Central India. Meanwhile Sir Hugh Rose
had been conducting successful campaigns/in BundeUdiand, the
southernmost centre of the rising. Marcliing from his base of
operations at Mhow early in January, 1858, he relieved the garrison
at Saugor, captured Hatgarh early in February, defeated Tantia
Topi on the Betwa River, and stormed Jhansi on the 3rd April.
Leaving the fort of Jhansi during the night of the 4th April, the
Rani went with a few followers to Kalpi, which also was captured
by the English on the 22nd May. The indomitable Rani and Tantia
Topi then marched to Gwalior, and drove out Sindhia to Agra.
This prince had remained loyal but his army now deserted him.
Nana Saheb was proclaimed as the Peshwa. Reahsing the danger
of a Maratha rising, Sir Hugh Rose took prompt measures to check
the activities of the Pvani and Tantia. He recovered Gwalior after
defeating the insurgents at Morar and Kotah. The Rani of Jhansi,
dressed in male attire as a sowar, was killed in one of these battles
on the 17th June, 1858. Tantia Topi, chased from place to place,
was given up to the English, early in April, 1859, by Man Singh,
a feudatory of Sindhia, and was hanged on charges of rebellion
and murder and not for complicity in the massacre of Cawnpore,
as is often stated. Nana Saheb was driven into the jungles of
Nepal and is said to have died there. Thus ended the episode of the
Revolt, and Canning proclaimed peace throughout India. Many
people, both in India and England, demanded the pursuit of
a “ruthless and indiscriminate policy of vengeance”. Even
Nicholson spoke for legalising “the flaying alive, impalement, or
burning of the murderers of the women and children at Delhi”.
But Canning, uninfluenced by this clamour, judged the matter
with statesmanlike prudence and cool judgment, and arranged for
the proper trial and punishment of those only who were really
guilty.^ For this he was described, in derision, as “Clemency
Canning ” ; (but it must be admitted that the Governor-General’s
policy was wise and expedient and he was right in opposing
meastires whose only effect would have been to add to the
bitterness of feeling between the rulers and the ruledt^
780
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
4. Causes of the Failure of the Revolt
/ The Revolt, though an outbreak of a formidable nature, was
bound to fail owing to the defective equipment and organization
of the insurgents. Firstly, their military equipment was inferior
to that of the English; for example, their old muzzle-loaders
were outranged by the newly invented breech-loaders of the English
troops. Secondly, while many of the insurgents failed to under-
stand the significance of contemporary scientific improvements
and even dreaded them, the English fuUy utilised these advan-
tages for their own benefit. Thus with control over a widespread
telegraph system and postal communications, the latter were able
to receive and exchange information from different parts of the
country and to modify their course of action accordiug to the
needs of the situation. Thirdly, the English were fortunate
enough to secure the loyalty of most of the feudatory chiefs, ;
with the exception of the Rani of Jhansi, the Begam of Oudh and
some minor chiefs; and, as has already been pointed out, they
received invaluable assistance from men like Sir Dinkar Rao
of Gwalior, Sir Salar Jang of Hyderabad, Jang Bahadur of Nepal,
and the Sikhs. In the north-west. Dost Muhammad remained
friendly. (^Fourthly, the insurgents could not secure the unstinted
and universal support of the civil population in all parts of the
country, many of whom were alienated by the confusion and dis-
order which followed the risings and involved them in considerable
suffering and loss. Lastly, there was a comparative lack of efficient
leadership among the insurgents, while the British cause was ably
served by a number of wise and brave leader^like Lawrence, Outram,
Havelock, Nicholson, Neill and Edwardes.’^
5. Nature and Effect of the Revolt
( The Revolt was not a thoroughly organised national movement
or “a war of independence”, as James Outram, a contemporary,
believed it to have been, or as it has been represented by some
modern writers. It was in the main a military outbreak, which
was taken advantage of by certain discontented princes and land-
lords, whose interests Had been affected by the new political order.
The last-mentioned factor gave it in certain areas the character of
a popular rising and constituted a menace to the British Empire
for several months^ particularly in Oudh and Rohilkhand. C It was
never aU-Indian in character, but was localised, restricted and
THE INDIAN REVOLT OF 1857-59
781
poorly organised. Only one of tlie three provincial armies mutinied ;
and all the Indian sepoys did not rise against the British Govern-
ment. As we have already noted, important Indian princes and
chiefs sided with the English ; and of the thousands of landlords,
recently dispossessed of their property, only the Talukdars of
Oudh actively helped the insurgents. There was no leader of
outstanding ability among the mutineers, except the heroic figure
of the Rani of Jhansi, whom Sir Hugh Gough esteemed as “the
best and bravest military leader of the rebels”. Further, the-
movement was marked by absence of cohesion and unity of
purpose among the different sections of the insurgentsy Unfor-
tunately, it was characterised by a disregard of the rules of
civilised warfare on both sides, and “was fought with pecuHar
savagery”. If the mutineers were guilty of terrible enormities
the British troops also on occasions tarnished the fair name of
their country by a severity that was hardly tempered by good
sense or moderation.
; ilFor more reasons than one, the Revolt marks a turning-point
in the history of India. In a sense it demonstrated that the hold
of the Company on India was still rather weak, and its lessons
continued to influence British administration in India for several
generations^ “I wish,” remarked the late Lord Cromer, “the
young generation of the Enghsh would read, mark, learn and
inwardly digest the history of the Indian Mutiny; it abounds in
lessons and warnings.” (It directly produced three important
changes in the system of administration and the policy of the
Government, i
; Firstly, the control of the Indian Government was finally
"assumed by the Crown, in spite of protests from the Company. An
Act for the Better Government of India was passed on the 2nd
August, 1858, which provided that “India shall be governed by,
and in the name of the Sovereign through one of the principal
Secretaries of State, assisted by a council of fifteen members”.
At the same time the Governor-General received the new title
of Viceroy. This was, however, “rather a formal than a substantial
change”, because the Crown had been steadily increasing its
control over the affahs of the Company since the latter had become
a territorial power in India, and the actual control had been
exercised so long by the President of the Board of Control, who
was a Minister of the Crown. The Directors had functioned as a
mere advisory council.'^
The assumption of the government of India by the Sovereign
of Great Britain was announced by Lord Canning at a darbar at
782 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Allahabad in a Proclamation issued on 1st November, 1858, in the
name of the Queen. {The Queen’s Proclamation, described as the
Magna Charta of the Indian people, confirmed the treaties and
engagements of the East India Company with the Indian princes ;
promised to respect the rights, dignity and honour of the native
princes and to pay due regard to the ancient rights, usages and
customs of India ; disclaimed aU desire for the extension of British
territorial possessions in India through “encroachment on those of
others”; granted a general amnesty to “aU offenders, save and
except those who have been, and shall be convicted of having
directly taken part in the murder of British subjects” ; proclaimed
a policy of justice, benevolence and religious toleration, enjoining
the Government to “abstain from aU interference with the
religious belief or worship” of the subjects; and declared that
aU “of whatever race or creed, may be freely and impartiaUy
admitted to offices in our service, the duties of which they may
be qualified,^ by their education, ability and integrity, duly to
discharge”. •
Secondly, the army, which took the initiative in the out-
break, was thoroughly reorganised; and, for the next fifty years,
“the idea of division and counterpoise” dominated British military
policy in India. The Presidency armies were kept entirely separate
tUl 1893; the European element in them was strengthened, and
placed in sole charge of some essential services ; and the number
of European soldiers was increased. The Commission on Indian
Army Organisation of 1879 observed: “The lessons taught by the
Mutiny have led to the maintenance of two great principles, of
retaining in the country an irresistible force of British troops and
keeping the artUlery in the hands of Europeans.”
{ Thirdly, the British Government now took up a* new attitude
towards the Indian States. These States had henceforth to
; recognise the paramountcy of the British Crown and were to be
I considered as parts of a smgU charge!)
( One indirect effect of the Revolt is clearly seen in the birth
and rise of extremism in Indian politics. The excesses of the
movement engendered a feeUng of hostility in the minds of some
Indians as weU as some Englishmen in India, which, being aggra-
vated by the growing racial discrimination between the two, has
been influencing political thought and administrative policy in
India in modem times. Russell, the Times CoiTespondent in
India, rightly observed in his Diary that “the mutinies have
produced too much hatred and ill-feeling between the two races
to render any mere change of the rulers a remedy for the evils which
THE INDIAN REVOLT OE 1857-59
78S
affect India, of which those angry sentiments are the most serious
exposition. . . . Many years must elapse ere the evil passions
excited by these disturbances expire ; perhaps confidence will never
be restored; and, if so, our reign in India will be maintained at
the cost of suffering which it is fearful to contemplate”.
CHAPTER VIII
ADMINISTBATIVB OEGAWISATION UP TO THE REVOLT
I. The Central Administration
The virtual acquisition of the kingdom of Bengal by the East India
Company raised important problems. Could a private corporation
be allowed to rule over vast territories without any supervision
of Parliament? Was a constitution designed for carrying on
trade and commerce equally suitable for the administration of an
oriental Empire? These were the questions that agitated politicians
and statesmen in England. They were made party issues in Parlia-
ment and were also further complicated by the personal interests
which were bound up with them. It is beyond the scope of the
present work to trace the history of this interesting problem and its
effect upon the parliamentary history of England, Sufi&ce it to
say that after a great deal of discussion, frequently character-
ised by vehement denunciations and personal recriminations,
Parliament appointed a Select Committee and a Secret Committee,
and at last m 1773 passed the famous Regulating Act which intro-
duced Parliamentary supervision over the Company and modified
its constitution both in England and in India.
The Act restricted the power of vote in the Court of Proprietors
by raising the qualification for the same from £500 to £1,000.
The twenty-four Directors, who had been hitherto elected each year,
were henceforth to be elected for four years, one fourth of their
number retiring each year.
The Act provided that “the Directors should lay before tlie
Treasury all correspondence from India dealing with the revenues ;
and before a Secretary of State everything dealing with civil or
military administration”. Thus the first defibnite step was taken for
provid^g Parliamentary control over the affairs of the Company.
By a Supplementary Act, passed in 1781, all dispatches proposed
to be sent to India were to be shown to a Secretary of State.
As regards the administration in India, the main provisions of
the Act were as follows:
The Government of Bengal was vested in a Governor- General
and a Council of four members. The votes of the majority were
784
785
ADMINISTEATION UP TO THE REVOLT
to prevail, the President having a casting vote in case of equality
of votes. The first Governor- General, Warren Hastings, and the
Councillors, Glavering, Monson, Barwell and Philip Francis, were
named in the Act and appointed for five years (the term was further
extended by Supplementary Acts). Their successors were to be
appointed by the Company. The Governor-General in Council
could control the subordinate Presidencies of Bombay and Madras
in matters relating to war and peace. Further, the Act authorised
the Crown to estabhsh, by royal charter, a Supreme Court of
Justice consisting of a Chief Justice and three puisne judges.
The Regulating Act was in force from 1773 to 1784 and thus
covered almost the entire administration of Warren Hastings as
Governor- General. The effects of the Act may, therefore, be best
studied in detail in the events of that period. In general, it may
be remarked that the Act broke down almost as soon as it was
put to a practical test. The subordination of the Governor- General
to a majority of the Council introduced weakness and vacillation
in the Central Government, which might have proved fatal to British
rule in India. The supervision over subordinate Presidencies was
an extremely difficult task, and its impracticable character was
demonstrated by the events of the First Anglo-Maratha War. The
establishment of the Supreme Court led to endless complications
as its jurisdiction was not properly defined, and it naturally came
into conffict with the existing courts of law. In England also
the ministerial control over the actions of the Directors proved
illusory in many notable instances. The whole position has been
beautifully summed up m the following sentence:
“It had neither given the State a definite control over the
Company, nor the directors a definite control over their servants,
nor the Governor- General a definite control over his Council, nor
the Calcutta Presidency a definite control over Madras and
Bombay.”
Immediately after the inauguration of the new regime on
26th October, 1774, Warren Hastings was confronted with the
opposition of the majority in his Council. The attitude of the
new Councillors was far from friendly from the beginning, and
they attacked the Governor-General’s policy on various points.
Francis, who came to India with a preconceived notion fhat the
administration was honeycombed with abuses and needed radical
reforms, was the leading spirit of the opposition against the
Governor-General, The virulent and persistent attacks of the
Councillors made Hastings powerless in his Council for a few years
till the death of Monson on 25th September, 1777, and severely
780 AN ADVANCEiD HISTORY OE INMA
affected his prestige, with the result that charges of bribery
and defalcation were brought against him by his enemies.
This is strikingly illustrated by the case of Nanda Kumar, a
Brahmana of high rank, who had held an important position in
the Nawab’s Government (p. 661). On 11th March, 1775, Nanda
Kumar, whom Hastings had offended by depriving him of his house
and by showing special favour to his foe, Mohan Prasad, the executor
of an Indian banker, charged Hastings with taking presents, worth
many lacs, among them Rs. 3,54,105 from Mimy Begam, the
widow of Mir Jafar, for placing her in control of the Nawab’s
household. It is very difficult to say definitely whether the charges
were true. Hastings unwisely refused to meet the charges and to
be put on trial before his Council, with one as prosecutor whom he
detested most and considered to be “the basest of mankind”.
But the Councillors, full of suspicion and dislike for the Governor-
General, concluded that the charges against him were true and
that he should pay the money into the Company’s treasury. In
1776 the law officers of the Company in England declared that
these charges, even on the ex parte case before them, were false.
Meanwhile, in the month of May, 1775, Mohan Prasad charged
Nanda Kumar with forgery in connection with a will executed
five years before. He was tried by the Supreme Court and a jury,
found guilty, sentenced to death and hanged.
There is no doubt that Nanda Kumar did not receive a fair trial
and there was a “miscarriage of justice” at least in respect of the
capital punishment inflicted on him. Sir James Stephen states
that “if he had to depend upon the evidence called for the
prosecution, he would nbt have convicted the prisoner”. Again the
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over the indigenous population
was doubtful, and the fact is that “the English law making forgery
a capital crime was not operative in India till many years after
Nanda Kumar’s alleged forgery had been committed”. Further,
the judges took the unusual course of themselves cross-examining
the defence witnesses “and that somewhat severely”.
It is sometimes said that the execution of Nanda Kumar “was
a judicial murder”. It was openly asserted by some at that time
that Mohan Prasad was a creature of Hastings, who influenced
the judicial decision against the accused. Nanda Kumar wrote
to Clavering that he was the victim of a conspiracy between the
Governor- General-in-Council and the Supreme Court. But it should
be noted that Impey was not the only judge who tried the case and
there were also his colleagues and the jury; and that there is no
positive evidence to prove Hastings’ conspiracy with Impey, with
787
ADMINISTRATION UP TO THE REVOLT
whom he was not always on good terms. The conduct of the Council
in not trying to save Nanda Kumar seems to be rather mysterious.
Francis suggested the idea of appealing for a reprieve, but it was
opposed by Clavering and Monson. “It casts,” observes Roberts,
“the darkest and most sinister shadow over the reputation of the
men who used him for their ovm purpose and then callously and
contemptuously flung him to the wolves.”
In the course of a few years the glaring defects of the Regulating
Act became apparent, and fresh attempts were made to devise
suitable remedies. The matter was brought to a head in 1783,
when the Company was obliged to approach ParHament for
financial relief. Burke only voiced the general opinion when he
claimed that the rehef and reformation of the Company must go
together.
The first proposal for reform advocated by Dundas came to
nothing. The bill introduced by Fox was passed in the House of
Commons after a long and acrimonious debate, but was defeated
in the Lords mainly as a result of the intervention of King George III.
Pitt succeeded Fox and introduced a new bill in January, 1784,
and it was passed in August of the same year.
Pitt’s India Act established six “Commissioners for the affairs
of India”, viz. a Secretary of State, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
and four Privy Councillors appointed by the Edng. The body,
known popularly as the Board of Control, was to exercise an
effective supervision over the Board of Directors. They had access
to aU the papers of the Company and no dispatches other than
those that were purely commercial could be sent without their
approval. The power of the Court of Proprietors was considerably
reduced, as they could not annul or suspend any resolution of
the Board of Dkectors which was approved by the Commissioners.
These Commissioners were also empowered to send urgent or secret
orders through a Secret Committee of the Directors, the approval
of the latter being of course a mere formality. The supreme
authority thus passed into the hands of the Commissioners, and
the Directors retamed only their patronage, viz. the right to
appoint and dismiss theh own servants.
Important changes were at the same time introduced in the
Indian administration. The members of the Governor- General’s
Council were reduced to three and only the covenanted servants
of the Company were made eligible for these posts. The control
of the Governor-General in Council over the Presidencies of Madras
and Bombay was clearly defined and rendered more effective. By
a supplementary bill, passed in 1786, the Governor-General was
78S
AN ADVANCED HISTOKY OP INDIA
authorised in special cases to act against the majority of the
Council, and also to hold the office of Commander-in- Chief.
The constitution set up by Pitt’s India Act did not undergo any
fundamental change during the existence of the Company’s rule in
India. We may therefore pass in rapid review the minor changes
that occurred between 1786 and 1858. It may be noted that legis-
lative changes during this period were always associated with the
renewal of the Company’s Charter in 1793, 1813, 1833 and 1863.
As regards the Home Government, the most notable changes
were in regard to the Board of Control. Its powers were gradually
concentrated in the hands of the President, who thereby virtually
became the Cabinet IVIinister for India.
The Charter Act of 1813 abolished the monopoly of the Company’s
Indian trade and laid down “the undoubted sovereignty of the
Crown” in and over the possessions of the East India Company.
[The Charter Act of 1833 abolished the trading activities of the
Company and henceforth it became a purely administrative body
under the Crown.
In India, the powers of the Governor- General over the sub-
ordinate Presidencies were further enlarged by the Charter Act
of 1793, which enabled him to proceed in person to Madras and
Bombay and exercise the same authority over their administration
as in Bengal. The Charter Act of 1833 not only gave the Governor-
General and Council the superintendence, direction and control
over the subordinate Presidencies, but also took away from the
latter all powers of making laws, and concentrated all legislative
authority in the former. Henceforth, with certain necessary
exceptions, the Governor-General and Council could make laws
and regulations for all persons, whether British or Indian, and for
all courts of justice, whether established by His Majesty’s charters
or otherwise.
In order to enable the Council to discharge these important
functions efficiently, a new member with expert knowledge of law
was added to it. The Law Member must not be a servant of the
Company and could speak and vote only at meetmga of the Council
which discussed legislative business.
In order to emphasise the superior role which the Governor-
General and Council would play over all the Company’s possessions
in India, the supreme authority in the country was henceforth
designated as the Governor-General of India in Council. The
Governor- General in Council also constituted the Government of
Bengal, and the Act permitted a member of the Council to be
appointed Deputy-Governor of the Province.
789
ADMINISTRATION UP TO THE REVOLT
The Charter Act of 1853 introduced further changes. The
number of Directors was reduced to eighteen, of whom three (later
six) were to be appointed by the Crown. It took away from them,
the power of patronage by institutiag an open competitive examina-
tion for the recruitment of civil servants. The salary of the President
of the Board of Control was made equal to that of a Secretary of
State, and the approval of the Crown was necessary for all appoint-
ments of Councillors, both central and provincial.
As regards the Government of India, the most important changes
concerned its legislative function. The Law Member was made
an ordinary member of the Govemor-Generars Council and no law
could be enacted without the assent of the Governor-General.
The Council itself was enlarged for legislative purposes by the
addition of six new members, called “legislative councillors”.
These included four nominees of the four provincial Governments
(Bengal, Bombay, Madras and the North-Western Provinces) and
the Chief Justice and a puisne Judge of the Supreme Court. The
nominated members must be civil servants of at least ten years’
standing. A Law Commission was appointed in London for the
codification of Indian laws, and it ultimately led to the enactment
of the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Civil
Procedure Code.
The changes made by the successive Charter Acts merely sought
to carry to its logical conclusion the process that had been begun
by North’s Regulating Act and Pitt’s India Act, viz. gradual
transference of power and authority from the Company to the
Crown. The relation between the two was, throughout this period,
a complicated one, and depended to a large extent upon the person-
ality of the President of the Board and his influence with the
Cabinet. In addition to initiative, direction and control, a strong
President could coerce the Directors into submission in almost
every matter, but the latter always possessed, to a large extent,
the power of resisting and putting obstacles in his way. The
right of recalling the Governor-General was always an important
instrument in their hands, and no President would lightly risk their
determined hostility and desperate resistance. But the inevitable
chain of events pointed to the extinction of the Company as
the only logical end. After the Charter Act of 1833 the main
privilege and justification for the existence of the Company was
the appointment of civil servants — ^a powerful patronage which
could hardly be transferred to the Cabinet without danger to
British democracy. With the institution of competitive examination
for the recruitment of civil servants, this last vestige of effective
power was gone, and the way was made clear for the abolition of the
Company and the transfer of its powers to the Grown. This end
was already visualised by many and must have shortly been
realised in the ordinary course even if the Revolt had not suddenly
brought it about in an abrupt manner.
2. Provincial Administration
Bengal, the First Phase (1765-1793)
Although the Company was granted the Diwdnl of Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa in 1765, the actual collection of revenue was left
till 1772 in the hands of two Naib-Diwans, Muhammad Reza Khan
in Bengal and Shitab Ray in Bihar. Out of the revenues collected,
the Company had to pay twenty-six lacs to the Emperor, as stipu-
lated in the Treaty of Allahabad, and thirty-two lacs (originally
j&fty-three lacs) to the Nawab of Bengal for the expenses of the
administration, retaining the surplus for their own use. This is the
famous system of Dual Government associated with the name of
Clive.
The result of this system was disastrous both to the Company
as well as to the people of Bengal, while the servants of the Company
and the Naib-Biwans amassed great wealth. The Company’s
at home were fully alive to the abuses of the system
and in 1772 appointed Hastings Governor of Bengal with full
powers to reform the administration.
Hastings abolished the Dual Government and carried into eiSect
declared policy of the Company to “stand forth as the Diwan”.
In reality, however, he did much more than simply exercise the
powers of the Diwan, i.e. collection of revenue by his own agents.
He made the Company responsible for almost the entire civil
administration of the province.
He ahoHshed the posts of the Naib-Diwans and removed the
treasury to Calcutta. The minority of the Nawab made the transi-
tion easy. He appointed, as the guardian of the Nawab, Muny
Begam, originally a dancing girl, on whom he could fully rely.
The annual allowance of the Nawab was at the same time
reduced to sixteen lacs. These and similar other measures trans-
ferred the real power and authority in the administration from the
hands of the Nawab to those of the Company, and Calcutta became
henceforth the real seat of government instead of Murshidabad.
After thus having assumed the powers of government, Hastings
set himself to evolve a system of administration. The task, however,
790 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
791
ADMINISTRATION UP TO THE REVOLT
proved a most formidable one. The administrative machinery of
the Company, so long intended solely for commercial pursuits, had
to be adjusted to an altogether different purpose, and the hopeless
fabric of the Nawab’s Government could scarcely supply any solid
foundation for a new structure. Besides, the morale of the
Company’s Indian servants was very low, and a tradition of public
service had yet to be built up. The ignorance of the language of
the people and of their laws, manners and customs added to the
difficulty of the task. No wonder, therefore, that the British
authorities in Bengal had to pass through long and weary processes
and to engage in tedious and bitter experiments in order to find
a solution to the stupendous problems that confronted them. The
twenty years (1772-1793) that covered the administration of
Hastings and Cornwallis may be regarded as the first eventful
chapter in the history of Indo-British administration m Bengal.
After numerous experiments, some definite principles were formu-
lated towards the close of this period, and they formed the founda-
tion of the mighty structure of the British-Indian administration
which we see around us to-day. It would be convenient, therefore,
to begin with this period and study the gradual evolution of this
administrative system, mainly under the two heads, the administra-
tion of revenue and the administration of Justice.
A. The Administration of Revenue
The main sources of revenue at this period were :
(а) Land-revenue
(б) Monopoly of salt and opium trade
and (c) Customs, tolls, excise, etc., called 8air,
Of these the first was undoubtedly the most important and
demands our chief attention. As already noted above, the land-
revenue was collected up to 1772 by the two Naib-Diwans. This
was almost inevitable at the beginning, as the British entirely
lacked the knowledge of revenue matters. In order to remove
this deficiency “supervisors” were appointed to study the method
of collecting the revenue and obtain a knowledge of the local
customs and usages in this respect. The requisite knowledge was,
however, confined to the zammdars, who collected the revenues
from the ryots, and the Qanungoes or officers in charge of records.
None of these were willing to communicate the information to
the British officials and so the appointment of supervisors bore
but little fruit.
792
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OR INDIA
In 1772 the posts of the Naib-Diwans were abolished and the
revenue administration was placed under the direct control of the
Governor and Council, who thus formed a Board of Revenue. The
lands were farmed out by public auction and the assessment was
made for a period of five years. A Collector and an Indian Diwan were
appointed in each district to supervise the revenue administration.
The result of the system was disastrous from every point of
view. Unprincipled speculators made rash bids and succeeded
in ousting the zamiiidars in most cases, but they soon found
themselves unable to collect the stipulated revenue. Having no
permanent interest in the land, they oppressed the ryots in order
to exact as much as possible during the period of their tenure.
In spite of this, they were heavily in arrears and were imprisoned
by the Collectors for failure to make the stipulated payment.
Thus the zamindars, farmers and ryots, all suffered, while the
Company also incurred serious losses.
In 1773 a new experiment was tried. A Committee of Revenue,
consisting of two members of the Board and three senior servants
of the Company, was established in Calcutta. The post of the
European Collector was abolished, and the revenue administration
of each district was placed under an Indian Diwan. Six Provincial
Councils were established, and arrangements were made for
occasional inspection by special Commissioners.
The change did not improve matters much, so that when ,
the five years’ settlement expired the Company adopted the
method of annual assessment by public auction, but special instruc-
tions were issued to the Provincial Councils to give preference to
the zamindars in making these annual settlements of land revenue.
In 1781 a new plan was adopted for the administration of revenue.
The essence of the new plan was to centralise the whole business
of revenue collection in Calcutta. A new Committee of Revenue
was set up, consisting of four members assisted by a Diwan. The
Provincial Councils were abolished, and although European
Collectors were reappointed in each district, they had no real
powers and were merely figureheads.
The scheme suffered from all the evils and abuses of over-
centralisation and soon broke down. In 1786 a rational scheme
was adopted. Districts were now organised into regular fiscal
units, and the Collector in each district was made responsible for
settling the revenue and collecting it. At first the whole province
was divided into thirty-five districts, bxit in 1787 the number was
reduced to twenty-three. The Committee of Revenxie was now
reconstituted as a Board of Revenue wdth a member of the Council
ADMINISTRATION UP TO THE REVOLT 793
as its President. The duties of the Board were clearly defined
and consisted mainly in “controlling and advising the collectors
and sanctioning their settlement”. A new ofiScer, Chief Sheristadar,
was appointed to deal with the detailed records of land-tenure
and land-revenue, so that the requisite knowledge might be
available to the Government, instead of remaiomg a secret
monopoly of the Qanungoes.
The system of annual settlement continued till the beginning
of A.D. 1790. It was obviously a temporary expedient and recog-
nised as such, but had to be continued as the requisite data had
to be collected before embarking upon a system of a more permanent
character. The problem was further complicated by the varying
theories about the ownership of land. The different views on this
subject were crystallised into the opposing theories of Grant and
Shore, two senior servants of the Company, who had specially
applied themselves to the thorny question of land-revenue. Shore
maintained that the zamindars were the proprietors of the land
and were only liable to pay a customary revenue to the Govern-
ment. Grant, on the other hand, was of opinion that the proprietary
right of the land was vested in the Government, and they had
unrestricted rights to make settlements with anybody, zamindar
or farmer, on any terms they liked. The authorities in England
adopted Shore’s views, and accordingly instructed Cornwallis to
make settlement with the zamindars, as far as practicable. The
settlement was to be made at first for a period of ten years only,
but with a definite idea of making it ultimately permanent.
In pursuance of these instructions, Cornwallis appointed Shore
President of the Board of Revenue, and some steps were taken
with a view to making a long-term settlement. The necessary pre-
liminaries were not completed till 1790, but during this interval
Cornwallis’ views underwent an important change. Instead of a
provisional settlement for ten years to be ultimately made perman-
ent, he decided upon launching immediately a plan of permanent
settlement. His views were opposed by most of his advisers,
including both Shore and Grant. Grant naturally wanted to
postpone an irrevocable measure of this type till a further and
exhaustive study of the records was made to decide the question
of the proprietary right of the land. Shore wanted to postpone
it till a proper survey could enable the Government to make
the perpetual assessment on a soimd and equitable basis.
Cornwallis, on the other hand, maintained that enough material
was already in the possession of the Government to decide the
issue, both as regards the theoretical aspect of the question, as
794 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
weU the more practical one, Bxing
revenue to be demanded from zammdars. He further held that
at present revenue matters were taldng so much of the time and
IIZ of the Government that nothing but a permanent meaame
of th? type would enable them to devote the proper share of atten-
tion toX more important duties of the Government hie adnunis-
taatior^d justice Among the benefloent effects of a permanent
Lttlement of land OornwaUis laid particular stress upon the
e^gemcrt it would give the zamindam not oriy to develop
their laids but also to reclaim waste lands which extended at
that time over a large portion of the whole provmce.
On the 10th February, 1790, CornwaUis announced the settle-
ment of land-revenue for ten years, to be made pernmnent if
atmroved by the Court of Directors. The approval of the Directors
Sed Cornwallis in 1793, and on 22nd March of that year the
Decennial Settlement was declared permanent Its effect was to
make the zamindars permanent owners of thejand, subject to tie
navment of a fixed annual revenue to the Government. ^
^ TthLy problem was thus solved after various experiments
had been tried for more than twenty-five years. As to the justice
and equity of this solution and its ultimate effect upon the
opfntot have always differed, as they differ even to-day There
is^no doubt that it ultimately, but not without many years of
suffering, created a class of loyal land-holders who formed a stabk
element in the State, and a steady source
revenue. But it deprived the Government of the benefit of a
ffradually expanding income from the land, which forms the most
^luable source of revenue in Bengal. Further, while it fully
conceded the claims of the zamindars, it altogether ignored those
of the cultivators, who were placed absolutely at the tender
mercies of the zamindars. Cornwallis certamly issued regulations
To M and control the authority of the zammdar over his
tenants, but these bore Httle fruit, and further legislation became
necessary to remedy this grave defect of the Permanent Settlement.
A few words may be said regarding the other sources of revenue
^^Se'revenues of salt and opium were at first managed by the
system of auction, as in the case of land-revenue,^ the settlement
be^t made with the highest bidder. In 1780 the manufacture
of sMt was directly taken up by the Government and a small
estabUshment was set up to manage it under the control of the
Supreme Council. The Sair revenue was managed by the same
agency as the land-revenue.
ADMINISTRATION UP TO THE REVOLT
795
B. The Administration of Justice
In India the administration of civil justice was closely associated
with the management of revenue, and the grant of Diwdni rights
in 1765 comprised both these functions. As in the case of revenue,
repeated experiments were made before a definite system of
administration of justice was evolved. These experiments
were closely connected with, and may be said to form almost
an essential part of, those in connection with the land-revenue.
In any case, both passed through the same process of evolution, and
the judicial system at each stage during this experimental period
can only be understood with reference to the system of revenue
administration.
The question was first definitely taken up in 1772. Two courts
were established in each district, the Diwani Adaiat with a civil
and the Faujdari Adaiat with a criminal jurisdiction. In addition
to these, two superior courts were established in Calcutta, viz.
Sadar Diwani Adaiat, as a court of appeal in civil cases, and Sadar
Nizamat Adaiat for revising and confirming sentences. The
Diwani Adaiat in each district was in charge of the Collector, and
the Sadar Diwani Adaiat was presided over by the President and
members of Council. The criminal courts remained in charge of Indian
judges, according to old customs and precedents, but the Collectors
and the Council exercised some control respectively over the
district courts and the Sadar Nizamat Adaiat.
The changes in the system of revenue administration in 1773,
1781 and 1786 brought about corresponding changes in the
administration of justice. In 1774 the district courts were placed
in charge of Indian officers called Amils. ‘An appeal lay from their
decision to the Provincial Coxmcils and, in important cases, from
them to the Sadar Diwani Adaiat.
In 1775 the Sadar Nizamat Adaiat was transferred to Murshidabad
and placed in charge of the Naib-Nazim. A Paujdar was appointed
in each district to bring criminals to justice.
In 1780 the judicial powers of the six Provincial Councils were
transferred to six courts of Diwani Adaiat each presided over by
a covenanted servant of the Company. In 1781 the number of
these courts was increased to eighteen and all civil cases were tried
by them. In other words, the old district courts under European
supervision were revived. But except in four districts, where the
Collector presided over- these courts, they were placed under
separate judges. Their decision was final up to 1,000 rupees, but
where the amount in dispute was larger, an appeal lay to the
796 AiT ADVAJSrCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Sadar Diwani Adalat. At the same time the Faujdari system of
1775 was abolished and the powers and duties of the Faujdars
were transferred to the judges of the district courts. The criminals
were, however, tried in the Faujdari or criminal courts under
Indian judges, under the ultimate control of the Naib-Nazim at
Murshidabad.
In the meanwhile a new element had been introduced by the
establishment of the Supreme Court in Calcutta, in 1774, by virtue
of the Regulating Act. This court, established by the Crown and
consisting of a Chief Justice and three Puisne Judges, was vested
with jurisdiction over British subjects only, but in practice it led
to enormous difihculties. The court claimed, and actually did
exercise, jurisdiction over all persons, and not only ignored the
authority of the Company’s courts but even entertained cases
against the judges and officers of these courts for acts done in their
official capacity. The legal principles and procedure which they
followed were foreign to India and extremely vexatious. The
Select Committee very truly observed that “the court has been
generally terrible to the natives and has distracted the government
of the Company”. The pretensions of the Supreme Court reached
their climax in the famous Cosijura Case, which brought the
matter to a head. A judge of the Supreme Court issued a writ
against a zamindar, the Raja of Cosijura, but the Supreme Council
denied the right of the Supreme Court to exercise jurisdiction
over a zamindar, as he was neither a British subject nor a servant
of a British subject. Accordingly when the officers of the Supreme
Court proceeded to arrest the zamindar, the Council sent sepoys
to arrest them. There was thus an almost open war between the
highest executive and judicial authorities in Bengal. But a final
catastrophe was averted by an ingenious device of Hastings’. He
appointed Impey, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, as
President of the Sadar Diwani Adalat, with a high salary, and the
tension was immediately relieved.
This procedure, which is usually regarded as a bribe to Impey,
was open to serious objections. One of the avowed objects for
creating the Supreme Court was to have any complaints against
the Company’s servants dealt with by an independent tribunal.
This object obviously could not be fulfilled so long as the head of
the Supreme Court held office, with high emoluments, at the
pleasure of the Governor-General and Council. The only relieving
feature in this otherwise dark picture is that, apart from putting
an end to the deadlock, it made the Sadar Diwani Adalat, the
highest appellate court in the province, a much more efficient
797
ADMINISTRATION UP TO THE REVOLT
institution than it could ever have been under the presidency of
the Governor-General, who had little time, and perhaps less
knowledge of law, to enable him to discharge the duties of the
high office in a satisfactory manner.
But this arrangement was upset by the Home authorities.
Impey had to refund the salary and was impeached. A new Statute
passed in 1781 defined more clearly the jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court, exempting from it the official acts of the Governor- General
and Council, the zamindars or farmers, and aU matters concerning
revenue collection.
During the period of Cornwallis’ administration, important
changes were made in all branches of ad ministration, including
the judicial system. In 1787 the district courts were again placed
under the Collectors except in Dacca, Patna and Murshidabad.
The Collectors were vested with the powers of a magistrate and
could try criminal cases within certain limits. The more important
criminal cases were tried, as before, in district criminal courts
and Sadar Nizamat Adalat. The CoUectors could not deal with
revenue cases, which were transferred to the Board of Revenue.
Further changes were introduced m 1790. The experiment of
making the Board of Revenue responsible for revenue cases proved
a failure, and new local courts were instituted in each district
under the Collector for trying these eases. Most far-reaching
changes were made in the administration of criminal justice. The
Sadar Nizamat Adalat was again removed from Murshidabad to
Calcutta (it had been done once before by Hastings) and in the place
of a Muhammadan judge it was presided over by the Governor-
General and Councfi, assisted by experts in Indian laws. The
district criminal courts were abolished and their place was taken
by four courts of circuit, established at Calcutta, Murshidabad,
Patna and Dacca. These courts were presided over by two servants
of the Company, assisted by Indian experts, and they were to
tour through the area of their jurisdictions twice every year.
The powers of the Collectors, as magistrates, were further increased.
They were made responsible for the custody of the prisoners and
execution of the sentences passed on them by the four provincial
criminal courts.
The famous Cornwallis Code of May, 1793, partly by defining
the changes already made and partly by introducing new ones,
ushered in the system which formed the steel frame of British-
Indian administration. The changes proceeded on two principles.
First, the necessity of reducing the multifarious duties of the
Collector, which gave him almost unlimited authority and made
798 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
him the sole representative of British authority in a district.
Accordingly the CoUeotor was divested of aU judicial and magisterial
powers, which devolved upon a new class of officers called Judges.
The separate revenue courts for each district as well as the judicial
powers of the Board of Revenue were abolished and the Judge
tried aU civil cases.
In addition to the twenty-three district courts and three city
courts in Patna, Dacca and Murshidabad a large number of courts
of lower grade were also set up to cope with the business. The
lowest court was that of Munsiffs which could try cases up to
50 rupees. Next was that of the Registrars, a class of officials
attached to the ZUa courts, who could try cases up to 200 rupees
From the decisions of aU these courts an appeal lay to the district
The four provincial courts of circuit set up ^ in 1^90 were
reorganised. Each of them now contained three, instead of two
EngLh judges, and not only served as crimina courts of circuit
as before, but also heard appeals from the decisions of the district
judges. From them appeals lay in more important cases to the
Sadar Diwani Adalat in Calcutta. In order to curb the authority
of the Collectors still further and to protect Indians from oppres-
sion at their hands, the Collectors and aU the officers of the
Government were “made amenable to the courts for acts done m
their official capacities”, and even Government itseffi m case of
any dispute with its subjects over property had to submit its
rights to be tried in these courts under the existmg laws and
^^Thf ^second principle on which CornwalUs proceeded was to
divest the Indians of any real authority or responsibility in matters
of administration. He had already deprived them of any real
power in the administration of criminal justice, over which they
had formerly supreme and almost absolute control. He now
deprived the zamindars of the power and responsibiUty of mam-
takiing peace within their jurisdiction. They were forced to dis-
band their police forces, and their duties wm entrusted to a
number of Darogas in every district, each working within a defined
area under the direct supervision of the Magistrate.
The net result of the changes introduced by Cornwalhs was to
divide the entire administrative work in a district between two
European officers, one acting as a CoUector of revenue, and the
other as a Judge and Magistrate. Indians were dehberateiy excluded
from offices involving trust and responsibility.
ADMINISTRATION UP TO THE REVOLT
799
Bengal, the Second Phase (1793-1828)
For a period of thirty-five years the system of Cornwallis was
adopted as the guiding principle, and the Government were merely
engaged in remedying the defects that gradually forced themselves
on their attention. In connection with the Permanent Settlement,
the main difficulties were about the regular collection of the
stipulated dues. These feU heavily in arrears, with the consequence
that lands were frequently sold and the ideas of a stable revenue
and a loyal contented class of zammdars were not realised to any
considerable extent. Another defect of the Act was the insufficient
protection it gave to the tenants against the oppression of the
zammdars. The establishment of the law-courts was expected to
give the tenants the needed relief, but in practice it proved futile.
In the absence of any regular survey of land and a definite record
about the tenure of lands the law-courts could afford but little
relief.
But even the protection of the courts soon proved illusory.
For the law-suits multiplied so rapidly that the courts were unable
to cope with them. The proverbial law’s delay proved so serious
in this instance that justice was practically denied, for, in the
ordinary course, a case was not expected to be decided during the
life-time of a man. Lastly, crimes increased enormously and
there was no security of life and property.
It is needless to describe in detaffithe various measures taken
by the successive Governors-General to cope with these serious
evils. It will suffice to indicate the main lines of poHcy adopted
by them.
As regards the Permanent Settlement, attempts were made to
compile records of tenure and the Regulation VII of 1819 clearly
defined the rights of the various classes of tenants. Greater power
was given to the zamindar to collect rents from his tenants and
he was made liable to arrest on failure of the annual rent. To
cope with the enormous increase in law-suits, the number of district
judges was increased, the number and the powers of the lower
courts were enhanced, and Indians were appointed as Munsiffs
(with larger powers than those of 1793) and Sadar Amins to try
civil cases within a prescribed limit. As regards criminal cases,
the magistrate’s power to try them was enlarged and he was
authorised to delegate it to his assistants. The Collectors were
again empowered to try certain classes of revenue cases, and a
few selected among them were vested with the powers of magis-
trates. Suitable changes were made in the procedure of the
800 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
provincial appellate courts, so that appeal cases might be tried
even when the judges were on circuit. The number of judges in
these courts was increased jfrom three to four. The Sadar Diwani
Adalat was entirely reconstituted. Instead of the Governor-
General and Councd, three judges were placed in charge of it,
and their number was gradually increased to five. In 1797 an
appeal from the decision of this body to the King in Council was
permitted in cases where the amount in dispute was over £6,000.
In order to maintain law and order, an efficient police system
was organised both in large towns as well as in the headquarters
of every district. They worked under the supervision of four
Police Superintendents, stationed in Calcutta, Dacca, Patna and
Murshidabad.
Bengal, the Third Phase (1829-1858)
The first radical change in the system of Cornwallis was effected
by Lord William Bentinck in 1829. The new scheme of administra-
tion centred round a class of officials called Commissioners, each
of whom was placed in charge of a division comprising several
districts. The Provincial courts of appeal and the posts of Super-
intendents of Police were abolished and their duties were transferred
to the Commissioner. In addition to these, he had to supervise
the work of the Collectors, magistrates and judges of the districts
under him. Experience, however, soon proved that these tasks
were too much for a single individual, and as a resxilt of the re-
shufflings made in 1831 and 1837, the duties of the sessions judge
were transferred to the district judge, and the latter was relieved
of his magisterial functions by the creation of new posts for that
purpose. Thus the district administration was carried on by the
judge, the Collector, and the magistrate, with assistants, belonging
to the covenanted Civil Service, under the supervision of the
Divisional Commissioner.
Another important feature of the change was to entrust
Indians with a larger share in administrative work. Eor this
purpose Deputy-Magistrates and Deputy-Collectors were recruited
from among them, and, for hearing civil cases, a new post of
Principal Sadar Amin was created, from whose decisions, in certain
oases, an appeal lay directly to the Sadar Diwani Adalat of Calcutta
and not to the District Judge as was hitherto the practice.
Lord William Bentinck also created the posts of Joint Magistrates
and placed them in charge of sub-divisions. Gradually the Deputy
Magistrates were also appointed as sub-divisional officers.
The most notable change in the administration of Bengal took
801
ADMINISTRATION UP TO THE REVOLT
place in 1854. Up to that year the Governor-General and Council
were also responsible for the administration of Bengal, and naturally
the local needs of Bengal yielded in importance to the greater
imperial issues that almost always confronted that body. By the
Charter Act of 1853 Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Assam were placed
in charge of a Lieutenant Governor, and Mr. E. J. HaUiday was
appointed to this post on 28th April, 1854.
Madras
In Madras, as in Bengal, the chief administrative problem was
the collection of land-revenue, which was the main source of the
income of the State. Unlike Bengal, however, the British territories
in Madras were acquired in different times from different powers,
and had different laws and usages. The administration of land-
revenue had, therefore, to be based on different principles in order
to suit the local needs.
In general two different systems were adopted. In the Jdgir
area and Northern Sarkars each village was owned by a number
of Mirasdars, who possessed heritable shares, and the principal
persons among them had long been accustomed to act as the
representatives of the village. Accordingly settlement of the
whole village was made with a committee of the principal Mirasdars
in return for a lump sum.
An altogether different system prevailed in Baramahal, which
was conquered from Tipu in 1792. Here the village headman
collected dues from each cultivator, and paid them to the State.
Alexander Read and Thomas Munro studied the details of this
system and gradually evolved what is known as the ryotwdrl
settlement. The essence of the system, which was not fully
developed till 1855, is that the settlement is made with small
farmers who enjoy all rights in the land subject to the payment
of a fixed revenue which is collected by the State directly by its
own servants. The settlement is made and renewed for specified
periods, usually thirty years, during which the ryot is not liable
to be ousted from the land or to pay any additional charge. In this
settlement the Government share is limited to half the net value
of the crop.
The two systems described above were usually adopted, and
applied to territories added from time to time by conquest or
cessions. But the ryotwdrl system foimd greater favour, especially
as the Mirasddrl gave scope for the principal people to exert
oppression upon the rest of the villagers.
802
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
After the introduction of the Permanent Settlement in Bengal,
the system was also introduced in Madras. The Poligars in Madras,
who corresponded to the zamindars of Bengal, were more like feudal
chiefs with military retainers, exercising extensive Judicial and
executive authority within their jurisdiction. The settlement was
made with them in perpetuity, on the lines followed in Bengal,
and they were deprived of their military and judicial powers. So
far the experiment was on the whole a success. But there were
many parts of Madras which had no Poligars and here the Govern-
ment tried to obviate the difficulty by creating a new class of
zamindars. A number of villages were grouped into a faMy
large estate and it was then sold by auction to the highest bidder.
The result was extremely unsatisfactory and the system was
gradually dropped, at first in favour of the Mirasdarl and ultimately
in favour of the ryotwan system.
The ryotwan system soon came to be the recognised form of
settlement. But the Zaminddrl system prevailed in about a fourth
part of the province, and the Mirasdarl, though ofl&cially abandoned,
prevails in a few isolated areas.
Along with the Permanent Settlement, the judicial system of
Cornwallis was also introduced in Madras. The evolution of the
administrative machinery followed here nearly the same course
as in Bengal. The province was divided into a number of districts,
and each district into Taluks. At first the District Judge was
also vested with magisterial and police authorities but these
functions were soon transferred to the Collector. Gradually the
office of the Collector became a very important one, and in addition
to the duties of a Bengal Collector, he had important functions in
connection with the assessment and coUection of land-revenue.
Other Parts of British India
The system of administration evolved in Bengal was similarly
extended to other parts of British India and need not be described
in detail. As regards land-settlements, the ryotwarl system was
adopted in Bombay, and in the Upper Provinces, roughly coixes*
ponding to the modern United Provinces, the settlement was made
with the village community and resembled the Mirasdarl system of
Madras. The village community does not necessarily mean a coEec-
tive ownership of all the villagers, but usuaEy that of a group of
persons more or less closely connected, who were responsible both
jointly and severally for the payment of the revenue, fixed for
periods of thirty years. The names of Mountstuart Elphinstone
ADMINISTRATION UP TO THE REVOLT 803
and Janies Thomason are associated with the evolution of the
system in Bombay and the U.P. respectively.
The system of the U.P. was adopted in the Punjab with slight
modifications, and in both these provinces steps were taken to
safeguard the interests of cultivators who were not members of
the village community. In practice, a cultivator who occupied a
holding continuously for twelve years was deemed to possess
permanent and heritable right in it, subject to the payment of a
judicially fixed rent. This right was legally recognised by the
Punjab Tenancy Act of 1868. The Oudh Tenancy Act, passed in
the same year, did not proceed so far, but it granted occupancy
rights to nearly one-fifth of the cultivators and introduced more
equitable principles in respect of compensation for improvements
and increases of rents.
The judicial system of Bengal was extended to Benares, Oudh
and the Doab respectively in 1795, 1803 and 1804. On account
of the great distance from Calcutta separate courts of Sadar Diwani
Adalat and Sadar Nizamat Adalat were set up in Allahabad
in 1831.
As regards Bombay, the regulations of 1799 set up a system
of judicial administration like that of Bengal, but it was revised
in 1827 under Mountstuart Elphinstone. The new scheme set up
Zila courts presided over by one judge jfrom whose decision an
appeal lay to the Sadar Diwani Adalat. Smaller cases were tried
by lower courts in charge of Indians. Thus Elphinstone forestalled
to some extent the reforms of Bentinck which were introduced aU
over British India, generally on the lines adopted in Bengal.
Supreme Courts
Reference has already been made to the establishment of a
Supreme Court in Calcutta, and its early history. In 1797 the
number of judges was reduced to three. A Supreme Court, with
similar powers, constitution and jurisdiction, was set up in Madras
in 1801 and in Bombay in 1823.
In 1853, the jurisdiction of these courts was limited to (a) British-
; born subjects, (6) persons residing within the boundaries of the
} three cities or having any dweUing-house and servants therein,
and (c) all persons who were directly or indirectly in the service
j of the Company.
' The law followed by these courts was the English law of 1726
j as subsequently modified expressly with reference to India and
the Regulations made by the Indian Government. But as regards
804 AH ADVAHCED HISTORY OF INDIA
inheritance, snccession and contract, Hindu laws and usages were
to be applied to the Hindus, and Mushm laws and usages to Muslims,
An appeal lay from the decisions of these courts to the King-
in-Councii where the amount in dispute was above Rs. 4,000
(Rs. 3,000 in Bombay). The Statute of 1833 transferred the entire
appellate jurisdiction of the King-in-Oouncil to the newly consti-
tuted Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which consisted of
the President, the Lord Chancellor and other members, including
two who held judgeships in the British dominions beyond the sea.
Finally we may refer to the two most notable landmarks in the
judicial administration of India, viz, the codification of laws and
the establishment of High Courts, the foundation of which was
laid during the administration of the Company though the com-
pletion had to be deferred till India passed under the Crown.
The idea of a systematic code of law in place of varying laws
and usages is traceable to an early period of British history. No
less than five different bodies of statute law were in force in the
British dominions, and the position was always regarded as
extremely unsatisfactory. The Charter Act of 1833 provided for
their consolidation and codification, and accordingly a Law Com-
mission was appointed in the year 1834. Macaulay, the leading
spirit of the Commission, prepared a draft of the Indian Penal
Code, but little was done after his departure, and the Commission
was finally abolished.
The Charter Act of 1853 led to the appointment of a new Com-
mission. It submitted plans for the creation of High Courts by
the amalgamation of the Supreme Court and Sadar DiwanI Adalat
and also for a uniform code of civil and criminal procedure applic-
able to these High Courts and inferior courts of British India.
The recommendations were accepted and in 1861 the Indian
High Courts Act authorised the establishment of a High Court in
each of the following towns, namely Calcutta, Bombay and Madras
in place of the old Supreme Court and the Sadar Diwani Adalat,
which thus disappeared after nearly ninety years. In pursuance
of the same policy, a High Court was established in Allahabad
and a Chief Court in the Punjab in 1866.
Macaulay's Penal Code was revised and passed into law in 1860,
and a Code of Civil Procedure and a Code of Criminal Procedure
were promulgated respectively in 1859 and 1861.
CHAPTER IX
TEADE AND INDFSTRY,^ 1757-1857
One of tlie most important facts in the history of India during
the first century of British rule is the decay of her flourishing
trade and industry. In order to understand properly the extent
to which British rule was a contributory cause of this decay
it is necessary to begin with Bengal, the part of India where
British rule was first effectively established.
Reference has already been made to the activities of European
trading companies in Bengal. The Portuguese had developed an
extensive foreign commerce in Bengal in the early seventeenth
century, but their trade in the eighteenth century was practically
negligible. The Danes had never had any important trade in
Bengal. The French commerce in Bengal was also very small until
Dupleix was appointed Intendant of Chandernagore, but with his
transfer to Pondicherry in 1741 the French trade rapidly declined.
The Dutch and the British alone carried on a flourishing trade in
Bengal during the first half of the eighteenth century. After the
acquisition of political authority in Bengal by the British East India
Company, the Dutch were ousted from the field and the English
Company enjoyed the monopoly of foreign commerce in Bengal. As
I already noted above, the Charter Act of 1813 abolished the monopoly
I of the Company’s Indian trade, and the Charter Act of 1833 finally
put an end to the commercial activities of the Company.
The volume of inland and foreign trade of Bengal, other than
that carried on by the European Companies, was also very large
during the first half of the eighteenth century. The Hindu,
Armenian and Muhammadan merchants carried on a brisk trade
with other parts of India and with Turkey, Arabia, Persia and
even Tibet. The balance of foreign trade was, however, always
in favour of Bengal, and the surplus value of its exports had to be
^ In view of the controversial nature of the subject, I have thought it
safe to follow the authority of Dr. J. C. Sinha, who has made a critical study
of the subject in the light of materials not available to preceding writers.
The facts stated in this chapter are mostiiy taken from Dr. Sinha’s book,
Economic Annals of Bengal (Macmillan, 1927).
S05
806
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
paid for in gold. As a matter of fact, during the period 1708-1756,
bullion formed nearly three-fourths of the value of total imports
to Bengal,
The most important articles of export from Bengal were cotton
and silk piece-goods, raw silk, sugar, salt, jute, saltpetre and
opium. The fine cotton cloths, especially the Dacca muslin, were
in great demand aU over the world, Bengal cotton goods were
exported in large quantities by the European Companies and went
overland to Ispahan and by sea to the markets of Basra, Mocha and
Jedda. The Dutch exported annually three-quarters of a million
pounds of Cassim bazar raw silk either to Japan or to Holland in
the middle of the seventeenth century, and a large quantity was
exported to Central Asia. Even in ‘Alivardi Khan’s time, nearly
seventy lacs of rupees ’ worth of raw sOk was entered in the Customs
Office books at Murshidabad exclusive of the European investments.
Bengal was the chief centre of the sugar industry and exported large
quantities of the commodity even in the middle of the eighteenth
century. Down to the year 1756, a considerable trade in Bengal sugar
was carried on with Madras, the Malabar coast, Bombay, Surat, Sind,
Muscat, the Persian Gulf, Mocha and Jedda. The jute industry of
Bengal also began to develop in the middle of the eighteenth century.
An eminent English authority has observed that even in the
year 1756 there was a large volume of trade flowing to Bengal from
“the coast of Coromandel and Malabar, the Gulf of Persia and the
Red Sea, nay even Manilla, China and the coast of Africa”. Thus
down to the eve of British rule there was a rich and prosperous
trade in Bengal due to its flourishing agricultural and manufacturing
industries.
The battle of Plassey was, however, a great turning-point, not
only in the political but also in the economic history of Bengal.
Apart from the resulting misrule and confusion, which had an
adverse effect upon trade and industry, several causes directly
operated in impoverishing the country and ruining its rich and
prosperous trade and industry.
1. To begin with, there was the large economic drain. Mjt Jafar
and Mir Kasim had to pay enormous sums of money to the Com-
pany and its servants for gaming the throne of Bengal. During
1 757-1765 it amounted to more than five millions sterling. From
1765 when the Company received the Diwdni, the surplus revenue
of Bengal was invested in purchasing the articles exported from
India by the English East India Company. By 1780, when this
drain of wealth finally ceased, its amount had exceeded ten millions.
There were, besides, exports of bullion to China, and the huge
807
TRADE AND INDUSTRY, 1757-1857
private fortunes of the servants of the Company, a substantial
part of which must have found its way, in some shape or other,
to England. It has been estimated that the total drain from
Bengal to England during the period 1767 to 1780 amounted to
about thirty-eight million pounds sterling. It is immaterial whether
this wealth was transferred in the form of bullion or in the shape
of articles of export in exchange for which Bengal received nothing.
The fact remains that Bengal became poorer in the course of twenty-
three years by nearly sixty crores of rupees (which was equivalent to
three hundred crores of 1900, the purchasing power of the rupee
being then at least five times as high). This heavy drain must have
greatly impoverished the province, and crippled its capital wealth to
the serious detriment of its trade and industry.
2. Abuse of Dastaks. In 1656, the East India Company obtained
from Prince Shuja, the governor of Bengal, exemption from
payment of the usual customs duty of 2| per cent in return for
an annual payment of Rs. 3,000. Murshid Quli Jafar ELhan having
refused to make this concession, the English Company obtained
a fresh Charter from the Emperor Earrukhsiyar in 1717, renewing the
same privileges. The Nawab, however, stipulated and the Company
agreed, that the Company’s passports or dastaks could not be used for
internal trade, and that they should cover the eases of only such
articles as were either imported, or intended to be exported, by sea.
But the concession was abused in two ways. In the first place
the servants of the Company used the dastaks for their private
trade, and secondly the dastaks were sold to Indian merchants to
enable them to evade the customs duty. In spite of the vigilance
of Murshid Quli and ‘Alivardi, the abuses became very extensive,
and were subsequently complained of by Siraj-ud-daulah. With
the accession of Mir Jafar, these abuses became widely prevalent,
and the servants of the Company also claimed exemption from
the payment of duties in respect of inland trade. Mir Jafar made
piteous complaints to the English Governor in Calcutta, but with
no success. The result was that the Company’s servants monopolised
the inland trade of Bengal and amassed huge fortunes, while the
Nawab lost a large amount of revenue and the Indian traders were
ruined by this unfair competition. In addition to this, the servants
of the Company made unjust and illegal profit by oppressing the poor
people. About them Mir Kasim wrote to the Company’s Governor in
1762: “They forcibly take away the goods . . . for a fourth part
of their value ; and by way of violence and oppressions, they oblige
the ryots to give five rupees for goods which are worth but one
rupee.” Official documents of the Company confirm this state
808
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of things, and add that those who refused the unjust demands
of the Company’s servants were “flogged or confined”.
Mir Kasim protested against these iniquities more vigorously
than his predecessor, and when the Council refused to grant any
redress, he abolished the inland duties altogether, so that aU the
traders should be on an equal footing. As we have seen above, this
led to his quarrel with the English and cost him his throne.
3. Virtual monopoly enjoyed by the Company. The oppressions
of the Company’s servants soon took a new turn. In order to
ensure a regular and abundant supply of cotton goods, the Company
entered into forward contracts with the weavers to supply stipulated
quantities of cloth at fixed dates. This became a new source of
oppression in the hands of their servants. Armed with the authority
of the Company, they forced the poor weavers, on pains of flogging,
to sign most iniquitous bonds. The latter were paid for their goods
much less than their usual price, sometimes even less than the cost
of materials, while they were forbidden to work for any other party
on pain of corporal punishment. A similar policy was adopted
towards the workers in raw silk.
The story is current in Bengal that, in order to avoid being
forced to weave for the Company, many weavers used to cut off
their own thumbs. This story is perhaps merely a popular invention,
but there is not the slightest doubt about the great misery and
oppression suffered by the poor weavers at this time at the hands
of the Company’s servants. Verelst, writing in 1767, refers to the
unusual scarcity of weavers, a great number of whom deserted
their profession. Thus the monopolistic control of the Company,
and the misconduct of its servants, paved the way for the ruin
of cotton and sflk weaving, the two flourishing industries of Bengal.
Cornwallis made an earnest effort to revive the trade by stopping
the two evils, but almost irreparable mischief had already been done.
4. English competition. The rum of the weavers in Bengal was
completed by the unfair competition of manufacturers in England.
As soon as cotton and silk goods exported by the East India
Company became popular in England, the Jealous British manu-
facturers wanted to kill the industry by legislation. By the two
laws passed by Parliament in 1700 and 1720, cotton and silk
goods imported from India “could not be worn or otherwise used
in England”. There was, however, a great demand for these things
in other European countries, and hence all the goods imported by
the Company to England used to be exported to various other
countries of Europe. But on account of the hostilities between Eng-
land and other Emopean powers, first during the War of American
TRADE AND INDUSTRY, 1767-1857 809
Independence and again during the Napoleonic wars, this re-export
of Indian goods suflfered a severe setback, and in 1779 there was
a sudden fall in the import of cotton goods from Bengal. Further,
on a memorial of the British calico printers in 1780, the Court
of Directors agreed to stop the importation of printed cotton
goods from Bengal for a term of four years.
Artificial restriction of imports by legislation gave a filli p to
the cotton industry of England. By a series of inventions, the
English cotton manufacturers improved the quality of their goods,
and the Court of Directors observed in their letter of 20th August,
1788, that the duty and freight on the Company’s imports had
already enabled the English manufacturers to undersell Indian
cotton goods in the British market. Hence the Company followed
the policy of importing raw materials, viz. cotton, in place of
manufactured goods. Next, they exported Manchester cotton
goods to Bengal. With the perfection of the power loom, Manchester
began to produce immense quantities of cheap cotton goods, and
soon they flooded the markets of India. The average value of
cotton goods annually exported from England was about £1,200,000
between 1786 and 1790. By 1809 it had increased to £18,400,000.
Its subsequent progress was still more phenomenal.
Thus, at the very moment when the efforts of Cornwallis and the
end of European war might have revived Bengal’s cotton industry,
it was killed by the application of power-spinning and power-weaving
to the manufacture of cotton goods in England. No attempt was
made to protect the Bengal industry from inevitable ruin either
by legislation or by the introduction of improved methods.
Thus within half a century of the battle of Plassey, the phenomenal
prosperity of Bengal suffered a serious setback from which it has
not recovered even to-day. The circumstances under which the
flourishing industries of Bengal were ruined, and the inland trade
passed into the hands of a privileged class, almost completely
crushed out of Bengal even the very spirit of trade and industry.
The lack of capital, caused by the enormous drain of wealth,
and the unsettled condition of the country owing to the misrule
of the early period of British supremacy, made the revival of
trade and industry well-nigh impossible. At the same time, the
Permanent Settlement gave an impetus to agriculture and invest-
ment of capital in land. Thus while the loss of industry drove
the poor people more and more to agriculture, the available capital
was sunk mostly in land. The trade of the country passed into the
hands of Europeans, who gradually built up their own system of
commerce and banking in which people of the soil had little share.
810
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
In a word, we find here the genesis of the entire economic system
which prevails to-day in Bengal.
What has been said of Bengal in respect of trade and industry,
applies in a general way to the rest of India. The general impression
that India has never been an industrial country is misleading in
the extreme. Indian arts and crafts have been an important
contributory factor to her immense wealth from time immemorial.
“Even at a much later period,” so runs the Industrial Commission
Report, “when the merchant adventurers from the West made
their first appearance in India, the industrial development of this
country was, at any rate, not inferior to that of the more advanced
European nations.” The finished products of Indian industry as
well as her' natural products such as pearl, perfumes, dye-stuff,
spices, sugar, opium, etc., were exported to distant countries and
she imported gold, copper, zinc, tin, lead, wine, horses, etc. But
there was always an excess of exports over imports, which meant
necessarily the influx of a large quantity of gold. In the first
century Pliny bitterly complained of the drain of gold from the
Roman Empire caused by the use of Indian luxuries. A similar
complaint was made in the eighteenth century even by Englishmen.
The chief industry in In^a was the weaving of cotton, silk
and wool. Outside Bengal, Lucknow, Ahmadabad, Nagpur and
Madura were important centres of cotton industry, and fine shawls
were manufactured in the Punjab and Kashmir. Brass, copper
and beU-metal wares were manufactured all over India, some
of the notable centres being Benares, Tanjore, Poona, Nasik and
Ahmadabad. Jewellery, stone-carving, fihgree work in gold and
silver, and artistic work in marble, sandalwood, ivory and glass
formed other important industries. In addition, there were various
other miscellaneous arts and crafts such as tannery, perfumery,
paper-making, etc. ■
The carrying trade was also largely in the hands of the Indians.
Down to the beginning of the nineteenth century a.d. the ship-
building industry was more developed in India than in England.
Like the Indian textile industry, it roused the jealousy of English
manufacturers and its progress and development were restricted
by legislation.
As in Bengal, the decay of trade and industry in the rest of
India set in towards the close of the eighteenth century and its
ruin was well-nigh complete by the middle of the nineteenth.
The prominent causes of the decay were the same as those
operating in Bengal : the policy of the British Parliament, the
competition of cheap goods produced by machinery, and the
TRADE AND INDUSTRY, 1757-1857 ■ 811
unwillingness or inability of tbe Indian Government to protect or
encourage Indian arts and crafts. The extent to which the policy
of the British Government in India was responsible for the decay
of her trade and industry is a debatable point. Some writers think
that it was the Industrial Revolution in England, with the applica-
tion of power-spinning and power-weaving to the production of
cotton goods, which ruined Indian manufacture of cotton goods,
and it was impossible for the ruling authorities to make any success-
ful effort to protect the industry, as they were quite unable to off-
set the enormous disparity between power and hand manufacture.
Rushbrook Williams, who holds the above view, further adds:
“Those who would blame the British authorities for not taking
steps to protect Indian cotton manufactures against the new and
overwhelming advantages enjoyed by the power-driven British
industry, are obliged to assume that contemporary statesmen
regarded these problems from a purely modern standpoint.”
On the other hand, eminent writers, both Indian and English,
have pointed out that the Industrial Revolution in England was
itself “a consequence of the plundered wealth of India”, and that
not only did the British authorities not take any step to protect
the declining Indian industries but they actually threw obstacles
in their way, and at least in some cases, discouraged Indian
manufactures in order to promote those of England.
As to the last remark of Rushbrook Williams, it is necessary
to remember that even as early as 1700 (and ever since), British
statesmen had enough idea of the modern economic system to
protect English industry by legislation from Indian competition.
That similar steps were not taken to protect Indian industry,
cannot, therefore, be explained by lack of statesmanship, and may,
not unreasonably, be attributed to the desire on the part of the
ruling authorities to promote English industry at the cost of
Indian. One can, of course, entertain reasonable doubts about
the success of any attempt to stem the tide of English competition.
But it is a hypothetical question and raises important issues
which cannot be discussed here. The broad fact remains that,
during the jBrst half of the nineteenth century, India lost the
proud position of supremacy in the trade and industry of the
world, which she had been occupying for well-nigh two thousand
years, and was gradually transformed into a plantation for the pro-
duction of raw materials and a dumping-ground for the cheap
manufactured goods, from the West. All the while the Govern-
ment responsible for the welfare of its teeming millions looked
on and did not take adequate steps to avert the calamity.
CHAPTEB X
THE DAmr OF NEW INDIA
I. The New India and Raja Rammohan Roy
In spite of political convulsions and economic retrogression the first
century of British rule in India (1757-1858) is in certain respects
a memorable epoch in her history. The period witnessed a
remarkable outburst of intellectual activity in India and a radical
transformation in her social and religious ideas. As a result of all
these, India passed from the “medieval” to the “modem” age.
The impetus to these changes came from the introduction of EngHsh
education. Through this channel came the liberal ideas of the
West which stirred the people and roused them from the slumber
of ages. A critical outlook on the past and new aspirations for the
future marked the new awakening. Reason and judgment took
the place of faith and belief; superstition yielded to science;
immobility was replaced by progress, and a zeal for reform of proved
abuses overpowered age-long apathy and inertia, and a complacent
acquiescence in whatever was current in society. The traditional
meaning of the Sdstras was subjected to critical exammation
and new conceptions of morality and religion remodelled the
orthodox befiefs and habits.
This great change affected at first only a small group of persons,
but gradually the ideas spread among larger sections of the people,
and ultimately their influence reached, in greater or less degree,
even the masses.
The new spirit of this age is strikingly illustrated by the life
and career of Raja Rammohan Roy, a remarkable personality, the
centenary of whose death (1833) was recently celebrated all over India.
The Raja began his reformmg activity by preaching the unity
of God, and assailing the prevalent Hindu belief in many gods
and the worship of their images with elaborate rituals. He tried
to demonstrate that his views were in accordance with the old
and true scriptures of the Hindus, and that the modem deviations
from them are due to superstitions of a later age without any
moral and religious sanction behind them. Rammohan’s views
stirred Hindu society to its depths, and bitter controversies followed.
812
THE DAWN OE NEW INDIA
813
Rammohan published Bengali translations of ancient scriptures in
order to defend his thesis, and carried on the contest, almost single-
handed, by the publication of a large number of Bengali tracts. To-
wards the close of his life he founded, in 1828, an organisation for
furtheriug his rehgious views. This organisation ultimately developed
into the Brahma Samaj and will be dealt with in a later section.
An indirect result of his campaign was the impetus given to the
development of Bengali prose literature and Bengali journalism.
Rammohan was a great pioneer of English education. Not
only did he himself found institutions for that purpose, but he
always lent a helping hand to others who endeavoured to do so.^
Eammohan’s reforming activity was also directed against the
social abuses of Hindu society, notably the rigours of caste
and the degrading position of women. The part he played in
aboUshing the self-immolation of widows will be described later
on. He also endeavoured to ameliorate the condition of help-
less widows in various ways, notably by changing the Hindu
laws of inheritance about women and giving them proper
education. He was opposed to polygamy and various other abuses
in the social system of Bengal. He also advocated re-marriage
of widows under specified circumstances. His ideals of womanhood
and of man’s duty towards them, preached in forceful language in
various tracts, were far ahead of his age and were inspired by
the memories of the golden age of India. On the whole he struck
the true keynote of social reform in India by upholding the
cause of women and denouncing the rigours of caste rules, the two
main Imes on which all social reforms have proceeded since.
In the field of Indian politics also, Raja Rammohan was the
prophet of the new age. He laid down the lines for political
agitation in a constitutional manner which ultimately led to the
birth of the Indian National Congress half a century later. His
views on political problems are surprisingly modern, and in essential
features represent the high-water mark of Indian political thought
of the nuieteenth century.
The basic principles of Rammohan’s politics were 'Tove of
freedom, amounting to the strongest passion of his soul”, and a
sincere belief that the people of India have the same capability
for improvement as any other civilised people. The political ideals
of the Raja are thus described by his English biographer:
“The prospect of an educated India, of an India approximating
to European standards of culture, seems to have never been long
absent from Rammohan’s mind; and he did, however vaguely,
’ See page 817,
814 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
claim in advance for his countrymen the political rights which
progress in civilisation inevitably involves. Here, again, Rammohan
stands forth as the tribune and prophet of New India,”
Reference may be made to some concrete views of the Raja to
illustrate the currents of political thought of the day.
The Raja was a great champion of the liberty of the Press.
Ever since 1799 there had been a strict censorship on the publication
of journals. In 1817 Lord Hastings abolished the censorship, but
laid down regulations, which, among other things, prohibited the
discussion of certain matters. Mr. Adam, who acted as Governor-
General after the resignation of Lord Hastings, issued ordinances
prohibiting the publication of newspapers or other periodicals with-
out a Government licence. Raja Rammohan presented petitions
against the new Press Regulations both to the Supreme Court
and to the King-in-Council. The petitions were rejected but
they form a “noble landmark in the progress of Indian culture”.
We may again quote from his English biography: “The appeal is
one of the noblest pieces of English to which Rammohan put
his hand. Its stately periods and not less stately thought recall
the eloquence of the great orators of a century ago. In language
and style for ever associated with the glorious vindicatidn of
liberty, it invokes against the arbitrary exercise of British power
the principles and traditions which are distinctive of British
history.” Rammohan’s labours bore fruit, though he was not
destined to witness it. In 1835 Sir Charles Metcalfe removed all
restrictions on the Press.
The Raja similarly drew up petitions against the Jury Act of
1827. The provisions of the Act and the grounds of the Raja’s
objection thereto may be gathered from the following extract :
“In his famous Jury Bill, Mr. Wynn, the late President of the
Board of Control, has, by introducing religious distinctions into
the judicial system of this country, not only afforded just grounds
for dissatisfaction among the natives in general, but has excited
much alarm in the breast of every one conversant with political
principles. Any natives, either Hindu or Muhammadan, are ren-
dered by this Bill subject to judicial trial by Christians either
European or native, while Christians, including native converts, are
exempted from the degradation of being tried either by a Hindu
or Mussulman juror, however high he may stand in the estimation
of society. This Bill also denies both to Hindus and Muhammadans
the honour of a seat on the Grand Jury even in the trial of fellow-
Hindus or Mussulmans. This is the sum total of Mr. Wynn’s late
Jury BUI, of which we bitterly complain.”
THE DAWN OF NEW INDIA
815
The Raja had a clear grasp of the political machinery by which
India was ruled and fuUy realised the importance of presenting
India’s case before the Home authorities when the question of the
renewal of the Company’s Charter in 1833 was being considered
by Parliament. This was one of his main objects in undertaking
the voyage to England. He was invited to give evidence before
the Select Committee of the House of Commons, and although he
declined to appear in person, he submitted his considered views
in the form of several “communications to the Board of Control”.
These documents enable us to gather the view-point of Raja
Rammohan and of the advanced Indian thinkers of his time, on
the burning questions of the day.
The Raja strongly championed the cause of the peasants. He
pointed out that under the Permanent Settlement, the zamindars
had increased their wealth, but the exorbitantly high rents exacted
from their tenants had made the lot of the ryots a miserable one.
He advocated a reduction of the rent to be paid by the tenants by
means of a corresponding reduction in the revenue payable by the
zamindars. The consequent loss of revenue, he suggested, should be
met by a tax upon luxuries or by employing low-salaried Indians as
collectors, instead of high-salaried Europeans. The Raja favoured
the Permanent Settlement but he rightly urged that the Govern-
ment should fix the maximum rent to be paid by each cultivator.
Among the other measures advocated by the Raja may be
mentioned the Indianisation of the British-Indian army, trial by
jury, separation of the offices of judge and magistrate, codification
of civil and criminal laws, consultation with the Indian leaders
before enactment of new laws, and the substitution of English
for Persian as the official language of the courts of law.
A careful perusal of the above fully justifies the claim that
“Rammohan Roy laid the foundation of all the principal move-
ments for the elevation of the Indians ” which characterise the
nineteenth century. His English biographer truly remarks that
the Raja “presents a most instructive and inspiring study for the
new India of which he is the type and pioneer. . . . He embodies
the new spirit ... its freedom of enquiry, its thirst for science,
its large human sjmipathy, its pure and sifted ethics, along with
its reverent but not uncritical regard for the past and prudent
. - . disinclination towards revolt”.
816
m ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
2 . Introduction of English Education
While the British took over the administration of Bengal, all
higher education was confined to a study of classical Sanskrit,
Arabic and Persian in tols and madrasds. Vernaculars were
sadly neglected, and neither natural science nor subjects like
Mathematics, Blistory, Political Philosophy, Economics or Geo-
graphy formed part of the curriculum. Grammar, Classic Literature,
Logic, Philosophy, Law and Religious Texts formed the main
elements of higher study, while elementary education, imparted
in pdtJisdlds and maJcfabs, consisted of the three B’s and religious
myths and legends. As to the world outside India, and the great
strides Europe had made since the Renaissance, Indians had little
knowledge and less interest. In matters of education and intellectual
progress India was passing through a period analogous to the
Middle Ages of Europe.
The British Government at first took but little interest in the
development of education. Warren Hastings encouraged the
revival of Indian learning and to him we owe the foundation of
the Calcutta Madrasa (1781). Inspired by the same spirit, Sir
William Jones founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta,
in 1784, and a Sanskrit College was established at Benares by the
Resident Jonathan Duncan in 1792. But there was no proposal
or even a remote suggestion of establishing a system of education
under Government supervision or control.
The idea of setting up a network of schools for teaching English
was first mooted by Charles Grant, a Civil Servant of the Company.
He rightly held that the social abuses and the moral degradation
of the people were “the results of dense and widespread ignorance,
and could be removed only by education, first of aU by education
in English”. Grant, on his return to England, tried to persuade
the House of Commons and the Court of Directors to his view, but
without success.
What Grant failed to do through Government, the Christian
missionaries undertook to accomplish m Madras and Bengal. Among
these noble bands of workers to whom India owes the beginning
of English education, one name stands foremost, that of William
Carey. Originally a shoe-maker by profession, he became a Baptist
Missionary in later Hfe, and came to Calcutta in 1793. Missionary
schools had already been established in Madras with Government
support, but Carey and his friends, although denied any such help,
in the beginning, set up schools and published Bengali translations
of the Bible. Thus they laid the foundations of English education
THE DAWN OE NEW INDIA
8i7
and Bengali prose literature. It is along lines laid down by them
that intellectual development has taken place in subsequent times.
Carey’s example was followed by other missionaries and liberal
Indians, the most notable among them being David Hare and
Raja Rammohan Roy. These two were mainly instrumental in
establishing several English schools, including the Hindu College
which afterwards developed into the Presidency College.
Government could not altogether ignore the new spirit.
At the time of the renewal of the Company’s Charter in 1813,
Parliament asked the Company to take measures for the “intro-
duction of useful knowledge and religious and moral improve-
ments”, and further directed that “a sum of not less than a lac of
rupees should be set apart each year, and applied to the revival
and improvement of literature and the encouragement of the learned
natives of India, and for the introduction and promotion of a
knowledge of the sciences among the inhabitants of the British
territories in India”. Unfortunately no immediate or important
results followed. It was not until 1823 that a Committee of Public
Instruction was appointed in Bengal, and then steps were taken to
establish a Sanskrit College in Calcutta. Against this a spirited
protest was made by Raja Rammohan Roy in the form of a petition
to the Governor- General, Lord Amherst. This historic document
admirably sums up the views held by advanced and progressive
minds of the time. Referring to the proposed Sanskrit College the
Raja remarks, “The pupils wiU here acquire what was known
two thousand years ago, with the addition of vain and empty
subtleties. ...” “The Sanskrit system of education,” continues
the document, “would be the best calculated to keep this country
in darkness if such had been the policy of the British legislature.
But as the improvement of the native population is the object
of the Government, it will consequently promote a more liberal
and enlightened system of instruction, embracing mathematics,
natural philosophy, chemistry and anatomy, with other useful
sciences which may be accomplished with the sum proposed, by
employing a few gentlemen of talents and learning educated in
Europe, and providing a College furnished with the necessary
books, instruments and other apparatus.”
The petition brings into prominent relief the divergent views of
the Government on the one hand and advanced thinkers, both
Indian and European, on the other. While the Committee of Public
Instruction spent its resources in printing Sanskrit, Arabic and
Persian works and maintaining the Sanskrit College and the
Madrasa, the missionaries, helped by liberal Indians, set up
818
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
schools and colleges for education on Western lines and established
a School-Book Society for selling English books. The prevailing
spirit of the time is clearly indicated by the fact, noted by Trevelyan,
that ‘‘upwards of 31,000 English books were sold by the School-
Book Society in the course of two years, while the Committee did
not dispose of Arabic and Sanskrit volumes enough in three years
to pay the expense of keeping them for two months, to say nothing
of the printing expenses”.
The new ideas soon made their influence felt even in the Com-
mittee of Public Instruction. It was gradually divided into two
parties known popularly as the “Orientalists” and the “Anglicists”
or the English party. The latter held that pubhc funds should
henceforth be devoted only to the imparting of liberal education
on Western lines through the medium of EngHsh. Although this
could naturally reach only a limited number of pupils, it was argued
that ultimately this knowledge would spread through them to the
masses by means of vernacular literature. This is the famous
“filtration theory” advocated by the “Anglicists”.
The appointment of the famous missionary, Alexander Dulf,
on the Committee of Public Instruction strengthened the hands
of the English party and it scored its first triumph when Lord
William Bentinck established the Medical College in Calcutta.
The appointment, in 1834, of Thomas Babington Macaulay, the
new Law Member, as President of the Committee completed the
discomfiture of the Orientalist party. By his vehement denunciation
of classical Indian learning and eloquent pleadings in favour of
Western education he carried Bentinck with him and on 7th March,
1835, the Council decided that henceforth the available public funds
should be spent on English education. The existing oriental insti-
tutions like the Sanskrit College and the Madrasa were to continue,
but fresh awards of stipends to students of these institutions and
the publication of classical texts must cease. The funds thus
released were to be spent “in imparting to the native population
a knowledge of English literature and science through the medium
of the English language”.
The cause of English education was stiU further advanced by
the regulation introduced by the first Lord Hardinge that aU public
services were to be filled by an open competitive examiaation held
by the Council of Education (the successor of the Committee of
Public Instruction), preference being given to the knowledge of
English. Virtually English education was made the only jjassport
to higher appointments available to the Indians, and hence its
popularity and rapid progress were equally assured.
819
THE DAWN OE NEW INDIA
The chief defect of the system, as it was worked out in Bengal,
was the disproportionate attention paid to the English education of
the middle- class gentry as against the education of the masses
through vernacular schools. William Adam, who was appointed by
Bentinck’s Government to investigate the condition of indigenous
education, wrote a valuable report on the subject. He described the
miserable condition of the vernacular schools and the widespread
ignorance and superstition prevailing among the masses. But
Government relied on the “filtration theory”, and little was done
to improve the system of primary education for the masses.
This evil, however, was not so acute outside Bengal. In Bombay,
Madras and the North- Western Provinces English education developed
on similar lines, thanks either to the enterprise of the missionaries
or the initiative taken by the Government. But there was less
keenness for English education and naturally more attention was
paid to the improvement of indigenous schools and the spread of
education through the vernaculars.
The advantages of English education were reaped mostly by the
middle-class Hindus. The Hindu aristocracy and the Muslim
community generally held aloof from it. But although confined
to a few, English education produced memorable results. It
not only qualified Indians for taking their share in the adminis-
tration of their country, but it also inspired them with those liberal
ideas which were sweeping over England and led to such momentous
measures as the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829), the Keform
Bill (1832), the Abolition of Slavery (1833), and the New Poor
Law (1834). Unfortunately some grave defects characterised the
new system of education from the very beginning. In the first
place it was too literary, and, secondly, it was entirely divorced
firom religious and moral instruction. The first may be ascribed
to a great extent to the personality of Macaulay, and the second
was entirely due to the peculiar circumstance that the Government
had to steer clear of the Christian zeal of the missionaries on the
one hand, and the deep-rooted religious ideas of the Hindus and
Muslims on the other. Their decision not to interfere in religious
matters ha any way was, in the circumstances, a wise one.
Although the beghmiugs of English education on a sound basis
are to be traced to the momentous decision of 1835, the evolution of
a comprehensive and co-ordinated system of education had to wait
for nearly twenty years till the next revision of the Charter. A
Parliamentary Committee was appointed on that occasion to examine
the whole subject. The result was the memorable Despatch of Sir
Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control, dated 19th July,
820
AH ADVAHCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1854, which, laid the foundations on which the educational system
in British India has since developed.
The most characteristic feature of the new scheme was the
creation of a properly co-ordinated system of education from the
lowest to the highest stage. There was to be an adequate number
of efficient teaching institutions such as primary schools, higher
schools, and colleges, each leading to the next higher step. A regular
system of scholarships was instituted to enable meritorious students
to prosecute the higher course of study, and educational institutions
founded by private efforts were to be helped by grants from Govern-
ment funds.
In order to carry out the above objects, a special Department of
Education was to be created in each province and an adequate
system of inspection would be provided for by the appointment
of a sufficient number of inspectors.
For co-ordinating higher education a University should be
established in each Presidency town. It would be mainly an
Examining Body on the model of the London University. But
while the higher teaching would be chiefly imparted through
colleges, the University might institute Professorships in Law,
Civil Engineering, Vernaculars and Classical languages.
Stress was laid upon the importance of mass education, female
education, improvement of the vernaculars and the training of
teachers. Every district was to have schools “whose object should
be not to train highly a few youths, but to provide more oppor-
tunities than now exist for the acquisition of such an improved
education as will make those that possess it more useful members
of society in every condition of life”,
EinaUy it was definitely laid down that the vernaculars should be
the medium of instruction. “It is neither our aim nor desire”,
so runs the Despatch, “to substitute the English language for the
Vernacular dialects of the country. . . . It is indispensable, there-
fore, that in any general system of education the study of them
should be assiduously attended to, and any acquaintance with
improved European knowledge which is to be communicated to
the great mass of the people can only be conveyed to them through
one or other of these Vernacular languages.”
As regards religious instruction in the Government institutions,
the Despatch clearly lays down that as these “were founded for
the benefit of the whole population of India . . . the education
conveyed in them should be exclusively secular”.
Lord Dalhousie lost no time in giving effect to the policy out-
lined in the Despatch. Within a few years Departments of Pubfio
821
THE DAWN OF NEW INDIA
Instruction were established in aU the provinces. The first University
in India, that of Calcutta, was founded in 1857, and between 1857
and 1887 four new Universities, at Bombay, Madras, Lahore and
AUahabad, were added. But before any substantial progress could
be made, the great Revolt broke out and the government of the
Bast India Company came to an end.
3. The Government and Social Reform
From the very beginning the British Government in India
assumed a policy of benevolent neutrality in religious and social
matters. In spite of strong pressure they refused to encourage,
far less actively help, the rehgious propaganda of the Christian
missionaries in India, The same policy induced them to dissociate
religious instruction from the educational institutions maintained
by the Government.
On the other hand the British Government not only tolerated
all the rites and customs of the Indians, but sometimes even went
so far as to evoke the criticism that they honoured and encouraged
them by their favour. Two specific instances may be quoted.
Under the Hindu law, a convert to Christianity forfeited his inherit-
ance and was subject to other disabilities, and this was sanctioned
by the British Government. Again, extreme deference was shown
by the Government to many Hindu festivals and religious cere-
monies, and on some of these occasions there was even a display of
troops and firing of salutes.
This benevolent attitude was, however, shortly given up. A
law passed in 1832, supplemented by another in 1850, removed all
disabilities due to change of religion, and instructions were issued
by the President of the Board of Control in 1833 that Govern-
ment should cease to show any special favour or respect to Indian
religious ceremonies. These instructions, including others requiring
the abolition of the pilgrim tax and official control of temple
endowments, were enforced by Lord Auckland.
But even the policy of benevolent neutrality was bound to come
into conflict with the humane and progressive ideas that animated
liberal Englishmen. In spite of their repeatedly declared policy of
not interfering with the social and religious practices of the Indians,
English rulers were impelled by considerations of humanity
to co-operate witli advanced Indian reformers in removing some gross
evils which prevailed in Hindu society under the sanction of
religion or long-standing usage.
The first to be attacked was the curious practice of infanticide.
822 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
It was a long-standing custom among certain Hindus to throw a
chilTinto th! sea at the mouth of the Ganges, m fulfilment of
reUoious tows. A chiiaess woman, for example, praying for
orogeny would take a vow that if she had more than one child,
Te wSld be offered to Mother Ganges. Although not very widely
nrevalent this inhumanity was too glarmg to be i^ored by
an^ne whose feelings were not totaUy blunted by rehgious super-
"‘bother form of infanticide was far more widely spread especially
+>iA ■RaiTiuts Jats and Mewats in Central and Western
Here, the difficulty of marrying girls led the parents to kill
4.1 * Vi'io iTifants hv refusing proper nourishment, or sometunes
ff S^ofde^respecLelylith the second and first forms of mfanti-
1795, extended to newly added
’"“ThTS.^'^rf'these abuses were
of!nX horrid custom. This was the --^^“trLs'^a
The word means a chaste and virtuous woman but »y a
™lus process been applied to the pactice of burmng chaste
w^en along with the dead bodies of their husbands.
Z^g primitive peoples of many lands there was a behef that
life after death is more or less a continuation of the present life
and subject to the same material needs. Aocorjngly a man nerfs
hk wifeknd attendants in the other world, and so the death nf a
Zg or a leading chief wan followed by the immolation, either
Zmtary or forcible, of his wives, concubme^ attendants^ and
servants, so that they might keep
lord and serve him in the same way as on earth. This custom pr
vailed in India, China, Babylonia and many other countries, and its
™a“SLgeZ Japan’ where the death of the ruler is sometimes
followed by the Hara-Uri or suicide of devoted subjects.
The buZng of the wife is in one aspect the “ “
widely spread primitive custom. It must have been prevalent in
823
THE DAWN OE NEW INDIA
India from a very early period, and Greek writers have preserved
detailed accounts of a case that occurred in the fourth century b.c.
But stiU it was not enjoined as a sacred religious duty until centuries
later. The practice is not referred to in the earliest law-books,
and is merely permitted as an option to widows in later books. It
is only towards the close of the Ancient period, or perhaps even
later, that the practice was definitely enjoined as a religious duty.
The last stage in this tragic drama was reached when the scrip-
tures laid down self-immolation on the funeral pyre of her
husband as the only meritorious course that a virtuous woman
could follow. Not only would such a woman enjoy eternal bliss
in heaven along with her husband, but her action would expiate
the sins of three generations of her husband’s family, both on his
father’s and mother’s side.
Such hopes and encouragements both to the victim and her natural
protectors produced the inevitable consequences, and every year
hundreds of women met with a cruel death in the name of religion.
In many cases the material interests of the male relations, added
to religious faith, induced them to persuade, sometimes even to
force, the unhappy victim to the tragic course. Sometimes opium
and other drugs were used to benumb the senses of the woman,
so that she might be easily persuaded to adopt the fatal resolve.
Cases are on record when the woman fleeing from the first touch
of fire was again forcibly placed upon the funeral pyre. To prevent
such incidents the male relations often took care to cover the
body of the widow with wood, leaves and straw and then pressed it
down by means of two bamboos before setting fire to the pyre. At the
same time the thunderous noise of the crowd mingled with sounds
of drums ensured that the cries of agony from the wretched girl
would not be heard by any spectator.
The very fact that such practices could endure for centuries
among an intelligent and cultured people, illustrates in a striking
manner how faith in a supermundane existence, instead of enlighten-
ing and purifying the ideas and sentiments of man, at times warps
his judgment and paralyses his noble mstincts and human feelings.
It is gratifying to note that enlightened Mughul rulers like
Akbar not only raised their voice in protest but also took effective
steps to prevent the obnoxious practice. But the absence of an organ-
ised and sustained effort led to no permanent result. From the early
days of British rule both officials and missionaries appealed to the
Government to stop this baleful custom, and an agitation was set
on foot in England to force the hands of the authorities at home.
But hampered by their declared policy of laissez-faire, iu matters
824 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of religion, and afraid to offend the religious susceptibilities of a
large class of subjects which might ultimately affect the military,
the British Government in India long hesitated to take any decisive
step. The Supreme Court, however, refused to tolerate it within the
precincts of Calcutta, and the Dutch, the Danes and the French
prohibited it respectively in Chinsura, Serampur and Chander-
nagore.
The Government at first instructed its officers to take no further
step than dissuading the intended victims by gentle persuasion.
In 1789 the Collector of Shahabad referred the matter to Lord
Cornwallis in the following words: “The rites and superstitions of
the Hindu religion should be allowed with the most unqualified
tolerance, but a practice at which human nature shudders I cannot
permit without particular instructions.” In reply he was told
that his action must be “confined to dissuasion and must not
extend to coercive measures or to any exertion of official powers”.
The letter of the CoUeotor and the reply thereto typify the
early official attitude on the question. When a similar letter was
written by the Magistrate of the Bihar district in 1805, Lord
Wellesley referred it to the Court of Nizamat Adalat. On the
basis of the replies received, the Government framed regulations
on the subject in 1812 and supplemented them by others in 1815
and 1817. The net result of these regulations was to prevent the
burning of widows who were either of tender age, or were pregnant
or had infant children. They also made it criminal to compel a
woman to burn herself or to drug or intoxicate her for that purpose.
These regulations bore but little fruit and reliable evidence
shows that in the districts round Calcutta alone the number of
“Satis” averaged more than five hundred each year. British
officials were never tired of urging upon the attention of the
Government the necessity of abolishing the practice altogether.
The Government, however, was unable to take its courage in both
hands and preferred to rely upon the gradual enlightenment of
Indian opinion for the ultimate abolition of the practice.
The signs of this progressive spirit were not lacking. Thanks
to the unwearied efforts of Raja RSmmohan Roy enlightened
Indian opinion gradually asserted itself. When the orthodox Hindus
protested against the regulations of 1817 and sent a petition to
the Government for their repeal, a counter-petition was submitted
by the Raja and his coadjutors. After describing the horrors of the
“Suttee” in vivid terms, they declared that “all these instances
are murders, according to every Shastra as well as to the common
sense of all nations ”. To educate public opinion Riija Rammohan
THE DAWN OE NEW INDIA 826
wrote a pamphlet on the subject and organised a vigilance committee
in order to ensure that the Government regulations were followed
in each instance . The Raj a was bitterly opposed by orthodox Hindus
under the leadership of Raja Radha Kanta Deb. Feelings at last ran
so high that even Raja Rammohan’s life was threatened.
When things had reached this acute stage, Lord William Bentinck
was appointed Governor- General and was instructed by the Home
authorities to consider definite measures for the immediate or
gradual abolition of Sati. After carefully studying the situation he
decided to abolish it immediately. His zeal for reform was not
shared by many. Even Raja Rammohan advised caution, believing
that immediate abolition might cause great discontent and excite-
ment. Bentinckh ardent desires for reform, however, brooked no
delay. On 4th December, 1829, was passed the famous Regulation
XVII which declared Sail illegal and punishable by courts. Not
only the persons who used inducement or compulsion of any kind,
but even those who were associated in any way with the voluntary
act of a Sail were to be regarded as criminals.
As expected, Bentuick’s measures evoked loud protest. A
largely-signed petition of remonstrance was presented to the
Governor-General, and an appeal was made to the authorities in
England. To counteract these measures Raja Rammohan sent a
congratulatory petition to the Governor-General, signed by 300
residents of Calcutta. One of the reasons which induced him to
visit England was to thwart any attempt to have the new Regulation
repealed by the Privy Council. Rammohan’s attempts were crowned
with success. The new Regulation was upheld by the Home
authorities and thus the inhuman practice was at last definitely
brought to an end. Bentinck’s efforts were nobly supple-
mented by the first Lord Hardinge, who was mainly instrumental
in suppressing 8aU and infanticide in the Indian States,
Another great reform standing to the credit of Lord William
Bentinck is the suppression of the organised bands of Thugs. These
secret assemblages of criminals had peculiar modes of initiating their
members, who, travelling in disguise, murdered helpless travellers,
mostly by strangulation with a handkerchief or scarf used as a noose.
Although the members were recruited from both Hindus and
Muslims, the Thugs were reputed to be devotees of the
goddess Kali, and carried on their heinous trade of murder. under
.the mistaken belief that it had the sanction of the goddess. The
organisation spread almost aU over India and there are reasons
to believe that they secured active help from certain chiefs, land-
holders and merchants. Sir William Sleeman and a number of able
826 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
officers were specially selected to crush the organisation, and
Bentinck passed a series of special acts to regulate their proceedings.
More than three thousand Thugs were caught during 1831-1837,
and as a result of these vigorous measures India was soon nd of
this great scourge.
A momentous reform, which created, however, very httle sensa-
tion, was the abolition of slavery by Act V of 1843. Contrary
to the general popular belief, slavery was a very ancient mstitution
in this country, and even in 1843 “there were many millions of slaves
in India”. Still the Act which “refused to recognise slavery as a
legal status” and thereby automatically set the slaves free without
any compensation to the owners provoked neither opposition nor
excitement. This is an evidence of the high moral tone ^used by
Western education and liberal English tradition. The abohtion of
state lotteries in the Presidency towns about the same time
furnishes one more instance of the liberal spirit that actuated the
Government of the day. An attempt was made to justify them on
the ground that the proceeds were spent on local improvements, but
the serious objection to the practice on moral grounds prevailed
against any idea of pecuniary gain.
To the first Lord Hardinge’s Government belongs the credit of
taking steps to stop the human sacrifices practised by the Edionds m
Orissa under the erroneous belief that thereby the fertihty of the
land was increased. Although the results achieved during Hardinge’s
Governor-Generalship were not very satisfactory, the cruel and
atrocious practices were definitely stamped out by the energefro
efforts of Campbell and other officers specially appointed for the
purpose during 1847 to 1854.
PART III
Book II
MODERN INDIA
CHAPTER I
POLITlOAIi RELATIONS, 1858-1905
I. Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier
The period from 1858, when the Government of India began to
be conducted in the name of the Sovereign of England, to 1937,
when “provincial autonomy” was inaugurated under the reformed
constitution of 1935, marks a distinct epoch in Indian history.
The age is capable of a twofold division, viz., the Era of Imperialism
(1858-1905) and the Epoch of Reforms (1905-1937). A noticeable
feature of the age was the control exercised by one of the British
Sovereign’s principal Secretaries of State over Indian administration.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in foreign policy. Indeed
it would be hardly any exaggeration to say that from 1858 onwards
the foreign policy of India was dictated in large measure by
European conditions and formed a part of the foreign policy of
the British Government in Whitehall in London.
Regarding the North-West Frontier, the policy was for long
years based on the relations between England and Russia, After
the first Afghan War there was a revival of friendly feeling
between the two countries. In 1844 the Russian Emperor Nicholas I
visited Queen Victoria and an understanding was arrived at in
respect of Central Asia. The basis of the agreement was that the
khanates (principalities) of Bukhara, Khiva, and Samarqand should
be left “as a neutral zone between the two empires in order to
preserve them from a dangerous contact”.
These friendly relations were, however, rudely disturbed by the
Crimean War, and Russia, foiled in south-eastern Europe, resumed
her forward policy in Central Asia. The rapid progress of Russia
towards the border of Afghanistan was a cause of alarm and
anxiety to the British Government. The conquest of the Punjab
and Sind had extended the British possessions up to the h|lls of
Afghanistan, and that country alone now stood between the
advanced Russian outposts and the British empire in India. But
unhappily affairs ui Afghanistan about that time proved unfavour-
able to the British.
829
830 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
After the conclusion of the First Afghan War, the relations
between the British Government and Dost Muhammad, the Amir
of Kabul, were, on the whole, Mendly. When the Persians threat-
ened Herat and Qandahar, the Amir made overtures for help to
the British, and a treaty was concluded in 1855. By this treaty the
Indian Government undertook not to violate the territory of
the Amir, and the latter agreed to be '‘the friend of the friends and
enemy of the enemies of the Honourable East India Company”.
The friendship was put to the test in 1866 when the Persians
again besieged Herat. The British not only helped the Amir with
money and arms, but also declared war against Persia, and sent
a force from Bombay. The Persians came to terms in 1857.
The friendly feeling was first disturbed in 1862 when Dost
Muhammad became aggressive and attacked Herat, then held by
an independent Chief. The Government of India disapproved of
this action and recalled its Mushm agent who had been installed
in Kabul since 1857. Dost Muhammad paid no heed to the protest
and succeeded in conquering Herat in 1863.
Shortly after this Dost Muhammad died at the age of eighty,
and the inevitable struggle for succession broke out among his
sixteen sons. For five years Afghanistan became a scene of
fratricidal wars, with all the attendant evils of discord, disunion
and partition of territories. At last in 1868 Sher ‘Ali, the third son
of the late Amir and his chosen successor, defeated all his rivals
and united the whole of Afghanistan under his rule.
The position of the British during this period was one of extreme
difficulty. Sir John Lawrence (Governor-General, 1864-69) adopted
a policy of strict neutrality, and logically followed the principle
that the relations of the British Government are with the actual
rulers of Afghanistan. Accordingly he refused help to the several
contending brothers who asked for it, and recognised each of them
in turn as soon as he established himself in Kabul. Sher ‘Ali had
thrice approached the British Government for help and was thrice
refused. As soon, however, as he proved successful in the contest,
Lawrence recognised him and sent him money which enabled him
finally to consolidate his position.
The policy followed by Lawrence has been characterised by
some as one of “masterly inactivity”, but it has been severely con-
demned by others. His policy of neutrality was dictated by the
fear that if he took up the cause of one rival, the other was sure
to seek the aid of Russia or Persia. Against this it is pointed
out that this contingency was almost inevitable whether the
British Government interfered or not. It is, however, overlooked
831
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1868-1905
that the neutrality of the British would legitimately entitle them to
i prevent any interference from outside if and when it did occur,
whereas if Lawrence actively hacked up one candidate he could
hardly, with justice or reason, prevent Russia or Persia from
i supporting another. In any case it must be admitted that he
I succeeded in isolating the Afghan Civil War, and prevented any
i international complication.
f The critics of Lawrence no doubt imply that if he had actively
s supported a rival candidate and enabled him to win the throne,
the British could have easily secured a firm footing in Afghanistan,
and effectively stopped for ever the Russian influence in that
\ quarter. The experience of the First Afghan War was, however,
i entirely against any such anticipation, and Lawrence might, after
! all, have backed the wrong horse and atoned heavily for it. With
i this serious danger in view, and the almost inevitable comphca-
: tion of a Russian war, Lawrence might well be excused if he chose
I to follow a more cautious policy. It was one of those enterprises
I where success would make it an act of far-sighted statesmanship,
and failure brand it as a rash and foolish adventure.
I That the result of Lawrence’s policy proved to be disadvantageous
[ to the British nobody can deny. Sher ‘Ali, the new Amir, could
I not be expected to have a friendly attitude towards a power which
i refused to come to his help in , the most critical moments of his
I life. Sher ‘Ali could easily realise, what was no doubt the plain
i truth, “that the English had looked to nothing but their own
I interests”. He bitterly commented that “Whosesoever side they
: see strongest for the time being, they turn to him as their friend”.
It was precisely during this period of Afghan turmoil that the
Russians resumed their aggressive imperialism in Central Asia.
In 1864 they made the first forward move. In 1866 Bukhara was
reduced to the position of a dependency. In the very next year was
created the new province of Russian Turkestan with headquarters
at Tashkhend, about a thousand miles from their former base at
Orenburg. In 1868 Samarqand was added to Russian possessions
and five years later ELhiva followed suit.
E The rapid progress of Russia towards Afghanistan could not but
; be a cause of alarm and anxiety to the British. Their first endeavour
was therefore to placate the new Amir whom the recent events had
5 so much alienated from the British. Lawrence sent arms and money
in 1868 and the subsidy was continued by Lord Mayo (1869-72), How
far these methods would have succeeded in regaining the friendship
of the Amir, it is difficult to say. But the Russian advance consti-
tuted a serious menace to Afghanistan, and hence the Amir was
li
832
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
anxious to secure the support of the English. A rapprochement
between the two parties was thus rendered easy, and had
the English acted with tact and statesmanship they might have
completely won over the Amir to their side. Unfortunately, English
diplomacy failed miserably at this critical moment, and instead of
winning Hie friendship of the Amir, drove him into the arms of Russia.
A meeting which was held at Ambala m 1869 between the
Amir and Lord Mayo offered splendid opportunities for a lasting
friendship. The Amir would have conceded all English demands
in return for an EngHsh guarantee that they would support him
against Russia, and would acknowledge no one as Amir of Afghani-
stan except himself and his descendants. Instead of giving these
specific assurances. Lord Mayo merely said in a letter to the Amir
that the Government of India would “view with severe displeasure
any attempts on the part of your rivals to disturb your position”
and that it would “further endeavour ... to strengthen the
Government of Your Highness”.
The admirers of Mayo have represented the meeting at Ambala
as a great success and pretended to believe that Sher 'Ali was won
over to the side of the British. But Sher ‘Ali was too shrewd not
to perceive the difference betw'een a specific guarantee and a
general assurance of the kind contained in Lord Mayo’s letter.
In any case, being alarmed by the Russian occupation of Elhiva
he sent an Agent to Lord Northbrook, the next Governor-General,
in 1873, asking for specific assurance in writing that if Russia or
any of its protected or dependent States invaded the Amir’s
territories, the British Government would not only help the Amir
with arms and money, but also send troops to his aid if necessary.
Lord Northbrook (1872-76) took a wise view of the situation and
was willing to accede to the Amir’s request. Eive years earlier, an
Indian Viceroy would have probably given such a guarantee on
his own responsibility, referring his action for ratification to
the Secretary of State. But the establishment of the direct
telegraph line between India and London introduced a great
change in the relations between the Governor-General and the
Secretary of State. So in a telegram to the Secretary of State,
dated 24th July, 1873, he proposed to assure the Amir “that if
he unreservedly accepts and acts on our advice in all external
relaiions, we will help him with money, arms and troops if
necessary to expel unprovoked invasion. We to be the judge of
the necessity”.
The proposal was, however, rejected by the Secretary of State,
as the ministry of Gladstone was unwilling to have a rupture with
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1858-1906 833
Russia, and did not view the Russian expansion in Central Asia
as dangerous to the safety and security of either Afghanistan or
India. Under the instructions of the Home Government, Lord
Northbrook could only assure the Amir that “we shall maintain
our settled policy in Afghanistan”. The Amir naturally interpreted
it as imwillingness on the part of the Enghsh to afford him protection
against Russia.
Two other events occurred about this time which further alienated
the Amir. The British Government unwisely accepted the task of
arbitrating between the claims of Persia and Afghanistan over
the boundaries in Seistan. As the decision of the British went in
some details against Afghanistan the Amir resented it as an act
of injustice. In the second place, when the Amir chose his son
‘Abdullah Jan as heir apparent and communicated his decision to
the Government of India, Lord Northbrook refused to recognise
bim as such, and the Amir was convinced that ‘Abdullah Jan would
receive no more support from the British than he himself had
obtained in fighting his rivals for the throne.
Utterly disgusted at the attitude of the English, the Amir
naturally longed for a good imderstanding with the Russians,
and they eagerly seized the opportunity. Although they admitted
that Afghanistan was beyond their sphere of interest, they carried
on correspondence with the Amir and tried to ingratiate themselves
into his favour. The Russian correspondence gradually increased
and its bearers, treated by the Amir as agents of the Russian
Government, were almost always present in Kabul.
In the meantime there was a change in the Home Government.
In 1874 Disraeli succeeded Gladstone, and Lord Salisbury became
the Secretary of State for India. Two years later Northbrook was
succeeded by Lord Lytton (1876-80) as Viceroy. The Russo-Turkish
war of 1877 strained the relations between Russia and England,
and a war between the two appeared almost inevitable. The
pendulum now swung violently in the opposite direction. The new
Cabinet at once decided to keep a firm hold on Afghan affairs to
prevent the influence of Russia in that region.
The first measure they adopted was the annexation of Quetta.
It occupied a strategic position on the frontier, as it controlled
the route to Qandahar, and could turn the flank of an army invading
India through the Khyber Pass. A treaty was concluded with the
Khan of Kalat, and Quetta was occupied m 1877.
The second objective of the new Cabinet was the establishment
of a British agent at Herat, so that the Government might be
constantly supplied with accurate information regardmg the
834
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Russian movements on the jfrontier. Lord Northbrook, who con-
tinued as Viceroy till 1876, and the majority of his Council, were
opposed to the policy. They thought the Amir was sure to refuse
it and the result would he another war. Lord Salisbury insisted on
his view. Lord Northbrook thereupon resigned his viceroyalty,
and Lord Lytton was appointed Viceroy to carry out the new
policy. The Amir was offered the terms he asked for in 1873, but
nevertheless he refused to accept any British Mission. He pointed
out that in that case he could hardly refuse to accept a similar
mission &om the Russians.
In the meantime the Amir’s relations with Russia grew more
intimate. In June, 1878, the Russian Governor- General sent his
officer, Stolietoff, to the Amir with a draft treaty which conceded
the terms which the Amir had asked of the British in 1873, and
Lord Lytton was ready to offer in 1878. The despatch of the envoy
was accompanied by that of three columns of troops from Tashkhend
towards the Afghan frontier. Stolietoff was ordered by the Amir
not to enter Afghanistan, but he ignored the orders and reached
Kabul on the 22nd July. There he negotiated a treaty with the
Amir, offering him guarantee against foreign attack.
The reception of the Russian envoy in Kabul made the relations
between the Amir and the British Government acute. With
the previous approval of the Home Government, Lytton informed
the Amir that an English envoy would be sent to Kabul. The
mission was actually despatched through the Khyber Pass, but
it was stopped near ‘Ali Masjid on 21st September. On 2nd November
Lytton sent an ultimatum to the Amir, threatening war if the latter
did not reply, acceptmg the mission, by the 20th. The Amir now
appealed to Russia for help. But in the meantime the Treaty of
Berlin had settled the European question, and the Russians could not
fight the English without violating that treaty and losing all the
advantages they had secured by it. So Kaufmaim, the Russian
Governor-General, advised Sher ‘Ali to make peace with the British.
Sher ‘Ali had been encouraged by the Russians to provoke the
hostility of the British, but was deserted by them at the critical
moment.
On 20th November the British troops invaded Afghanistan.
The Kurram Pass was forced by Roberts, and Qandahar was
occupied by General Stewart. In December, Sher ‘Ali retired to
Turkestan and died shortly after. His son, Ya'kub, opened negotia-
tions with the British and on 26th May, 1879, the Treaty of
Gandamak was concluded.
The treaty was extremely favourable to the British and
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1858-1905 836
conceded all their demands. The Amir agreed to the establishment
of a permanent British envoy at Kabul, and to conduct his
foreign policy on the advice of the Viceroy. He also ceded the
districts of Kurram, Pishin, and Sibi to the British.
In accordance with the terms of the treaty, Cavagnari, the
British Agent, reached Kabul on 24th July. But he was murdered
by mutinous troops on 3rd September. To what extent, if any,
the Amir himself was implicated in this plot has never been deter-
mined. There is no doubt that Cavagnari displayed lamentable
lack of tact in his handling of affairs, and there is equally little
doubt that the Amir desired his withdrawal.
The foul murder led to the revival of hostilities. Roberts occupied
Kabul on 7th October. Although the Amir had joined the British,
he was thought unfit to rule and was removed to India. Negotia-
tions were opened with Sher ‘All’s nephew, ‘Abdur Rahman, who
was a refugee in Samarqand under Russian protection.
But before the negotiations were brought to a close, the Govern-
ment of Lord Beaconsfield was succeeded by that of Gladstone.
The new Government decided to reverse the whole Afghan policy
of their predecessors and even to evacuate the districts ceded by
the Treaty of Gandamak. Lord Ripon (1880-84) was accordingly
sent as Viceroy to carry out the new policy.
Shortly after the arrival of Lord Ripon (8th June, 1880) the
British troops in Qandahar were severely defeated by Ayub Khan,
son of Sher ‘Ali, at Maiwand (July, 1880). Roberts made his famous
march from Kabul to Qandahar and completely defeated Ayub’s
army. In this he was substantially helped by ‘Abdur Rahman.
Lord Ripon, after studying the situation m India, decided to
continue his predecessor’s policy and entered into a treaty with
‘Abdur Rahman. The new Amir agreed, in return for an annual
subsidy, to have his foreign policy controlled by the Government
of India, The districts ceded by the Treaty of Gandamak were
retained by the British.
The Second Afghan War was the outcome of the desire of two
rival powers, Russia and England, to establish their influence in
Afghanistan. The English statesmen were afraid of a Russian
invasion of India through Afghanistan. Whether this menace was
a real one may be seriously doubted. There is, however, no doubt
that Russia, with a friendly Afghanistan, could bring sufficient
pressure on the British, and could not only keep them engaged in
the critical tune of a European war, but might even use their
position as a lever for extortmg concessions from the British in
Europe. A%ham8tan was thus a mere pawn m the European
836 m ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
game, and poor Sh.er ‘Ali was a victim of circumstances for which
he was not responsible, and over which he had no control. Strange
as it may seem, the Treaty of Berlin was the direct cause of the
downfall of Sher ‘Ali.
The Afghan policy of both England and Russia was dictated
purely by motives of seK-interest, based on an aggressive imperial
policy. The forward policy of Lytton and Salisbury can be justified
from this point of view alone, as it achieved the main object of
British diplomacy, by securing a firm footing in Afghanistan for
the British, and removing the Russian menace of including that
country within their sphere of influence.
The Russian forward policy received a severe setback by the
establishment of the British influence in Afghanistan. But, as if
to make up for the lost ground, the Russians now pushed forward
their outposts. The fears of the British Government were always
allayed by the Russian Foreign Office by profuse professions of
pacific intentions, and the aggressive acts were explained as un-
authorised acts of local oflficials or as due to local necessities. At last,
when in 1884 Merv was added to Russian possessions, the British
entered most emphatic protests. The only result was the acceptance
by the Russians of a proposal to delimit the Russo-Afghan boun-
daries. The Commissioners were appointed on both sides, but those
of Russia delayed matters on one pretext or another. In the
meantime, the Russian forces were occupying the disputed terri-
tories in order to convert their claims into accomplished facts.
The climax was reached on 30th March, 1885, when the Russians
drove off the Afghans from Panjdeh and occupied it. Even the
pacific Government of Gladstone was roused to the frenzy of war.
Mobilisation was ordered and a vote of credit for military prepara-
tions was moved in Parliament. The war which appeared almost
inevitable was averted by the dexterity of Gladstone. The two
nations at last came to terms. The Russians retained Panjdeh,
but the Zulfikar Pass was given to the Amir.
After this amicable settlement, the relations between Russia
and the British Government improved. In 1886 the Commission
for dehmitation of boundaries concluded its labours and the Russo-
Afghan boundary from the Oxus to the Zulfikar Pass was formally
laid down. For six years uninterrupted peace followed. But in 1892
disputes again broke out over the Russian claim over the whole
of the Pamirs. At last an agreement was reached in 1895, and the
boundary-line in this region was formally fixed up. This brought
to an end for the time being the long-standing rivahy between
England and Russia over Asiatic empires. The English kept a
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1858-1905 837
firm hold on Afghanistan, and Russia directed her energy further
towards the east.
Henceforth for several years the North-West Frontier policy
of India was confined to relations with Afghanistan, The main
problem was the position of the wild hill-tribes, which lived in the
regions lying between Afghan and British territories and owed
allegiance to neither. In pursuance of what has been termed the
“Forward Policy”, the British Government desired to extend its
power over them, so that the frontier of British India might be
pushed far beyond the Indus. After some difficulties the two
Governments came to an understanding regarding their spheres of
influence. The Afghan Boundary Commission under Sir Mortimer
Durand formally laid down the boundary-line. The Amir’s subsidy
was raised from twelve to eighteen lakhs a year, and he agreed
not to interfere with the tribes on the Indian side of the frontier
line.
The next problem was to deal effectively with these tribes.
This proved no easy task, and punitive expeditions were necessary
to queU the turbulent clansmen. A formal protectorate was declared
over Chitral and Gilgit in 1893, but two years later the British
Officer sent to Chitral to help one of the rival candidates for the
throne, was besieged by a large number of tribes who had declared
Jihad or holy war against the British. The siege lasted for a month
and a half, until a relieving army proceeded from Gilgit and another
by way of the Malakand Pass. Again in 1897 there was a serious
outbreak of hostilities. A large number of tribes, including the
Mohmands and the Afridis, rose in revolt, and regular military
expeditions, notably the Tirah campaign, were necessary to put
them down.
To prevent the recurrence of these outbreaks strategic roads and
railways were built in the frontier districts and a redistribution
of troops was made to cope with them more effectively and
expeditiously. The frontier districts were separated from the
Punjab and created into a North-West Frontier Province ruled
over by a Chief Commissioner, immediately under the Governor-
General, and subsequently by a Governor.
These measures have not proved successful in keepmg the region
quiet and free from disturbances. Occasional raids into British
territory and other disturbances by the hill tribes have come to
be a permanent feature, and recently the British Government had
to resort to bombing from aeroplanes to strike terror into them.
In the light of these subsequent events we can appreciate the
wisdom of Amir ‘Abdur Rahman when he described the probable
838 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
results of the Brithih forward policy in the following terms, in a
letter written to Lord Lansdowne (1888-94) :
“If you should cut them (the hill tribes) out of my dominions
they win neither be of any use to you nor to me. You will always
be engaged in fighting or other trouble with them and they wiO
always go on plundering. As long as your Government is strong
and in peace, you will be able to keep them quiet by a strong
hand, but if at any time a foreign enemy appear on the borders
of India these frontier tribes will be your worst enemies.”
The advocates of the forward policy on the other hand support
the intrusion of the British into these hill territories, as it gives
them a better line of defence than the River Indus against any
invasion from the west. This is perhaps correct from a strictly
military point of view. But the enormous trouble and expense
involved can be justified only if there is a real danger of a serious
invasion from the west. Such danger was undoubtedly very remote
when the policy was first adopted. But in the light of later events
which no one could then have foreseen the threat could not be
described as altogether an imaginary one.
2. Annexation of Upper Burma
As a result of two wars the British had occupied Arakan,
Tenasserim and Pegu in Lower Burma. The old Burmese dynasty
was ruling in Upper Burma, and a British Resident was stationed in
Mandalay, where the capital was removed in 1857. Trade was
opened with Upper Burma, and English rights were safeguarded by
two treaties in 1862 and 1867.
The relations between the two Governments were, however,
never cordial. The loss of Lower Burma was a source of irritation
to the Burmese king, Mindon, while his medieval idea of royal
prestige was irritating to the British. According to the Burmese
custom, the British Resident, when attending court, had to remove
his shoes and kneel before the king. In 1876 the Viceroy objected
to this, but Mindon would not yield. The result was that the
British Residents ceased to visit the king and in consequence
British influence at the Burmese court declined to some extent.
Mindon’s successor, Thibaw, was a weak and vicious king. He
signalised his accession by the massacre of eighty princes and
princesses whom he feared as possible rivals. The British Resident
protested, but was curtly reminded by the court that Burma was
a sovereign power. The Chief Commissioner of Pegu recommended
839
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1858-1905
the withdrawal of the Resident, but the Government of India
refused. Thibaw repeated the massacre in 1884. There was an
outcry in the name of humanity, and public meetings held in
Rangoon urged upon the Indian Government immediate annexation
of Upper Burma. It is to be noted, however, that the Burmese
population did not attend these meetings, which were really
arranged by the English and Chinese merchants, whose main
interest was trade. The Government of India took no notice of
these events, and were content to let Burmese affairs alone,
A new element was, however, added about this time in North-
Eastern politics. France had established a colonial empire in the
Far East. In 1884 she possessed Cochin-China and Tonkin, and
was pushing towards Upper Burma. The Burmese Government was
anxious for the friendship of France. In 1885 a trade treaty was
signed between the two powers and the French secretly promised
to allow importation of arms into Burma through Tonkin. A French
Consul was stationed at Mandalay, and there were semi-official
negotiations for opening a French bank at the city, starting a
railway, and securing the management of royal monopolies.
The peaceful penetration of the French alarmed the British
Government, but they could do nothing as they had no casus belli
or ostensible ground for interference. This was, however, supplied
by a foolish action of Thibaw’s. An English firm — ^the Bombay.
Burma Trading Corporation — domg timber business in Upper
Burma was accused on some flimsy charges, and, by an ex parte
judgment, was condemned to pay a fine of £230,000. The under-
lying motive was to hand over the forests to a French Syndicate
after ousting the British Company.
This grave provocation moved the Government of India, which
demanded that the case should be referred to the arbitration of
the Viceroy. This the Burmese king refused. Unfortunately for
him, the French at this moment suffered serious reverses in Ton k in
and withdrew from Upper Burma. The French ambassador in
London repudiated the semi-official negotiations of the French
Consul at Mandalay. The British seized this golden opportunity
and struck hard. An ultimatum was sent to King Thibaw asking
him to submit to the following terms:
(1) A permanent Resident should be stationed at Mandalay,
and he should have free access to the king without degrading
ceremonies like taking off shoes and kneeling down.
(2) The foreign policy of Burma should be controlled by the
British.
840 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
(3) The case of the Bombay-Burma Trading Corporation should
be submitted to the arbitration of the Viceroy.
(4) The Burmese Government should assist British trade with
Yunnan.
Thibaw’s rejection of the ultimatum on 9th November, 1885,
led to the British invasion. Within twenty days Mandalay was
occupied and Thibaw found himself a prisoner in his own palace.
But the fall of the capital did not mean the fall of the kingdom.
A sort of guerilla warfare was maintamed by bands of robbers
and disbanded soldiers. It took five years to pacify and consolidate
the kingdom of Upper Burma, and another six years to bring under
effective control the areas ruled over by border tribes such as the
Shans and the Chins. The conquered territories, added to Lower
Burma, formed the new Province of Burma with headquarters at
Rangoon.
The case of Burma affords an interesting parallel to that of
Afghanistan on the opposite frontier. In both British policy
was dictated by the fear that another first- class European power,
Russia or France, would establish political influence in an Asiatic
State bordering on British territories. The rulers of these States
defied the English in the hope of obtaining aid from the rival
European power, and in both cases they were disappointed at the
critical moment. Only the geographical and ethnical factors made
the sequel different. Burma was added to British India, but the
high and rugged mountain ranges of Afghanistan and the fierce
warlike Pathans made the thorough conquest of that country a
more formidable task.
3. The Indian States
The relations of the British Government with the Indian States
underwent a great change after the assumption of the Govern-
ment by the Crown. Before that the relations were neither uniform
nor well-defined. The first defect was indeed inevitable, because
different States had concluded different types of treaty at different
times and in different circumstances. As regards the second, the
policy of a growing power like the British' was naturally modified
from time to time in consequence of various circumstances and
influences. Much also depended upon the personal factor. Wellesley,
Lord Hastings, and Dalhousie, as we have already seen, adopted a
far more aggressive attitude than others, although no new policy
was formulated by the Company during their regime.
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1858-1905 841
The result was a state of uncertainty and perplexity in the
Indian States. They did not know exactly where they stood.
Theoretically their existence as a separate political entity was
guaranteed by treaties, and many of them enjoyed an independent
status, subject only to certain specified restrictions. In practice,
however, many States were annexed by the British (such as Oudh ,
Satara, Nagpur, Jhansi, and the Carnatic) and in many others
(such as Bharatpur, Mysore, and Gwalior) the British had not only
interfered with the internal administration, but either deposed
or definitely lowered the status of the Chiefs.
In 1841 the Court of Directors definitely adopted the policy
“of abandoning no just and honourable accession of territory or
revenue”, and Dalhousie carried this policy to its extreme Umit.
The outbreak of the Revolt served as a lurid comment on this
pohoy, and when the Government was transferred to the Crown,
an entire re-orientation of policy towards the Native States took
place. Like many other changes in British India, this new relation
was only slowly and gradually evolved, partly by written declara-
tion of policy, but mainly by precedents and conventions.
The new policy was heralded by a definite pledge in the Queen’s
proclamation that “We desire no extension of our present territorial
possessions”. This declaration would not perhaps have solved
the problem, were it not accompanied by other steps to ensure its
faithful observance. The two main grounds for recent annexations
were (1) failure of natural heirs, and (2) misgovernment of native
rulers. Means had to be devised to deal with them before the
policy of non-annexation could be carried into practice.
The first offered a simple solution, and it was readily adopted.
In 1860 sanads were granted to princes by which, on failure of
natural heirs, the Hindu chiefs were authorised to adopt sons,
and the Muslim chiefs to regulate their succession in any manner
sanctioned by the Muslim law. These “Sanads of adoption”, as
they were called, guaranteed the perpetuity of States.
As regards misgovernment, matters were more complex, and
obviously could not be dealt with by any fixed rule. To judge
from the actual events that took place after 1858, it appears
that the new poHcy was to punish the ruler for misgovernment,
and, if necessary, to depose him, but not to annex the State for
his misdeeds, A corollary to this new policy was to interfere in the
internal administration before misgovernment could reach such
proportions as would justify more drastic measures. A few
concrete instances will explain the trend of the new policy.
The most important case is that of Malhar Rao Gaikwar. He
842 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
was guilty of gross misgovernment, and Colonel Phayre, the
Resident, exposed the abuses of his administration. Thereupon
the Gaikwar is alleged to have made an attempt to poison the
Resident by Tn jxing diamond dust with his food (November, 1874),
Lord Northbrook had the Gaikwar arrested in January, 1876,
and appointed a Commission for his trial. The Commission included
three Indians and three Englishmen, and was presided over by the
Chief Justice of Bengal, The Commission were divided in their
opinion. The three Englishmen held the Gaikwar guilty of the
charge, but the three eminent Indian members — the Maharajas of
Gwalior and Jaipur, and Sir Dinkar Rao — were of opinion that the
charge was not proved. The Government of India accordingly
acquitted the Gaikwar of the charge of attempted murder, but
deposed him for “his notorious misconduct, his gross misgovern-
ment of the State, and his evident incapacity to carry into effect
necessary reforms”.
A new Gaikwar was installed on the throne. The choice fell
upon a boy named Sayaji Rao who was distantly connected with
the ruling family. Arrangements were made for the proper educa-
tion and training of the boy, and Sir T. Madhava Rao ably
administered the State during his minority. The boy who was
thus called to the throne became one of the most enlightened rulers
of India, and under his paternal guidance Baroda became one
of the most progressive States in the whole of India. He died
in January, 1939.
The case of Manipur affords another illustration of the new
policy. In 1890 the Raja of Manipur was deposed at the instigation
of his brother, the Sendpati or Commander-in-Chief. The British
Government recognised the new ruler, but decided to banish the
Sendpati. Mr, Quinton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, proceeded
for this purpose to Manipur with a small escort (March, 1891).
The Sendpati opposed him, and there was some fighting. At last
an interview was arranged between him and Mr. Quinton, but
the British officers were treacherously attacked, and Mr. Quinton,
with four members of his staff, was captured. One of them was
speared and the rest were beheaded by the public executioner.
A strong British force was sent to avenge this foul murder. The
Sendpati and the new Raja were captured and executed. A boy
Raja was set up, and during his minority the State was administered
by the Political Agent.
The cases of Baroda and Manipur afford a striking contrast
to those of Oudh, the Punjab, Coorg, and many other States
which were annexed, for similar reasons, during the rule of the
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1858-1905 843
East India Company. They show the readiness of the Paramount
Government not only to intervene, but, if necessary, to take
adequate steps for remedying the state of things, in cases of
disputed succession, misgovernment, internal rebellion, etc. On the
other hand they have equally demonstrated their unwiOingness to
annex the Indian States.
A desire to maintain the separate existence of the States is
also clearly manifest from the example of Mysore. As already
noted, the State was placed under British administration in 1831.
After fifty years of British rule the State was restored to its lawful
ruler (1881). This “rendition of Mysore” is fully in keeping with,
and is a striking demonstration of, the new policy towards the
Indian States.
These illustrations definitely prove that annexation of Indian
States may now be regarded as a thing of the past, and neither
failure of natural heirs, nor misgovernment on the part of any
ruler, need constitute any danger to the existence of a State.
So far the Indian States have undoubtedly benefited by the change
of government from the Company to the Crown. But corresponding
with this increase in security and stability, there has been a steady
decrease in their status. This was partly inevitable and partly
the result of a deliberate poHoy.
The States in 1868 numbered nearly six himdred. More than
five hundred of these were petty principalities whose relations with
the British Government were never clearly defined in writing.
As to the rest, such relations were defined by treaties. But the
treaty-rights were substantially different in the cases of different
States, and accordingly they stood in varying degrees of subjection
to the Imperial authority. Certain States like Hyderabad had at
first entered into treaties with the Company on equal terms, and
subsequently parted with some definite rights (e.g. control of
foreign policy) and entered into some definite obligations (supply
of a specified force). It was obvious that, barring these matters,
it was, in theory, absolutely independent of any British control.
In the case of the Rajput States the treaties provided that the
rulers should not maintain any relations with any foreign power,
and should help the Company, in times of war, with aU the
resources of their States, but that they should exercise absolute
power within their own territories.
These States obviously stood on a veiy different footing from
others like Mysore, Baroda, or Oudh, where the treaties defimtely
authorised the British to interfere in internal matters. But even
in these cases, the relations were defined by treaties, as between
844
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
two independent powers, rather than by agreements imposed by
a paramount power upon its subordinate State.
The policy of the Government under the Crown has been to
ignore these differences in the status of Indian States, and to
uphold in theory and practice the paramountcy of the British
Crown over all alike. This will be clearly manifest to anyone who
studies the attitude of the British Government towards the Indian
States smce 1858.
The most direct enunciation of this new policy is to be found
in the Act of 1876 by which Queen Victoria assumed the title of
“Empress of India” with effect from 1st January, 1877. This at
once brought the Indian States within the British Empire, and,
legally speaking, the rulers and the people of the States were
henceforth to be classed as vassals of the British Sovereign.
In theory, at least, the change was really very great. The status
of these States in the days of the East India Company has been
discussed above. This was fully recognised by the Crown in the
famous proclamation of 1858 as the following passage will show :
“We hereby announce to the native princes of India, that aU
treaties and engagements made with them by or under the
authority of the East India Company are by us accepted, and
will be scrupulously maintained, and we look for the like
observance on their part.
“We desire no extension of our present territorial possessions;
and while we will permit no aggression upon our dominions
or our rights to be attempted with impunity, we shall sanction
no encroachment on those of others.
“We shall respect the rights, dignity and honour of native
princes as our own ; and we desire that they, as well as our own
subjects, should enjoy that prosperity and social advance-
ment which can only be secured by internal peace and good
government.”
It is obvious from the above that even after the assumption
of the Indian Government by the Crown, the Indian States were
recognised as independent sovereign States, and regarded as allies
of the British Government rather than their subjects. But the Act
of 1876 entirely changed this aspect, and made the Sovereign
of England the suzerain of Indian States as well. Henceforth the
British stood forth frankly as the Paramount Power, a position
which in practice they had been assuming for some time past.
The new status is very clearly indicated ha the Instrument of
846
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1858-1905
Transfer setting forth the conditions under which Mysore was
restored to its Indian rulers in 1881. A comparison of this docu-
ment with the Treaty of Seringapatam by which Wellesley defined
the position of the newly created Hindu kingdom of Mysore is
both interesting and instructive.
In the Treaty of Seringapatam it was laid down that “the
Mends and enemies of either of the contracting parties should be
considered as the friends and enemies of both”. In the Instrument
of Transfer the ruler of Mysore was required to “remain faithful
in allegiance and subordination to Her Majesty”.
This frank assumption of the paramount authority is supple-
mented by a series of provisions in the Instrument of Transfer
which are entirely wanting in the Treaty of Seringapatam. By
these the Government of Mysore was to co-operate with the British
in matters of administration such as “the telegraphs and railways,
the manufacture of salt and opium, the extradition of criminals,
and the use of the currency of British India”.
There is one new provision in the Instrument which demands
special consideration. It is a definite declaration that no succession
in the Government of Mysore was to be valid so long as it was not
recognised by the Governor-General-in-Gouncil. While the Crown
had made a great concession to the demands of the Indian States
by legaHsing adoption, it was more than counter-balanced by this
new theory of succession. The Company had claimed to control
succession in the States only in case of the death of a ruler
without leaving any heir. The theory enunciated in the Instru-
ment, however, is that no succession in an Indian State is valid
until it is sanctioned by the British Government. That this is
now the accepted policy of the Government is proved by declara-
tions of both the Government of India and the Secretary of State.
The former wrote in 1884: “The succession to a Native State is
invalid untU it receives in some form the sanction of the British
authorities.” The latter reiterated it in 1891 in the following terms :
“Every succession must be recognised by the British Government,
and no succession is valid until recognition has been given.” Thus
in theory there is an interregnum on the death of a ruler of an Indian
State and even a son cannot succeed until his claim is approved
by the British Government.
The theory of paramountcy over the Indian States also serves
as the basis and justification of the claim of the British Govern-
ment to interfere in their internal affairs whenever it is necessary
to do so for ensuring good government. As the Paramount Power
they have undertaken the responsibility of maintaining a high
846
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
level of administration in the States. Previously the Company
would let a State alone so long as it was loyal, and would
not interfere in its internal administration, save that in extreme
cases of misgovemment they would most probably annex it
permanently. Under the Crown a State, besides being loyal, has
to maintain a high standard of administration, and failure to do
this would lead to the interference of the Paramount Authority.
In addition to the cases of Baroda and Manipur discussed above,
reference may be made to interference in recent times in the
States of Hyderabad, Kashmir and Alwar.
The new policy was very lucidly stated by Lord Reading in
connection with the interference in the Nizam’s State :
“The right of the British Government to intervene in the internal
affairs of Indian States is another instance of the consequences
necessarily involved in the supremacy of the British Crown. The
British Government have indeed shown again and again that they
have no desire to exercise this right without grave reason. But
the internal, no less than the external, security which the Ruling
Princes enjoy is due ultimately to the protecting power of the
British Government, and where imperial interests are concerned,
or the general welfare of the people of a State is seriously and
grievously affected by the action of its Government, it is with the
Paramount Power that the ultimate responsibility of taking
remedial action, if necessary, must lie. The varying degrees of
internal sovereignty which the Rulers enjoy are all subject to the
due exercise by the Paramount Power of this responsibility.”
CHAPTER 11
WHITEHALL AND THE GOVEENMBNT OF INDIA (1858-1905)
India under the Crown
I. The Home Government
The Act of 1858 put an end to the dual authority exercised by
the Board of Control, or rather its President, and the Court of
Directors. A parliamentary minister, the Secretary of State for
India, was now invested with the powers of supreme control over
the Government of India. In view of the general ignorance of
English politicians about India, and partly, no doubt, in order
to control the exercise of such large powers and patronage by a
single individual, a Council was set up to advise the Secretary of
State. The Council of India included men of Indian experience.
In order to give them independence in the exercise of their duty
the members were appointed “during good behaviour”. They
were given specific powers, and their consent was needed for the
appropriation and expenditure of the Indian revenue, and for
the appointment of ordinary members of the Viceroy’s Council.
The Secretary of State was not, however, absolutely subject to his
Council, and could act on his own authority in urgent and secret
matters. It was, however hoped that the Council would have an
effective share in the determination of policy.
But it was soon apparent that the Secretary of State was in a
position to ignore his Council on aU vital matters. The position
was legalised by the Act of 1869, which took away most of the
powers of the Council, and further provided that its members were
to hold office only for a period of ten years, renewable at the pleasure
of the Secretary of State. The change was clearly pointed out by
Sir Charles Dfike in the House of Commons: “At the time the
Council was appointed the idea was to curb the power of the
Secretary of State ; that feeHng had passed away, and it was now
recognised on aU hands that the Council should be a consultative
and not a controUing body.”
The Secretary of State, like other ministers, was responsible to
the British Parliament. But here, again, English politicians
. ■ 847 --
848
AN ABVANCEB HISTORY OP INDIA
generally speaking possessed so poor a knowledge of Indian affairs,
and took so little interest in tkem, that parliamentary control
over the Secretary of State for India scarcely ever became a
reality.
In practice, therefore, if not in law, the Secretary of State possessed
unlimited authority over the Government of India. This had its
natural reaction on the relations between the Home Government
at Whitehall and the Government in India.
To a superficial observer the Act of 1858 meant nothing more
to the Indian Government than a mere change of master. In
reality, however, it brought about striking changes.
The concentration of the powers of the Court of Directors and
the Board of Control in the hands of a minister of State led to
important consequences. To serve two masters may be an irksome
business, but it had its obvious advantages. PuUy cognisant of the
eternal rivalry between the two, a shrewd and able Governor-
General could, and often did, play one against the other, and had
his own way. Besides, the same rivalry between the authorities
stood in the way of their formulatmg a strong and vigorous policy
to which the Indian Government did not subscribe. Purther, a
minister of State was always likely to be a person of far greater
weight than the President of the Board of Control. In the present
instance, the Secretary of State, as we have seen above, exercised
his large powers practically without any control and could naturally
exercise a greater degree of influence. Besides, the Act of 1858
vested the Council of India with large powers over the financial
policy of the Government of India. These powers gradually fell
into the hands of the Secretary of State and enabled him to
exercise an effective control over the Viceroy and his Council.
But in addition to legislative enactments, other factors were at
work to enhance the powers of the Secretary of State. The estab-
lishment of a direct telegraph fine between England and India in
1870 was an event of far-reaching importance. The delay in com-
munication was a great advantage to the Government of India
in so far as it of necessity left the initiation of policy in urgent
matters to its own hands, and enabled it to confront the Secretary
of State with accomplished facts. But all this was bound to
change when the Secretary of State had to be kept constantly
informed of the course of events in India, and was in a position
to issue immediate orders. Henceforth the Secretary of State
exercised a far more effective control over the administration of
India than was the ease before, and the Viceroy really tended to
be a mere “ agent ” of the Secretary of State.
WHITEHALL AND THE OOWERNMENT OE .INDIA 849
2 . The Indian Government
When the Crown took the Government of India into its own
hands in 1858, the supreme legislative and executive authority
in India, as we have seen above, was vested in the Goveruor-General-
in- Council. For executive powers it was composed of the Governor-
General, the four ordinary members (three officials of ten years’
standing and one barrister), and the Commander-in-Chief, who
was an extraordinary member. For legislative purposes six members
had been added to this body in 1853.
The change of 1853 marks the modest beginning of a parlia-
mentary system in India, and as such deserves special notice. As
Cowell observed: “Discussion became oral instead of in writing;
Bills were referred to Select Committees instead of to a single
member; and legislative business was conducted in public instead
of in secret.”
There were, however, two grave defects in the Legislative Council.
No Indian element was associated with it, and its knowledge of
the local conditions outside Bengal was not adequate for making
laws for other provinces.
The jSrst of these defects was forcibly realised by many at the
time of the Kevolt of 1857-59. “The terrible events of the Mutiny
brought home to men’s minds the dangers arising from the entire
exclusion of Indians from association with the legislation of the
country.” Enlightened Indians like Sir Syed Ahmad pointed
out the twofold character of this danger. On the one hand it
deprived the people of the means of entering any protest against
any unpopular measure, while on the other hand the Government
had no opportunity of explaining their aims and intentions, which
were consequently misrmderstood. Even English politicians
endorsed the same view. In his able Minute of 1860, Sir Bartle
Frere advocated the need of including Indians in the Legislative
Council, in order to do away with “the perilous experiment
of continuing to legislate for millions of people with few means
of knowing, except by rebellion, whether the laws suit them or
not”.
Apart from these inherent defects of the existing Legislative
Council, difficulties soon arose which threatened to alter the whole
structure of the Indian Government. These have been ably
summed up in the following lines :
“Contrary to the intentions of the framers of the Act of 1853,
it (the Legislative Council) had developed into ‘an Anglo-Indian
House of Commons’ questioning the Executive and its acts, and
850 AIT ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
forcino- it to lay even confidential papers before it. It had refused
to submit legislative projects to the Secretary of State before
their consideration in the Council, and had refused to pass any
legislation required by the Secretary of State (or the Court of
Directors before 1858); on the other hand it asserted its right
of independent legislation.” _
The spirit of independence displayed by the Legislative Council
from the very beginning disturbed its author, Sir Charles Wood,
the President of the Board of Control. “I do not look upon it,”
said he, “as some of the young Indians do, as the nucleus and
beo-inning of a constitutional parliament in India.” But Dalhousie
pointed out that he had not “conceded to the Legislative Council
any greater power than the law clearly confers upon it”. It has
been very aptly observed that Wood “was neither the first nor
the last legislator to fail in limiting the consequences of a Bill to
his intentions”. mi, t .:i-
The state of things soon underwent a change. I he inPian
Councils Act of 1861 constituted the next landmark in the
evolution of Legislative Councfis in this country. It added a fifth
ordinary non-official member to the Executive Council, and the power
of the Secretary of State to appoint the Commander-in-Chief as an
extraordinary member was continued. The powers of the Governor-
General were considerably enlarged. With the sanction of his
Council he could exercise all the executive powers of the Govemor-
General-in-Council. Further, the Act empowered him to make
rules and orders for the transaction of the business of the Council.
Lord Canning used this authority to introduce what is now known
as the Portfolio System. By this system, which is virtuaUy even
now in force, each member was placed in charge of one or more
Departments, and could finally dispose of minor matters in that
department on his own authority, and matters of greater import-
ance in consultation with the Viceroy, only the questions of general
policy being referred to the Council for decision. In view of the
large increase in business such a system was almost inevitable,
but it resulted in a considerable diminution of the importance
of the Council, and a corresponding increase in the power and
influence of the Viceroy.
The legislative provisions of the Act of 1861 were far more
important. For the purpose of making laws the Viceroy’s Council
w^as enlarged by the addition of “not less than six nor more than
twelve additional members”, of whom not less than half should
be non-official members. These additional members were to be
nominated by the Governor-General for two years.
WHITEHALL AND THE GOVERNMENT OE INDIA 851
The function of this Council was strictly limited to legislation,
and the Act expressly forbade the transaction of any other business.
It was empowered “to make laws and regulations for ah persons
whether British or native, foreigners or others, and for ah places
and things whatever within the said territories, and for ah servants
of the Government of India (afterwards extended to all British
subjects) within the dominions of princes and States in ahiance
with Her Majesty”.
This wide legislative power was subject, however, to several
restrictions. In the first place the previous sanction of the Governor-
General was necessary for introducing any legislation concerning
certain specified subjects, such as Pubhc Debt, Public Revenue,
Indian religious rites, Military discipline and Policy towards Indian
States.
Secondly, no laws could be made which infringed the authority
of the Home Government or violated the provisions of certain
Acts made by the Parliament.
Thirdly, the Governor-General had not only the power of vetoing
any law passed by the Council, but was authorised, in cases of
emergency, to issue ordinances which should have the same authority
as any law passed by the Council.
Lastly, any Act passed by the Council might be disallowed • by
Her Majesty.
The Act of 1861 restored to the Governments of Bombay and
Madras the power of making “laws and regulations” for the peace
and good government of these Presidencies, subject, of course, to
the same restrictions as put upon the Governor-General’s Council.
In addition, the Provincial Councils had to obtain previous sanction
of the Governor-General before making regulations on such aU-
India subjects as currency, copyright, posts and telegraphs, Penal
Code, etc. For the purpose of legislation the Executive Council
of the Governor was enlarged by the addition of the Advocate-
General, and “not less than four nor more than eight” members,
nominated by the Governor, of whom at least half should be
non-official members.
The Act authorised the Govemor-GeneraJ-in-Council to create
similar Legislative Councils not only in the remaining provinces
such as Bengal, the North-Western Provinces (now the United Prov-
inces), and the Punjab, but also in new provinces, if any, which
it was empowered to constitute. In pursuance of this a Legislative
Council was established in the three provinces, in 1862, 1886 and
1898 respectively.
It must be admitted that the Act of 1861 was retrograde in
852 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
many respects, and deprived, the Legislative Council of any indepefi*
dent power. It ceased to exercise any control or check upon the
Executive, and even its legislative functions were circumscribed
by too many restrictions. But in spite of all its defects the Indian
Councils Act of 1861 must always be regarded as a memorable
one. It gave the framework to the Government of India which
it has retained up till now, and all the subsequent changes have
been made within that framework. It ushered in one of the great
developments that distinguish the subsequent reforms of adminis-
tration in this country, viz., the admission of Indians into the
higher Councils of the Government. Although not expressly provided
for in the Act, there was no definition of the non-official element
of the Legislative Council, which accordingly could include Indians.
Dalhousie had urged the inclusion of Indians in the Council created
by the Act of 1853, but without success. Evidently the Revolt of
1857-59 changed the views at home in this respect, and in 1862
Canning nominated the Maharaja of Patiala, the Raja of Benares,
and Sir Dinkar Rao to the newly constituted Legislative Council.
It is not necessary to describe in detail the various legislative
measures during the thirty years that followed (1861-1891). Among
the notable changes may be mentioned the considerable increase of
legislative authority both of the Viceroy and his Council. By the
Indian Councils Act of 1870, the Governor-General-in-Council was
empowered to pass regulations without reference to the Legislative
Council. The same Act also repeated and more clearly defined the
power of the Viceroy to override the decisions of the majority
of his Council and to adopt and carry into execution or suspend
or reject, even against the opinion of the majority, any measure
affecting “the safety, tranquillity or interests of the British posses-
sions in India, or%ny part thereof”.
The Act of 1874 provided for the addition of a sixth ordinary
member to the Viceroy’s Council, “the member for Public Works”.
The same period of thirty years, however, witnessed the first,
great national movement in India and the foundation of the-
Indian National Congress, to which detailed reference will be made'
later. The newly-roused political consciousness of the Indians
manifested itself in demands for constitutional rights formulated
by the Congress. The Congress put in the forefront of its pro-
gramme the reform of the Legislative Councils, both local and central,
especially on the foUowiag lines :
1. The establishment of councils in provinces, other than Bengal,
Bombay and Madras.
WHITEHALL AND THE GOVERNMENT OE INDIA 853
2. Tlie expansion of the councils with a large proportion of
elected members,
3. Grant of additional powers to the councils, especially the right
of discussing the Budget and of eliciting information by means
of interpellations.
To meet these demands, at least partially. Lord Dufferin sug-
gested some measures to the Home Government which led to the
Indian Councils Act of 1892, another great landmark in the history
of constitutional development in India.
By this Act the number of additional members, both in the
Supreme and local Councils, was slightly increased, the maximum
being fixed at sixteen in the case of the Supreme Council, twenty in
the case of Bombay, Madras, and Bengal, and fifteen for the North-
Western Provinces and Oudh, where a Legislative Council had been
established in 1886. The increase was much below the expectations
not only of the Congress, but even of many English politicians
who sympathised with the political aspirations of the Indians.
Ear more important was, however, the change in the mode of
appointing these members. The principle of election demanded by
the Congress was not directly conceded. But the Act authorised
the Governor-General-in-Council to prescribe the method of
appointing the additional members, and the Government members
explained, in the course of the discussion of the Bill in the House
of Commons, that under this clause it would be possible for the
Governor-General to provide for the election of additional members.
As a matter of fact. Lord Lansdowne (1888-94) utilised this power
in having eight members of the local councils elected by Muni-
cipalities, District Boards, Chambers of Commerce, Universities,
etc., and four members of the Supreme Councfl elected by the
non-official members of the local councils.
The Act of 1892 also conceded to the members of the Legislative
Councils the right of discussing the Budget and asking questions
on matters of public interest.
Although the Act of 1892 fell far short of the demands made
by the Indian National Congress, it was a great advance upon
the existing state of things. By conceding the principle of election,
and giving the Legislative Councils some control over the Executive,
it paved the way for further reforms on these lines which were
destined to place in the hands of Indians a large measure of
control over the administration of the country.
CHAPTIR III
INTERNAL ALMINISTBATION, 1858-1905
I. Recruitment for the Public Services
Tim assumption of the direct administration of India by the
Crown led to great changes both in the spirit and details of mtemal
administration. The administrative machinery was gradually orpn-
ised with a thoroughness not possible under the Company sregune,
and the administrative principles and pohtioal ideals of England
were applied to a large extent. The Inton administration became
more efficient and more up-to-date. The old nval^ and jealousy
between the Company and the Board of Control toappeaied. and
the unitary control of ParUament was established. ^
But the picture has its dark side also. Durmg the old regune
the periodical renewal of the Charter of the East Into Company
afforded an opportunity for Parliament to scrutimse affairs m India
with a jealous eye. But as soon as the Secretajr of State was
put in sole charge of India, it ceased to evoke that interest.
Theoretically, no doubt, the House of Commons was responsible for
the administration of India, but few persons took an interest m
matters affecting this country. In the days of the Company, a
Select Committee was appointed by Parhament to report on the
administration. They went thoroughly into the whole subject,
exposed abuses, and suggested remedies which were frequently
adopted in the new Charter. But now the Secretary submitted an
annLl report before the whole House. Every membm was supposed
to take taterest in it. but as often happens, everybody a busmess
became nobody’s business. r c i ,
Its effect on the large increase in the powers of the Secretary
of State has been referred to above, but the internal admims-
tration of India was also profoundly affected by it. Ihe Indian
officials were now responsible only to the Secretary of State, and,
so long as they could satisfy him, had not to fear any other authority.
The Secretary could hardly exercise any effective control oyer the
details of administration from such a distance, but he had to
defend the actions of the officials as the ultimate responsibihty
devolved upon him. The result was the growth of an all-powertul
855
lOTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1858-1905
Bureaucracy in India headed by the members of the Superior
Indian Civil Service. This service soon became a powerful corpora-
tion, and its members became — in the words of Blunt — “the
practical owners of India, irremovable, irresponsible, and amenable
to no authority but that of their fellow members”. The members
of this service were no doubt very able, and, generally speaking,
honest men. But the position in which they found themselves
invested them with a superiority complex, and a wide gulf was
created between the rulers and the ruled. That sympathy and
mutual understanding between the two, which lie at the root of all
good administration, were at a discount.
Unfortunately other causes were at work to accentuate the
isolation of the higher British oJB&cials. In the days of the Com-
pany English ofidcials mixed freely with Indians, and there
was a genuine good feeling and often friendship between them.
The dark horrors of the Revolt generated a feeling of aversion
towards Indians in the minds of the British. Perhaps this feeling
would have been weakened in the normal course, and might have
ultimately disappeared. But steam navigation, the Suez Canal,
the telegraph and the overland route, aU served to bring the British
in closer touch with their home. They were no longer exiles in a
foreign land, but in direct and constant touch with their own
country. Gradually an English society grew up in big towns. All
these factors did away with the necessity of making friends with
Indians, and the British official led a more and more exclusive life
so far as the Indian people were concerned. His time was divided
between his office and club and he had hardly any social inter-
course with Indians. In spite of long residence in India, he
remained to all intents and purposes a foreigner, and knew little
of their feelings, sentiments and aspirations. Blunt very correctly
observed that “the Anglo-Indian official of the Company’s days
loved India in a way no Queen’s official dreams of doing now ;
and loving it, he served it better”.
The Indians naturally concluded that this state of things could
only be improved by the appointment of a larger number of Indians
in the public offices. The Charter Act of 1833 legalised the appoint-
ment of Indians even to the highest offices of State. But the
provisions in the Act of 1793, stiU unrepealed, laid down that
“none but covenanted servants of the Company could hold any
office with a salary of more than £800 a year”. Thus no Indian
could fill any high post unless he were a regular official who had
entered into covenant with the East India Company, or, after
1858, with the Secretary of State. Formerly these officers w’ere
856 AN ADVANCED HISTOBY OE INDIA
nominated partly by the Directors and partly by the Board of
Control, and after nomination they received a training for two
years at the East India College at Haileybury. The system of open
competitive examination for these appointments was introduced
in 1853 and re-af&rmed in 1858. The competition was open to all
natural-born subjects of Her Majesty, whether European or Indian.
The maximum age for admission was at first twenty-three. In 1859
it was lowered to twenty- two, and the selected candidates were
to remain on probation in England for a year. In 1866 the maximum
age was still further lowered to twenty-one, and the probationers
had to go through a special course of training at an approved
University for two years.
It was extremely difficult for Indians to pass this examination.
The journey to England was not only expensive and unfamiliar,
but, in the case of the Hindus, was frowned upon by the more
orthodox leaders of the community. To compete with English boys
in an examination conducted through the medium of English in
an English University was indeed a formidable task. It is no
wonder, therefore, that comparatively few Indians were successful.
The repercussion of this state of things on the political move-
ment in India wiU be discussed in a later chapter. The British
Government also realised the inadequacy of the Indian element in
the Superior Civil Service. In 1870 an Act was passed authorising
the appointment of Indians to the higher offices without any
examination, but effect was given to this only in 1879 under cir-
cumstances to be related later (p. 891).
The rules adopted in 1879 ordained “that a proportion not
exceeding one-sixth of the total number of covenanted Civil
Servants appointed in any year by the Secretary of State should
be natives selected in Inffia by the local governments subject to
the approval of the Govemor-General-in-Council”. These officers
were called “Statutory Civil Servants” and were recruited from
“young men of good family and social position possessed of fair
abilities and education”. The system was, however, subject to the
same defects from which all systems of nommation were bound to
suffer. Indians themselves preferred open competitive examina-
tion. But m order to give Indians a fair and equitable chance,
they recommended that there should be simultaneous examinations
both in England and India. For the same reason they were agamst
the lowering of the maximum age of admission below twenty-one as
it would adversely affect the Indian candidates who were to be
examined in a foreign tongue. The lowering of the maximum age-
limit to nineteen in 1877 was regarded as a deliberate attempt to
INTEENAL ADMINISTRATION, 1858-1905 857
shut out Indians, and led to that agitation which culminated in
the Congress movement. The Congress vigorously took up the
question of simultaneous examinations and employment of Indians
in larger numbers.
In 1886 Lord Dufferin appointed a “Public Services Commis-
sion” to investigate the problem. The Commission rejected the
idea of simultaneous examinations for covenanted service, and
advised the abolition of the Statutory Civil Service. They proposed
that a number of posts hitherto reserved for covenanted service
should be thrown open to a local service to be called the Provincial
Civil Service, which would be separately recruited in every province
either by promotion from lower ranks or by direct recruitment. The
terms Covenanted and Uncovenanted were replaced by Imperial
and Provincial, and below the latter would be a Subordinate Civil
Service.
These recommendations were accepted. The Covenanted Civil
Service was henceforth knovm as the “Civil Service of India”,
and the Provincial Service was called after the particular province,
as, for example, the Bengal Civil Service. A list was prepared of
posts reserved for the Civil Service of India, but open to the new
Provincial Service, and local governments were empowered to
appoint an Indian to any such “listed post”. In other branches
of administration, such as Education, Police, PubHc Works
and Medical departments, too, there were similar divisions into
Imperial, Provincial, and Subordinate services. The first was
mainly ffled by Englishmen, and the other two almost exclusively
by Indians.
This system remained in being with slight changes till the
end of British rule. It improved the standard of service, but
failed to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the Indians for
employment in larger numbers in higher offices of State.
In 1893, the House of Commons passed a resolution in favour
of simultaneous examinations in England and India for the
Indian Civil Service. The resolution was forwarded by the Secretary
of State to the Government of India for opinion. Lord Lansdowne’s
Government, after consulting Provincial Governments, definitely
opposed the principle of the resolution. “They maintained that
material reduction of the European staff then employed was incom-
patible with the safety of the British rule. The system of unres-
tricted competition in examination would not only dangerously
weaken the British element in the Civil Service, but would also
practically exclude from the service Muhammadans, Sikhs and
other races, accustomed to rule by tradition, and possessed of
858
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
exceptional strength of character, but deficient in literary educa-
tion.” Nothing came of the proposal, and more than a quarter
of a century had elapsed before any step was taken in this direction.
2 , Local SeH-Govemment
From time immemorial ideas of local self-governmeni) prevailed
in India to a far greater extent than anywhere else in the world.
The villages and towns were smaE States in miniature where
all the local needs for sanitation, communication, the judiciary
and the police were served by assemblies of the people themselves
with a chief executive officer.
During the turmoE that foEowed in the wake of the dissolution
of the Mughul Empire, these self-governing organisations almost
entirely disappeared from towns and greatly decayed in vElages.
The British Government tried to keep up the vElage assemblies
wherever they were in working order, and revived them in places
where they were wanting. But they were confronted with the task
of evolving a definite system of local government both for the
vast rural areas as weE as for towns.
To begin with, the Government adopted no definite system in the
administration of local affairs in the rural areas. They worked
through the existing institutions or improvised others as the need
was felt. In Bengal regulations were passed in 1816 and 1819
authorising the Government to levy money for the maintenance
of ferries and the repair and construction of roads, bridges and
drains. In administering the fund so raised. Government were
advised by local Committees, with the Magistrate as Secretary,
which they appointed in each district.
Outside Bengal, the necessary amount was raised by imposing
a cess or smaE percentage on land revenue. In 1869 the matter
was put on a definite basis in Bombay by means of legisla-
tion. It provided for expenditure on pubHo works by legaEsing
the cesses and set up committees for the administration of
funds, not only for the district as a whole but also for its sub-
divisions.
A great stimulus was given to the development of local self-
government by the Government of India’s Resolution of 1870.
Within a year, Acts were passed in various provinces on the lines
of that of the Bombay Government. Existing cesses were legalised
and even increased. For the administration of the funds. Com-
mittees were set up for the district as a whole, but not for smaller
tireas as in Bombay, These Committees were all nominated by the
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1868--1905 859
Government and controlled by them. They consisted of both
officials and non-officials and had an official Chairman.
In Bengal the cess was imposed for the first time by the new
Act and a great hue and cry was raised that it was a violation of
the Permanent Settlement. The Government partly yielded and
decided to restrict the cess only to the amount required for the
roads. Thus the road- cess, as it was called in Bengal, could not
be diverted to purposes of primary education as was done in other
provinces.
The system introduced in 1871 was no doubt a distinct improve-
ment upon the existing situation. Much was done to improve the
communications, sanitation and education of the localities. But
there were several grave defects. The Committees were entirely
dominated by officialdom, and popular wishes and feehngs had no
scope in them. Besides, the area served by them was too large, and
the private members had very inadequate knowledge of, and con-
sequently little interest in, the local affairs of a large part of the
area.
Lord Ripon made an earnest endeavour to remove these defects
and to mtroduce a real element of local self-government somewhat
on the lines of English law. His ideas were laid down in the shape
of a Government Resolution in May, 1882. The two essential
features of this new plan were ;
(1) The sub-division, not the district, should be the maximum
area served by one Committee or local board, with primary
boards, under it, serving very small areas, so that each
member of it might possess knowledge of, and interest in,
its affairs.
(2) The local boards should consist of a large majority of elected
non-official members, and be presided over by a non-offloial
Chairman.
Here was a real beginning of self-government. But unfortunately
the principles underlying this resolution were not fully given effect
in many of the provinces. The legislation that followed differed m
different provinces. In the Central Provinces the Chairman became
non-official and the principle of election was adopted to a certain
extent. In other provinces the old system was continued, and only
a small number of members were elected. Everywhere the district
continued to be the area of the local boards. In Bengal alone an
attempt was made to carry Lord Ripon’s principles to the fullest
extent, but the Bill introduced for the purpose was vetoed by the
Secretary of State. Under the Act finally passed in 1885 the District
860 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Boards contimied to function under the chairmanship of the District
Magistrates.
The ground for the great departure from the principles of the
Resolution of May, 1882, was everywhere the demand for efficiency.
To a certain extent this was perhaps achieved. But the value of
these new principles lay in a quite different direction. Their author,
Lord Ripon, stated it quite clearly in the foUowiug words :
“It is not primarily with a view to improvement in adminis-
tration that the measure is put forward and supported. It is
chiefly desirable as a measure of political and popular education.”
The liberal views of Ripon were not, unfortunately, shared by
either the local governments or the authorities in England. The
high hopes raised in the minds of the Indians were thus dashed to
the ground. But the Congress took up this question and pressed it
upon the Government year after year.
Municipalities
Up to the time of Lord Ripon the local administration of towns,
like that of rural areas, was not conducted on any uniform or
definite principle. In big towns there was a municipal Committee
nominated by the Government with the District Magistrate as
Chairman. Their power of taxation for meeting local needs was
based m some cases on legislative enactments, but in others on
local usage and customs. In most cases the Government had
complete control over the administration, though in a few areas
the limit of Government interference was prescribed by law.
Lord Ripon’s Resolution of May, 1882, aimed at the intro-
duction of principles of self-government in municipal administra-
tion as in the case of rural Boards. He proposed that while the
ultimate supervision, control, and superintendence should be left
in the hands of the Government, the actual municipal administra-
tion should be entrusted to the elected representatives of the
people. Under a non-official Chairman, the people should be
trained to govern themselves through their own representatives.
He further proposed that the police charges should be met by the
Government, and the municipalities should busy themselves with
education, sanitation, provision of Hght, roads and drinking water
and such other objects of public utility.
Lord Ripon’s ideals were realised to a large extent. Acts were
passed for the various provinces, providing for the compulsory
election of a large proportion — ^varying from one-half to three-
q uarters— of municipal Commissioners. The Acts also provided for
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1858-1905 861
the election of a Chairman. This was, however, only a permissive
clause, and the power was not actually granted in many cases.
Even where such power was granted, the district officer was often
elected as the Chairman. In course of time, however, non-official
Chairmen became the rule rather than the exception.
Thus Lord Ripon made a real beginning in the direction of local
self-go vemment in modern India. His ideas were not given full effect,
but he sowed the seeds which ultimately germinated m a real
development of local self-government.
Presidency Towns
The development of self-government in the three Presidency towns
of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras requires separate treatment. Being
the earliest seats of British authority in India, the history of their
local government goes back to a much earlier period, and shows
an evolution of a very different character from that of the other
towns of British India.
Towards the close of the eighteenth century, a Parliamentary
Statute authorised the Governor-General to appoint justices of the
peace in these towns. They provided for sanitation and the police,
and were empowered to levy rates on owners and occupiers of houses
for meeting the necessary expenditure.
The arrangement was inadequate and unsatisfactory, and two
Acts were passed in 1856 for the conservancy and improvement of
the towns and for the better assessment and collection of rates.
Three Commissioners were appointed in each town, and in the Act
for Calcutta special provisions were made for gas-lighting and the
construction of sewers.
Prom this time the development in the three towns followed
different lines, and we may treat them separately.
GalcvMa
The new arrangement proving ineffective, the justices of the
peace were again vested with general control, but the executive
power was left in the hands of a Chairman appointed by the
Government. The Chairman was also made the Commissioner of
Police. Under such a strong executive authority great improve-
ments were made, and Sir Stewart Hogg laid the foundations of a
proper system of drainage and water supply.
The constitution, however, did not work well. The relation
between the executive and the large number of justices of the
862 AN advanced HISTORY OE INDIA
peace was not dearly defined, and there was
Ltween the two. By an Act of 1876 the Corporation of Calcutta
was reconstituted. It consisted of
thirds of whom were elected by rate-payers. In 1882
of elected members was raised to fifty, and the jurisdiction of
l"cipaUty was extended by the addition of suburban
The progreasiTO development of the principles of seE-govei^ent
in the LSiistration of the city of Calcutta was suddenly 017^7
by Lord Curxon. By an Act passed in 1899 toe Xtotal
dLctlv elected by the rate-payers was reduced to half the total
strena* and the Chairman, nominated by the Government, was
vS Iria large independent powem. The Corporahon eoidd
only fix the rate of assessment and lay doTO the S®® 7 „ 7 bahmS
the details of administration the only check upon the Chaoman
was a General Committee of twelve, of whom four were appointed
by the elected Commissioners, four by the other Commissioners,
and four by the Government.
The grounds for thus curtailing the powers of the people were
that there was too much talk and too little action m the Corpora-
tion, and that the necessary driving power could oriy
by a strong independent executive unfettered by the control of
the Corporation or its special Committees.
Needless to add, the measure evoked the strongest protest from the
nublio. Mr. Surendranath Banerjea uttered one of his most eloquent
denunciations when this measure was discussed m the Bengal
Legislative Council. On the last day of the debate, ^^th September,
wMe opposing the bill for the last time, he remarked that the date
“will be remembered by future generations of Bengalees as that
which marks the extinction of local self-government m the city
of Calcutta. , .c . 1 . 1 ,.:.
As a protest against the measure, twenty-eight members ot the
Corporation, including Surendranath, tendered theic resignation.
By a curious irony of fate, it was left to Surendranath, as a Minister,
to undo the great wrong — twenty-four years later.
Bombay
In Bombay, as in Calcutta, the old system was revived in 1-865.
Five hundred justices of the peace formed a corporate body tor
the administration of the town, with a highly-paid official, caUed
Commissioner, as Chairman, and an independent Controller ot
Accounts. The system did not work well. The Controller ot
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1868-1905 863
Accounts scarcely exercised any effective control, wMle the
Corporation was too unwieldy for the purpose of check or guidance.
The constitution was changed in 1872. The strength of the
Corporation was reduced to sixty-four members, of whom half were
elected by the rate-payers, one-fourth were elected by the resident
Justices, and the remaining one-fourth were nominated by the
Government. The executive authority was vested, as before, in
the Commissioner, but the post of the Controller of Accounts was
abolished. Instead, provision was made for the weekly audit of
accounts by a standing Committee of the Corporation, and monthly
audit by paid professional auditors.
This constitution worked fairly weU and continued with slight
changes till the end of the nineteenth century.
Madras
In Madras the system of government by three Commissioners
continued till 1867. By an Act passed in that year, the town was
divided into eight wards, and four councillors were appointed for
each by the Government.
In 1878 half the members of the Corporation were elected by
the rate-payers, but the President and two Vice-Presidents were
all salaried officials appointed by the Government. In 1884 the
principle of election was further extended, and twenty-four out of
thirty-two members of the Corporation were elected by the
rate-payers.
During Lord Curzon’s Viceroyalty reaction followed, and the
Corporation of Madras was reconstituted on the lines of the Calcutta
Municipal Act of 1899.
Thus after various trials a system of government was evolved
for the three Presidency towns which had the same essential
features, viz., a large Corporation with a proportion of elected
members, a strong independent executive authority vested in a
Government nominee, with adequate safeguards for checking of
accounts and statutory provision for the performance of essential
duties, such as sanitation, water-supply, etc. The Government had
the right to intervene in case of gross negligence or mismanagement.
3 . Financial Administration
Important changes were introduced in the financial system of
India by the Act of 1858. The Secretary of State in Council had
now the supreme control of financial adnadnistration, and, subject
to some discretionary powers vested in the Government of India,
864
AH ADVAHCED HISTORY OF INDIA
no expenditure of Indian revenues could be incurred witbout the
sanction of the India Council. Subject to this control, the Govern-
ment of India exercised supreme authority over financial administra-
tion in India, the Provincial Governments having no power to
spend without the sanction of the Governor-General-m-Council.
The system of budget was introduced in 1860, and the appropria-
tion’ of revenues under different items, as provided therein, had
to be implicitly followed by the local authorities.
This highly centralised system did not work well. The Provincial
Governments having no discretion in matters of expenditure, had
little incentive to increase of income or economy in expenditure.
The Government of India did not possess the requisite knowledge
to make an equitable distribution of the available resources over
such a vast country. It was inevitable, under these circumstances,
that there should be constant friction between the local and central
Governments. Strachey has very justly observed that under this
system "the distribution of the public income degenerated into
something like a scramble in which the most violent had the
advantage with little attention to reason”.
These glaring defects led to some amount of decentralisation
between 1871 and 1877. Under the new scheme centralised subjects
like Post Office and Railways were whoUy taken over by the
Central Government. The receipts from these departments,
together with some other sources of revenue, as salt, opium, and
customs, were retained wholly by the Central Government. The
revenues from other sources, e.g. land-revenue, excise, stamps,
forests and registration, were divided between the Provincial and
Central Governments, the share of each being determined according
to the needs of particular provinces. This settlement of respective
shares was subject to periodical review and readjustment. Under
this system the Provincial Governments had to manage their
expenses from the revenues assigned to them. They had thus not
only more freedom and latitude in spending the revenues they
collected, but also a direct interest in increasing the revenues and
economising in their expenses.
Of the various heads of revenue referred to above, the land-
revenue in different parts of British India and the income derived
from the Government monopoly of salt and opium have already
been dealt with. The stamp-revenue was really a direct tax on
judicial proceedings and commercial transactions; people filing
suits in law-courts or entering into business transactions had to
affix stamps of specified values on the documents in order to
make them legally valid.
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1858-1905 865
The revenue under the head of customs was derived from an
ad valorem duty on various articles exported from or imported
into India. The rate of this duty varied from time to time. The
most important was the import duty on cotton goods which yielded
an income equivalent to nearly two-thirds of the total income from
imports. But as soon as cotton mills were established in India,
this duty adversely affected the import of cotton goods manu-
factured in England. The English manufacturers brought pressure
upon the Home Government, and the Government of India was
persuaded to adopt the policy of Free Trade then current in
England. Consequently, in 1882 aU the import duties were abolished,
save on such commodities as wine and salt on which internal taxes
were levied.
But it proved exceedingly difficult to compensate for the loss
of customs duty from other sources. The heavy fall in the price
of sUver, which formed the standard of currency in India, the
mihtary expenditure caused by wars in Burma and the threatening
attitude of the Russians in the north-west, and the provisions of the
Famine Insurance Fund — aU imposed heavy strains upon Indian
finances. In order to balance the Budget, the Government of
India was forced, in 1894, to reimpose a general import duty at
the rate of 5 per cent ad valorem. In order to safeguard the interests
of English manufacturers of cotton goods, an equivalent excise
duty was levied on the cotton goods manufactured in Indian mills.
The abolition of the import duties on cotton goods, and still
more, the levy of duty on cotton goods manufactured in India
when the import duty was reimposed, were so obviously unjust to
Indian interests that even the Council of the Viceroy protested
against the measures. In both instances the British Cabinet forced
their views upon the unwilling Government of India. In the latter
case Sir Henry Fowler, the Secretary of State, enunciated the
general policy as follows:
“When once a certain Une of policy has been adopted under
the direction of the (British) Cabinet, it becomes the clear duty of
every member of the Government of India to consider not what
that policy ought to be, but how effect may best be given to the
policy that has been decided on.”
In addition to the revenues mentioned above, the income-tax
proved to be a valuable source of receipts. It was intro-
duced in 1860 as a temporary measure, to cope with the financial
stresses caused by the Revolt. At first it was in the form of a
general levy of 4 per cent on aU incomes of Rs. 500, or above, and
2 per cent on all incomes between Rs. 200 and Rs. 500. It was
866 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
abolished in 1865 but revived again two years later, in the modified
shape of a licence, tax on trades and professions. A general income-
tax was reimposed in 1869, but again dropped. Ultimately the
financial difficulties again forced the Government in 1886 to impose
a tax on ail incomes other than those derived from agriculture.
The tax has since been continued, though the rates have varied
from time to time.
A few words may be said regarding the vexed problem of
currency. During the early period of Mughul rule, gold mohurs
and silver rupees were both current in Northern India, though gold
was the principal currency in Southern India. The rise of numerous
independent kingdoms on the break-up of the Mughul Empire led
to the introduction of a multiplicity of coins, as the issue of coins
was regarded as one of the insignia of sovereignty. It has been
estimated that as many as 994 different types of coins, of both gold
and silver, were current in India.
Its disadvantages for purposes of trade and commerce were obvious,
and the East India Company tried to solve the difficulty by issuing
both gold and silver coins with a definite legal ratio, weight, and
fineness. But owing to fluctuations in the value of the two metals
it proved exceedingly difficult to maintain the legal ratio between
the two t 5 rpes of coins. Gradually the gold mohur, being under-
valued, disappeared. In 1818 the silver rupee of 180 grains
(i|th fine) was substituted for the gold pagoda of Madras, and
in 1835 the rupee of the present form and size, but having the
same weight and fineness as that of 1818, was made the sole legal
tender throughout the British territories in India. The Govern-
ment mints coined this rupee freely for the pubhc, the value of the
bullion being identical with its legal value.
In 1841 an attempt was made to reintroduce gold coins, and
gold mohurs were accepted for public payments at the rate of
fifteen rupees to a mohur. But the price of gold fell owing to
discoveries of the metal in Australia and California in 1848-1849,
and Lord Dalhousie definitely abandoned the experiment of 1841.
Gold was thus given up as the medium of exchange. But this
led to scarcity of money, and trade suffered. Several proposals
were made to introduce a gold currency in India, instead of silver,
but no effect was given to them.
From 1874 the problem became acute. The adoption of a gold
standard by most European countries, and an increase in the output
of silver, depreciated the value of silver in terms of gold. Thus
while a rupee was equivalent to two shiUings of English money in
1871, its value feE to Is. 2d!, in 1892. In view of the extensive trade
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 185S-1905 867
of India -with, foreign countries which had a gold currency, the
situation appeared desperate. In 1878 tlie Government of India
recommended to the Secretary of State the introduction of a gold
currency in India, but the latter rejected the proposal. In 1893
the Government introduced the following important changes in its
currency on the recommendations of the Herschell Committee:
1. Indian mints w-ere closed to the free coinage of gold and
silver for the public.
2. Gold was received in mints in exchange for rupees at the ratio
of Is. 4d. to the rupee.
3. Sovereigns w^ere received in payment of public dues at the
rate of Rs. 15/- for a sovereign,
4. Issue of currency notes in exchange for gold coins or bullion
at the same rate.
The result of these measures was that although gold was not
yet made legal tender it became the standard of value and the
exchange value of rupees ceased to coincide with the actual price
of silver.
The new measures were regarded as first steps towards the
ultimate adoption of a gold currency. Another Committee was
appointed in 1898 under Sir Henry Fowler. According to its
recommendations, adopted in 1899, both sovereigns and rupees
were made unlimited legal tender at the rate of Is. 4d. to the rupee,
and the mints were opened only to the free coinage of gold. A Gold
Standard Reserve was formed in 1900 out of the profits accruing
from the coinage of rupees for the Government, which was resumed.
But even this did not solve the problem of Indian currency.
Other changes were made in the twentieth century, and even to-day
it constitutes one of the most disputed questions in Indian economics.
4 . Higher Standard of Government
The transfer of the government of India from the Company to
the Crown effected, as we have seen, a closer association between
the Governments of India and England. In course of time, both
in theory as well as in practice, the Indian Government came to be
treated almost as a subordinate branch of the British Government.
The Secretary of State, Sir Henry Fowler, stated in unequivocal
language that the Government of India must always abide by
the decision of the British Cabinet, even when it was regarded by
them as injurious to the interests of India. Another Secretary of
868
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
State made a similar observation as regards foreign policy.
It was inevitable that in formulating policies and lines of action
the British Cabinet should be mostly guided by the paramount
consideration of the interests of Britain, and, not unoffcen, Indian
interests would be sacrificed for Imperial considerations. This was
particularly noticeable in matters affecting trade, manufacture,
currency and foreign policy, and in a less degree in other branches
of administration.
But against these undoubted evils we must set off the equally
undoubted advantages that accrued to India from the same causes.
The close and intimate association with the British Government
almost revolutionised the Government of India by introducing
those higher administrative ideals and the “modern” spirit which
distinguished Europe from Asia in the nineteenth century. The
British Government naturally tried to impose the same high
standard of administrative efficiency in India which had been
evolved in their own country, and the enlightened hberal humanistic
spirit of the West did not fail to make its influence felt in India.
The scientific inventions of the West were also rapidly utilised in
India to increase her material resources. In short, England served
as the medium through which the modern progressive spirit of
Europe remodelled the age-long inert medieval form of govern-
ment in India. This process had no doubt begun even before the
assumption of the government of India by the Crown, but there
were no appreciable effects and notable transformations until the
latter part of the nineteenth century. The new spirit can best
be understood with reference to some typical measures of the
Government to which we now turn.
We may first consider the measures dictated by a humanitarian
spirit.
A. Restriction of Intoxicating Drugs
The ideals of temperance were sedulously propagated both in
England and India, and there was a large and insistent demand by
a section of the English public for the complete abolition of the
use of opium, hemp, and alcohol in India. The Government of India
derived large profits from the monopoly of the opium trade in China
and the Straits, and the excise duty on opium, alcohol, and hemp
in India. Nevertheless it was forced to yield to public opinion to a
certain extent. A Royal Commission was appointed in 1894 to
examme the matter. An agreement was concluded with Chma in
1907 for the gradual decrease and ultimate extinction of the opium
trade. As regards home consumption of the three intoxicating
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1858-1905 869
drugs, the Government refused to accept the scheme of total
abolition, but adopted a definite policy of restricting and controlling
their use by imposing a high excise duty and Kcensing the retail
trade in the commodities. It openly declared that “its settled
policy was to minimise temptation for the abstainer and to dis-
courage excess among others ; and that no considerations of revenue
could be allowed to hamper this policy”.
B. Factory Legislation
Students of English history are aware of the continued agitation
in England for reducing the hours of work of factory workers and
providing them with other amenities of life. By a series of laws
the British Government forced the mill-owners to improve the lot
of their workers even at a considerable pecuniary loss. In the
same spirit the Government of India also passed several Acts to
improve the lot of factory- workers in India. By the Acts passed
in 1881 and 1891 the hours of work for women and children were
limited, and the local governments were authorised to make rules
for the supply of good drinking water and the maintenance of
proper ventilation and cleanliness in the factories.
C. Famine Relief
Perhaps the most important achievement of Indian administra-
tion during the period under review was the formation of a
definite system of famine relief. In an agricultural country like
India, famine must have proved a great scourge to its people from
times immemorial. The statement of Megasthenes that famine
never visits India can hardly be regarded as accurate, but perhaps
the Greek writer was misled by the fact that the rigours of famine
were not so severely felt over a wide region, and were mostly
confined to local areas. With the growth of population and the
diminution of industrial activity, the periodical famines assumed
more threatening proportions. We have no accurate information
as to the devastation caused by these up to the commencement of the
British period. A terrible famine broke out in Bengal in 1770
and nearly one-third of the population fell victims to it. During
the next century famines occurred in different parts of India,
The year 1866-1867 witnessed a severe famine which took a
hea vy toll of human lives in Orissa, and spread aU along the eastern
coast from Calcutta to Madras. During the next ten years there
were local famines in the United Provinces, the Punjab and
Rajputana in 1868-1869, and in Northern Bihar in 1873.
870
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Then followed another terrible famine in 1876 which lasted
for nearly two years, and extended over a wide area in Madras,
Mysore, Hyderabad, Bombay, and the United Provinces. On aU these
occasions various measures were adopted by the Government to
afford relief to the people, but they were not very effective. It
was observed that in the absence of definite principles and well-
thought-out methods of work, the rehef afforded in various areas
was neither uniform nor even commensurate with the expenditure
involved. In Bombay, for example, more human lives were saved
than in Madras at less than half the cost. The Governor-General,
Lord Lytton, rightly held that it was necessary to formulate general
principles of famine relief, and appointed a strong Commission
under General Sir Richard Strachey for this purpose. The Com-
mission reported in 1880, and its recommendations formed the
basis of the Famine Code promulgated in 1883 by the Government
of India, and of the various provincial famine codes prepared in
following years.
The Commission started with the fundamental principle that
it is the duty of the State to offer relief to the needy in times of
famine. The relief was to be administered in the shape of providing
work for able-bodied men and distributing food or money to the
aged and infirm. For the first, schemes of relief- work should be
prepared in advance, so that actual operations may begin immedi-
ately after famine breaks out. These works should be of
permanent utility, and on an extensive scale, so as to give employ-
ment to a large number of persons. Local works, such as excavation
of ponds or raising embankments, etc., in villages might also be
undertaken for the employment of persons who were not fit to be
sent out on larger works. It was specially emphasised that the
people should be provided -with work before their physical efficiency
had deteriorated through starvation.
Further relief was to be provided by suspension and remission
of land-revenue and rents, and offer of loans for purchase of seed-
grain and bullocks.
The Commission held that in order to prevent waste and extrava-
gance in affording relief, a large share of the cost involved should
be borne by local authorities, and the Central Government would
only supplement the provincial funds after carefully examining
the resources and abilities of the province. In order further to
bring home to the people concerned a sense of responsibility, the
Commission recommended that’ relief should be administered
through the representatives of the tax-payers who were to pro-
vide the major part of the funds.
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1858-1905 871
In order to meet tlie heavy unforeseen expenditure caused by
famine, it was decided to set apart fifteen millions of rupees every
year in order to constitute the “Famine Relief and Insurance
Fund”.
The principles of the Famine Code were put into effective
operation during the minor famines that occurred in subsequent
years, and the terrible famines of 1896-1897 and 1899-1900. The
famine of 1896-1897 affected the United Provinces, Bihar, the Central
Provinces, Madras and Bombay, the area under acute distress measur-
ing about 125,000 square miles with a population of thirty-four
millions. During 1899-1900 Bombay, the Central Provinces, the
Punjab, Bajputana, Baroda and the Central Indian principalities
suffered in varying degrees. Relief measures were undertaken on an
extensive scale and Lord Curzon estimated “that one-fourth of
the enthe population of India had come, to a greater or less
degree, within the radius of relief operations”.
After the famine of 1896-1897, a Commission was appointed
under Sir James Lyall. It fuUy approved of the principles adopted
in 1880, suggesting merely some alterations in the detailed working
of the scheme.
Another Commission was appointed in 1900 under Sir Antony
MacDonneU. It also endorsed the principles of 1880, but laid stress
on the benefits occurring from early suspension of land -revenue
and rents, and early distribution of advances for purchase of seed-
grain and cattle. It recommended the appointment of a Famine
Commissioner in a province where relief operations were likely to
be adopted on an extensive scale. Among various other recom-
mendations of the Commission, the following may be regarded as
the more important :
(а) In particular circumstances preference should be given to
local works in a village over large public works which had
hitherto been the main feature of relief operations.
(б) Non-official assistance should be utilised on a larger scale
in the matter of distributing relief.
(c) Establishment of agricultural banks and introduction of
improved methods of agriculture.
{d) Wide extension of irrigation work.
These recommendations were accepted and acted upon by the
Government. Thus a great step was taken to prevent and combat
famine in India. It may be added that the extension of railways
also served as an important means of famine relief by facilitating
872 AN ADVANCE!) HISTORY OF INDIA
the transport of grains to the affected province, and their distri-
bution to the various areas where they were badly needed.
We may next turn to activities of the Government directed
towards improving the material resources of the country with
the aid of scientific discoveries.
D. Railways
The most important among these is the extension of the railway
system. Since the very modest beginning made by Dalhousie,
36,000 miles of railway have been constructed at a total cost of
350 millions sterling. To begin with, these enterprises were left
to private efforts. Private Companies were encouraged to under-
take them on a guarantee given by the Government of India that
if their net profits fell below 5 per cent, the balance should be
paid by the Government. In retmm for this the Government
secured certain privileges. If the profits of the Company exceeded
the guaranteed 5 per cent, the Government would be entitled to
half the excess profits. Further, the Government could exercise
control over the management of the railway lines, and purchase
them at a fixed rate at the end of a stipulated period, usually
twenty-five years.
At the beginning, and indeed up to the end of the nineteenth
century, the Government suffered heavy losses. But on the expiry
of the early contracts, more favourable conditions were imposed
on Companies, and in some cases the Government themselves
constructed and managed the railway lines. Gradually the railway
became a source of revenue. The importance of the railway should
not, however, be judged merely by the profits it earned. Its import-
ance lay in the facihty of communications and the impetus given
to trade and industry. By bringing the distant places of this vast
country within easy reach, it has served to foster a sphit of unity
and nationality among the Indians.
E. Forests
The forests of India have always proved a valuable source of
revenue. But the development of a science of forestry, especially
in Germany and France, showed the great influence w’-hich
forests on a large scale exercise over climate, and laid down the
lines on which a forest should be maintained and developed to
yield the maximum benefit to the country. The appointment,
in 1864, of a German expert as Inspector-General of Forests in
India ushered in the new scientific method in the management of
873
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1858-1905
Indian forests. An Act was passed in 1865 for the protection and
efficient management of the Government forests, and it was
followed by several other Acts in later years. In 1878 a training
school was established at Dehra Dun. The Forest Department now
controls an area of 500,000 square miles, and India enjoys the
benefit of a scientific system of forestry.
F. Irrigation
In an agricultural country like India, irrigation has always
formed an important branch of administration. Remarkable irriga-
tion projects were undertaken by both Hindu and Muslim rulers, and t 0
the early British rulers also followed in their footsteps. But a ' ^ ^
new policy was inaugurated by Lord Lawrence in 1866, He financed
by public loans' extensive irrigation schemes. The results of this
new policy were the Sirhind Canal (1882), the Lower Ganges Canal
(1878) and Agra Canal (1874). The first had a total length of
3,700 miles, including the feeder canals.
The “Colony canals” of the Punjab formed a class by them-
selves. They were intended to reclaim vast areas of waste land
which belonged to the Government. The Lower Ohenab Canal,
constructed between 1890 and 1899, has a total length of 2,700
miles, and irrigates an area of more than two million acres between
the Chenab and Ravi Rivers. This region, originally lying waste
with no population, supported 800,000 in 1901. The canal yields
an annual revenue amounting to 40 per cent of the capital outlay.
Irrigation now forms an important branch of every provincial
administration, and various projects, both large and small, axe
being initiated with a view to irrigating the cultivated area and
extending cultivation over waste lands.
5 . Military Administration
Up to the Revolt, and even for a long time after that, the
Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras maintained separate
armies under separate Commanders. Although the Commander-
in-Chief of the Bengal army became nominally the head of the
military forces of India, the Governments of Bombay and Madras
managed their own forces, and mainly recruited them locally.
By an Act wdiich was passed in 1893 and came into operation in
1895, the whole Army in India was placed under the single control
of the Commander-in-Chief, and divided into four territorial units
— ^those of Bengal, Madras, Bombay and the Punjab — each under
874 AN- ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
a Lieutenant-General. In 1904 Lord Kitchener made a new
organisation on different principles. The Indian military forces
were organised into three army commands and nine divisions.
The advantages of this system lay in the fact that it co-ordinated
the organisation in time of peace with what would be necessary
in time of war. In other words, the same generals would be in
charge of the same units of the army both in peace and war.
Each Presidency army originally consisted of three elements,
viz, (1) Indian troops, mostly locally recruited, (2) European units
belonging to the Company and (3) Royal regiments. After 1858
the last two had of course to be amalgamated, but this provoked
great discontent amongst the Company’s troops and about 10,000
men claimed their discharge. This is known as the “White
Mutiny”. The discontent was, however, allayed by the offer of a
bounty and other concessions. As a result of the Revolt of 1857-59,
several changes were introduced in the organisation of the army.
First, the proportion of European troops was raised and that of
Indian troops was reduced. In 1863 there were 65,000 European
troops as against 140,000 Indians, and practically the same ratio
was maintained till the outbreak of the First World War. The
artillery was exclusively controlled by European troops.
Secondly, there was a great change in the composition of Indian
troops, especially those of Northern India. Formerly these Sepoys
were recruited from the same region and belonged almost exclus-
ively to the higher castes. The Revolt showed the defects of this
system. Henceforth recruitment was made on a mixed basis so
that every company should include men of all races, castes and
creeds.
A third change made itself felt only very gradually. It was
the introduction of larger elements of fighting races like the
Gurkhas, Pathans, and Sikhs. In course of time they replaced
to a large extent the Hindustani forces of the Bengal army and
the locally recruited Sepoys in Bombay and Madras. The most
drastic changes were in the Madras army, which was gradually
filled by Sikhs, Gurkhas and other Northerners, and ultimately
the recruitment of Telugus ceased altogether.
From 1861 an army officer was appointed as a Military Member
of the Governor-GeneraFs Executive Council, through whom the
Government supervised the administration of the Indian army.
The position was rendered very anomalous by the fact that the
Commander-in-Chief was also an extraordinary member of the
Executive Council of the Governor-General, Although he was
necessarily superior in rank to the Military Member, any proposal
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, 1858-1905 875
presented by him had to be submitted to the latter for review
and criticism. There might have been some justification for this
curious anomaly when each Presidency maintained a separate
army, but when all the Indian forces were brought under the
single control of the Commander-in-Chief in 1895, the anomaly
called for redress. Lord Kitchener took up this question in
1904 and proposed to remove the anomaly by making the
Gommander-in- Chief the sole adviser of the Government on
military matters. Lord Curzon, the Viceroy, strongly opposed this
system, as he feared that it would remove to a large extent the
ultimate control of the civil over the military authorities, and
thereby affect the fundamental principles of the constitution.
The Secretary of State, however, agreed with Lord Kitchener,
and his decision was conveyed in such terms that Lord Curzon
tendered his resignation in 1905. After 1907 the Commander-in-Chief
became the only responsible authority, under the Government of
India, for military administration.
6. Civil Administration
A very important change, with far-reaching consequences, took
place in civil admmistration in 1905. Until then Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa had formed one province ruled by a Lieutenant-Governor.
Lord Curzon thought that this territory, comprising 189,000 square
miles, was too large a unit for efficient admmistration and decided
to rearrange the provincial boundaries. It was ultimately decided
to separate the divisions of Dacca, Chittagong and Rajshahi from
the province. These were joined to Assam, which was then under
a Chief Commissioner, and a new province was constituted, called
Bast Bengal and Assam, with Dacca as its capital. The proposal was
carried into effect in 1905 in spite of strong protests from the
public, and this Partition of Bengal caused a tremendous political
agitation which stirred national feeling in India to its very depths,
as will be described in a later chapter.
CHAPTER IV
THE GROWTH OF HEW IHDIA, 1858-1905
I. Education
The Despatch of 1854 continued to be the basis of educational
policy for India even after it was transferred to the Crown, and
was confirmed by the Secretary of State in 1859. The importance
of primary education was particularly emphasised and the Secretary
of State suggested the levy of a special rate on land to provide
adequate means for its promotion. The result was a rapid growth
in the number of schools and colleges. Some of these were entirely
financed by the Government, while others were managed by private
bodies with or without a Government grant-in-aid.
,In 1882 a Commission was appointed under the chairmanship
of Sir William Hunter to review the progress of education under
the new policy, and its report was approved by the Government
in 1884. The policy of 1854 was fully endorsed, but emphasis was
laid upon the fact that primary education had not made sufScient
progress. The report drew attention to the special and urgent
need for the extension and improvement of the elementary education
of the masses, and recommended that the primary schools should
be managed by the newly established Municipal and District
Boards under the supervision and control of the Government.
The Committee observed that the system of grants-in-aid had
proved very satisfactory and recommended the ‘'progressive
devolution of primary, secondary and collegiate education upon
private enterprise and continuous withdrawal of Government from
competition therewith”. The result was a steady increase in the
number of schools and colleges.
2 . Social and Religious Reform
The second half of the nineteenth century was marked by a
strong wave of reforming activities in religion and society, the
path of which had been paved by Raja Rammohan Roy. There
was a general recognition of the existing evils and abuses in society
and religion. But, as usual, the reforming zeal followed diverse
876
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-19D5 877
channels. Some were lured by the Western ideas to follow an
extreme radical policy, and this naturally provoked a reaction
which sought to strengthen the forces of orthodoxy. Between
these two extremes were moderate reformers, who wanted to
proceed forward more cautiously along the line of least resistance.
We are even now too close to the period to appraise correctly
the value of the different forces that were at work and of the
consequences that flowed from them. We shall, therefore, confine
ourselves merely to a review of the chief movements. It would
be convenient to study them under two heads. First, the move-
ments resulting in the establishment of a group or order outside
the pale of orthodox Hindu society, and secondly general changes
in the belief, customs and practices of the Hindus as a whole.
A. The Brahma Samdj
Under the first head, the Brahma Samaj demands our chief
attention as it is the most striking product of a strong reform
movement brought about by the impact of new ideas and beliefs
that agitated men’s minds early in the nineteenth century.
Reference has already been made to a theistic organisation
founded by Raja Rammohan Roy in 1828. It was called Brahma
Sabha and meant to be an assembly of all who believed in the
unity of God and discarded the worship of images. A house was
built and handed dver to a body of Trustees. The Trust Deed
which the Raja executed on 8th January, 1830, directed that the
building was to be used “as and for a place of public meeting of
all sorts of descriptions of people, without distinction”, for the
worship of the one Great God, but that no image should be admitted
or rituals permitted therein.
This arrangement for the non-sectarian worship of the one
True God is looked upon nowadays as the foundation of the
Brahma Samaj. It must be remembered, however, that Rammohan
Roy never regarded himself as anything but a Hindu, and stoutly
denied, up to the last day of his life, the allegation that he was
founding a different sect. The detailed programme of his weekly
service in what was then called Brahma Sabha included the recita-
tion of the Vedas by orthodox Brahmapas and no non-Brahmana
was allowed in the room. The Raja himself wore the sacred thread
of the Brahmanas up to his death.
The departure of Raja Rammohan Roy for England and his
subsequent death there led to a steady decline of his organisation
till new life was infused into it by Devendranath Tagore (father
878
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
of Rabindranath), who formally joined the new movement in 1843.
He framed a covenant and introduced a formal ceremony of
initiation, thus converting the somewhat loose organisation into
a spiritual fraternity. Devendranath began to propagate the new
doctrine through his journal, Tattvabodhinl Patrikd, and also by
the employment of a number of preachers. It must be noted
that the mode of initiation into the new faith was based on the
Mahdnirvdim’ T antra, and the Tattvabodhinl Patrikd, the official
organ, openly declared the Vedas as a divine revelation and the
sole foundation of the religious beliefs of the new Church.
But the younger section among the followers of the new move-
ment, led by Akshaykumar Datta, gradually showed a critical
attitude towards the doctrine of the infallibility of the Vedas,
and Devendranath sympathized with them. He made a com-
pilation of select passages from the Upanishads inculcating the
idea of one God, and framed a new covenant for the Church
embodying the principles of natural and universal theism in the
place of the old Vedantic covenant (1850).
Encouraged by this success the younger section not only
advocated far-reaching social reforms, but also wanted to apply
the dry test of reason even to the fundamental articles of religious
behef. This party gained a notable recruit in Keshab Chandra
Sen, who joined the new movement in 1857. Keshab Chandra’s
fervent devotion, passionate enthusiasm and wonderful eloquence
popularised the movement and increased its members. At the
same time he carried its rationalistic principles to a still further
degree, and founded what may be called the new Brahmaism.
He infused the true spirit of repentance and prayer and intro-
duced an element of strong emotion and devotional fervour into
the cause of the new Church. A new missionary zeal characterised
the followers of Keshab, some of whom gave up their secular
affairs and devoted their whole time to the preaching of the new
gospel all over Bengal. Keshab himself visited Bombay and
Madras to propagate his views.
The results of these activities were very remarkable. Before the
end of 1865 there were fifty-four Samajas (local branches), fifty in
Bengal, two in the N.W.P. and one each in the Punjab and Madras.
At first Devendranath warmly appreciated the services of
Keshab Chandra and appointed him the minister of the Church
and Secretary of the Samaj in defiance of the wishes of many
older members. But the progressive ideas of Keshab and his
party soon estranged them from the revered leader. They advocated
and openly celebrated inter-caste marriage and widow-remarriage,
879
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905
and insisted that Brahm.an,a ministers, wearing sacred threads,
should not be allowed to preach from the pulpits. Instead of
allowing the Samaj to be drawn away from the old Hindu lines
laid down by Raja Rammohan Roy, Devendranath, by virtue of
his position as the sole trustee of the Samaj, dismissed Keshab
and his followers from all ofi&ces and positions of trust and responsi-
bility, Keshab took up the challenge and started a separate
organisation which included most of the local branches. Thus
by the year 1865 the Brahma Samaj was divided into two camps,
the conservatives and the progressives. The former included men
who believed in one God and discarded the worship of images,
but did not want to sever all connection with Hindu society,
while the latter consisted of those who regarded popular Hinduism
as too narrow and chafed at the use of Sanskrit texts and the
performance of social practices which symbolised that religion.
After the great schism, the Adi Brahma Samaj, the organisation
of Devendranath, quietly followed the pure monotheistic form of
Hinduism, setting its face deliberately against social reform or
propaganda of any kind. But it soon passed into obscurity. The
period of reformation ushered in by Raja Rammohan Roy was over
and a revolution was now in progress.
The newly started “Brahma Samaj of India” had a triumphant
career under the guidance of Keshab Chandra Sen. The mission-
ary exertions all over Bengal and even far outside its boundaries
led to an increase in the number of local churches. The inclusion
of women as members and the adoption of a moderate programme
of social reform formed a new feature of the rejuvenated society.
It was chiefly due to its efforts that the Government passed
the Act HI of 1872, which abolished early marriage of girls
and polygamy, and sanctioned widow marriages and inter-caste
marriages for those who did not profess any recognised faith such
as Hinduism and Islam. Another striking feature was the adoption
of the Samhlrtan in the Vaishpava style for the purpose of propa-
ganda. At first “Jesus was the inspirer and teacher of Keshab and
now came Chaitanya. The two streams combined and made a con-
fluence which soon produced novel and striking results ” . The passion
of Bhakti (devotion) seized the members, and in true Vaishnava
style many of them prostrated themselves at each other’s feet and
especially at the feet of Keshab. Reverence for the leader grew
apace and he gradually came to be regarded by some as a prophet
or a divine incarnation.
This practice of “man- worship” led to a fresh discord in the
Brahma Church. Progressives and rationalists strongly protested
880
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
against certain innovations and demanded that a definite constitu-
tion should be framed for the management of the churches. Soon
other points arose to widen the gulf between the two sections,
Keshab held moderate views about female education and female
emancipation, and he was not prepared to go to the extreme length
proposed by the more advanced section. In his opinion higher
University education would not be suitable for women, and free
mingling of men and women, or the total abolition of the Purdah
system, was fraught with grave danger to society. The advanced
or progressive section was strongly agitated over these important
points of difference with the great leader when the marriage of
Keshab’s fourteen-year-old daughter with the Hindu Maharaja
of Gooch Bihar m March, 1878, led to the second schism in the
Brahma Church.
Those who differed seceded and on 15th May, 1878, formed a
different organisation called the “Sddhdran Brahma 8amdj”. Sub-
sequent events showed the great strength of this party. Keshab’s
Church shared the same fate as that of Devendranath and passed
into comparative obscurity. The spirit of the Brahma movement
has now been focused mainly in the Sddhdran Brahma Samdj to
which almost all the provincial Samdjas are aflSOLiated.
The new Samdj has consistently followed the pdth of constitu-
tionalism and upheld an advanced programme of social reform.
In respect of the position of women in society it has attained
results of far-reaching importance by the removal of the Purdah
system, introduction of widow-remarriage, abolition of polygamy
and early marriage, and provision of higher education, and it is
interesting to note that Hindu society has largely adopted these
ideas. In the removal of caste-rigidity it has presented Hindu society
with another reform which it is gradually accepting. The fact
that legislation has been passed validating widow-remarriage and
inter-caste marriages among the Hindus shows the great reper-
cussion of the Brahma movement upon Hindu society. Many
far-reaching manges in Hindu social ideas have been and are still
being brought about, steadily and silently, by the indirect influence
of the Brahma Samaj. Interdining among different castes at public
and sometimes even social functions, and travel to foreign lands
beyond the sea without loss of caste, may be quoted as examples.
Curiously enough, the only point where it has failed to influence
Hindu society, to any appreciable degree, is its emphasis on mono-
theism and the aboHtion of the worship of images, the first and
fundamental idea with which «he new movement started.
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905
881
B, The, Prdrthand Samdj
As has already been noted above, the Brahma Samaj movement
gradually spread outside Bengal, but nowhere did it take deep
root except in Maharashtra, where it led to the establishment of
the Prdrthand Samdj. Like the Brahma Samaj, rational worship of
one God and social reform formed its ideals. It has been truly
remarked, however, that differences between the emotional char-
acter of the Bengahs and the practical shrewd common sense of the
Marathas are clearly reflected in the two institutions which sprang
up under similar conditions.
The Brahma Samaj made its influence felt in Maharashtra as
early as 1849 with the foundation of Paramahansa Sabha. But
this did not live long or count for much. It was in 1867 that,
under the enthusiastic guidance of Keshab Chandra Sen, the
Prarthana Samaj came into existence. The difference in name was
evidently deliberate, for unlike the followers of Brahma Samaj in
Bengal, the followers of Prarthana Samaj never ‘Tooked upon
themselves as adherents of a new religion or of a new sect, outside
and alongside of the general Hindu body, but simply as a move-
ment within it”. They were devoted theists, followers of the
great religious tradition of Maratha saints like Namdev, Tukaram
and Ramdas. But instead of religious speculation they devoted
their chief attention to social reform such as interdining and inter-
marriage among different castes, remarriage of widows and improve-
ment of the lot of women and depressed classes. They established
a Foundling Asylum and Orphanage at Pandharpur and founded
night schools, a Widows’ Home, a Depressed Classes Mission and
other useful institutions of this kind. The Prarthana Samaj has
been the centre of many activities for social reform in Western India.
Its success is chiefly due to Justice Mahadev Govinda Ranade.
As C. F. Andrews observed, “the last and in many ways the most
enduring aspect of the new reformation in India has had its rise
in the Bombay Presidency and is linked most closely with the
name of Justice Ranade”. He devoted his whole life to the
furtherance of the objects of the Prarthana Samaj. He was one
of the founders of the Widow Marriage Association in 1861, and
the famous Deccan Education Society owes its origin to his
inspiration. His influence is visible in the foundation of the
Indian National Congress, and he inaugurated practice of
holding a Social Conference along with the annual'- meeting of
the Congress.
To Justice Ranade we owe the clear elucidation of two important
882 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
principles. Pirst lie emphasised the truth that ‘'the reformer must
attempt to deal with the whole man and not to carry out reform
on one side only”. “To Ranade religion was as inseparable from
social reform as love to man is inseparable from love to God.”
His ideas of reform were thus very comprehensive. “ You cannot,”
said he, “have a good social system when you find yourself low m
the scale of political rights ; nor can you be fit to exercise political
rights unless your social system is based on reason and Justice.
You cannot have a good economical system, when your social
arrangements are imperfect. If your religious ideas are low and
grovelling you cannot succeed in social, economical and political
spheres. This interdependence is not an accident but it is the law
of our nature.”
The second great principle which Ranade emphasised was that
the social organism in India shows a growth which should not be
ignored and cannot be forcibly suppressed. “There are those
among us,” said he, “who think that the work of the reformer is
confined only to a brave resolve to break with the past, and do
what his own individual reason suggests as proper and fitting.
The power of long-formed habits and tendencies is ignored in this
view of the matter.” Ranade showed a truer grasp of things when
he ventured to state: “The true reformer has not to Write on a
clean slate. His work is more often to complete the half- written
sentence.”
Ranade’s great message was a severe but timely warning to the
excessive zeal of certain Indian reformers, and has helped a great
deal in giving a new orientation to Indian reforms. This brief
sketch of Ranade may be concluded with the eulogy of C. P.
Andrews: “Ranade comes nearest to Raja Rammohan Roy and
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan among the reformers already mentioned
in the largeness of his range of vision and the magnanimity of his
character; but he was more advanced than either of them in the
width of his constructive aim, his grasp of the principles under-
lying Western civilisation, and his application of them to Indian
conditions.”
The Brahma Samaj and the Prarthana Samaj were largely
products of ideas associated with the West, and represent the
Indian response to Western rationalism. Par different in character
\vere two other reforming movements which took their inspiration
from India’s past and derived their basic principles from her
ancient scriptures.
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 185S-1905
883
C. The Arya Samdj
The first in order of time is the Arya Samaj, founded by Svami f
Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883). He was a good Sanskrit scholar "
but had no English education. His motto was “Go back to the
Vedas”. He wanted to shape society on the model of the ;
Vedas by removing all later outgrowths. He not only disregarded
the authority of the later scriptures like the Puranas, but had no 1
hesitation in declarmg them to be the writings of selfish, ignorant
men. His basic standpoint was, therefore, exactly that of Raja -
Rammohan Roy, and the detailed views of both were, to a great
extent, similar. Like the Raja, Dayananda believed in one God and "
decried polytheism and the use of images. He also raised his voice
against the restrictions of caste, child-marriage and prohibition
of sea- voyage ; and encouraged female education and remarriage of
widows. He also began the Suddhi movement, i.e. conversion i
of non-Hindus to Hinduism — ^which has since become such an 1 ;
important feature of the Hindu reform movement. The Suddhi
movement was undoubtedly meant “to realise the ideal of
unifying India nationally, socially and religiously”. Like Raja
Rammohan, Dayananda published his views through printed
books, his most famous work being Satydrtha Prahdi, “which
expounded his doctrine and formulated it as a doctrine sui generis'^
Unlike Raja Rammohan, however, Dayananda preached directly to
the masses, and did not confine his teachings to an intellectual ehte. As
a result, his followers rapidly increased in number, and his teachings
took deep root, especially in the Punjab and the United Provinces.
Although Dayananda started from the same basic principle as
Raja Rammohan, he lacked the critical spirit of the latter. He
claimed that “any scientific theory or principle which is thought
to be of modem origin may be proved to be set forth in the Vedas
On an ultimate analysis his general principle amounts to this,
that “the Vedas, as interpreted by Dayananda, contain all the
truth The interpretation of Dayananda, however, differs widely
from the traditional Hindu as well as the modern Western exegesis.
In spite of his obvious limitations, Dayananda undoubtedly proved ||
a dynamic force in Hindu society. His appeal to the masses, f
which w'as attended with splendid success, was an eye-opener to I
all reformers, social, religious and political, and the social and i
educational work done by him and his followers has achieved
solid results. His work was continued after his death by his
followers, chief among whom were Lala Hansraj, Pandit Guru
Dutt, Lala Lajpat Rai, and Svami Sraddhananda.
884 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The Arya Samaj has not, however, escaped the rationalism of the
present age. Already there is a growing section among it which
recognises the value of English education and is inclined to a more
liberal programme. Its chief exponent is Lala, Hansraj and its visible
symbol the Dayananda Anglo-Vedie College of Lahore. As a counter-
move to this we may point to the famous Gurukul of Hardwar,
founded in 1902, which seeks to revive the Vedic ideal in modern life.
It may be noted, in conclusion, that Dayananda, at the beginning
of his career, tried to come to terms with the Brahma Samaj and
a Conference was held in Calcutta in 1869 with that end in view.
Nothing, however, came of it, and the Arya Samaj ultimately
overwhelmed and absorbed the Brahma Samaj movement in the
Punjab, where, in Lahore, a Brahma Samaj had already been
started in 1863.
D. The Rdmakrishna Mission
The synthesis of the two great forces, the ancient or Oriental
and the modem or Western, marks the Ramakrishna Mission, the
last great religious and social movement which characterises the
nineteenth century. Ramakrishna Paramaliansa (1836-1886), after
whom the Mission is named, was a poor priest in a temple near
Calcutta. He had scarcely any formal education, Eastern or Western ,
worthy the name, but led an intense spiritual life in his splendid
isolation. He had a deep faith m the inherent truth of all religions
and tested his belief by performing religious exercises in accordance
with the practice and usages not only of different Hindu sects,
but also of Islam and Christianity. His broad catholicity, mysticism,
and spiritual fervour attracted a small number of occasional
visitors, mostly from Calcutta. He lived and died as a secluded
spiritual devotee, unknown except to a comparatively small group
of people. To them he expounded his views in short pithy sayings
and admirable parables. Most of these were collected and published
before his death, and many other works about him and his sa3dngs
have been published since then.
The most famous among his disciples, and the one most beloved
of the gwru^ was a young graduate of the Calcutta University
named Narendranath Dutta, afterwards famous as Svami Viv-
ekananda (1863--1902). It was he who carried the message of
Ramakrishna all over India. His learning, eloquence, spiritual
fervour and wonderful personality gathered round him a band
of followers which included both prince and peasant. With their
help, and after untold sufferings, he attended in 1893 the famous
“Parliament of Religions” at Chicago, and at once made his mark.
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905 885
His speeches at that august assembly brought him fame and
friends, and from that day the teachings of Ramakrishna, as inter-
preted by Svami Vivekananda, came to be recognised as a world-
force. Ramakrishna missions and monasteries came to be established
in different centres in the United States, and after the return of
the triumphant hero to his country they spread all over India.
The Ramakrishna Mission stands for religious and social reform
but takes its inspiration from the ancient culture of India. It holds
up the pure Vedantic doctrine as its ideal, and aims at the develop-
ment of the highest spirituality inherent in man; but at the
same time it recognises the value and utility of later develop-
ments in Hinduism such as the worship of images. Ramakrishna
demonstrated in his own life not only the compatibility of the
worship of the goddess Kali with the highest spiritual Hfe, but
even something more than that, viz. that the worship of
images may be utiKsed as an excellent means of developing the
highest spiritual fervour in man. But he laid his finger on the
real source of abuse in present-day Hinduism, viz. mistaking
the external rituals for the essential spirit, the symbol for the real.
Another characteristic feature of the Mission, also practically
demonstrated by Ramakrishna, is a belief in the truth of all religions.
“All the different religious views are but different ways leading
to the same goal,” was the characteristic expression of the Great
Master. As different words in different languages denote the same
substance, e.g. “water”, so Allah, Hari, Christ, Krishna, etc.,
are but different names under which we worship the same great
God. He is both one and many, with and without forms, and may
be conceived either as a great universal spirit or through different
symbols. This catholic and broad view is in striking contrast to
the sectarian views which are dividing the modern world into so
many hostile camps and making religion a symbol for hate and
discord instead of love and brotherhood.
In addition to these two characteristic features, the success of the
Mission in and outside India is due to several other causes. In the
first place it has no aggressive proselytising zeal. It has no desire
to develop into a separate sect like the Brahma or the Arya Samaj
and chooses to remain as a purely monastic order, disseminating
reforming ideas among the masses without violently uprooting
them from their social or religious environments. Secondly, it
has put in the forefront of its programme the idea of social service,
not as a mere philanthropic work, but as an essential discipline
for religious and spiritual life. The Mission has opened many
schools and dispensaries, and has always rendered ungrudging
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
help to the people in times of distress caused by famine or flood
or other calamity. In particular, the uplift of the dumb millions
of India forms the chief plank of the Mission’s platform. In
Svami Vivekananda the patriotic and spiritual impulses mingled in a
supreme desire to uplift the manhood of India with a view to restoring
her to her proper place among the nations of the world. He believed
that the present warring world can be saved by spiritual teachings
which India alone can impart, but before she can do this she must
enjoy the respect of other nations by raising her own status. The
Svami had thus both a national and universal outlook and this
explains his popularity in India and America.
In addition, the Hindus of India have special reasons for venerat-
ing Svami Vivekananda. For the first time in the modern age he
boldly proclaimed before the world the superiority of Hindu culture
and civilisation, the greatness of her past and the hope for her
future. Instead of the tone of apology and a sense of inferiority
w^hich marked the Indian attitude towards European culture
and civilisation, a refreshing boldness and consciousness of inherent
strength marked the utterances of Svami Vivekananda. This,
combined with his patriotic zeal, made him an embodiment of the
highest ideals of the renascent Indian nation. He was, to quote
the words of Sh Valentine Chirol, “the first Hindu whose person-
ality won demonstrative recogziition abroad for India’s ancient
civilisation and for her new-born claim to nationhood”.
E. The TheosopMcal Society
The Theosophical Society was founded by the “mysterious”
Madame H. P. Blavatsky and Col. H. S. Olcott in the United
States in 1875. They came to India in 1879 and in 1886 established
their headquarters in Adyar, a suburb of Madras. The real success
of the movement in India is, however, due to Mrs. Annie Besant,
who joined the Society in 1889 and settled in India in 1893
at the age of forty-six.
The Theosophical Society from the very start allied itself to
the Hindu revival movement. Mrs. Besant held that the present
problems of India could be solved by the revival and reintrodnc-
tion of her ancient ideals and institutions. In her autobiography
(1893) she writes: “The Indian work is, first of all, the revival,
strengthening, and uplifting of the ancient religions. This has
brought with it a new self-respect, a pride in the past, a belief in
the future, and, as an inevitable result, a great wave of patriotic life,
the beginning of the rebuilding of a nation.”
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905 887
She started the Central Hindu School in Benares as a chief
means of achieving her object. She lavished her resources and
energy on this institution, which gradually developed into a College
and ultimately into the Hindu University in 1916.
The Theosophical Society, with its many branches all over
India, has proved an important factor in social and religious
reform especially in South India. But in its attempt to revert to
the old, it supports some usages and beliefs which are considered
by many to be retrograde in character, and its occult mysticism
has alienated many who might have been its followers. Most of
its importance in Indian life was due more to the personaKty of
Mrs. Besant than to any inherent strength of the movement.
The general movements described above led to a great upheaval
in Hindu society and stimulated the growth of individual and
organised efforts for social reform. It is not possible to give a
detailed account of them aU in this chapter, and we shall therefore
refer briefly to some of the more important among them, which
might serve as representative tjrpes of this kind of activity in
modern India, here and in a subsequent chapter. The Deccan
Education Society was founded under Ranade’s inspiration in
1884. It started with the idea that the education of the young
should be remodelled so as to fit them for the service of the
country, a task which the existing system of education had
failed to perform. The members of the Society undertook to serve
for at least twenty years on a nominal salary (Rs. 75 to start with) ,
and thus it was possible without large endowments or donations
to start the famous Fergusson College in Poona, and the WilLLngdon
College at Sangli, with a number of preparatory schools to feed
them. The “life- workers of the Society included the famous Gopal
Krishna Gokhale” (1866-1915).
The names of Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Malabari
stand foremost in connection with the uplifting of Indian women.
Their hearts were touched by the miseries of women, and they
carried on a life-long campaign to bettor their lot. As a result of
unremitting labour and strenuous agitation, Vidyasagar succeeded
in inducing the Government to pass a measure legalising the re-
marriage of Hindu widows. Similarly Malabari’s efforts led to the
Age of Consent Act, 1891.
3. National Awakening — Indian National Congress
(^The most important phenomenon in New India is the growth of
a national consciousness which ultimately found active expression
888
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
in the formation of the Indian National Congress, the Muslim
League, and other bodies of the kind. Various factors contributed
to the development of this national awakening, which was based
upon two fundamental principles, viz. the unity of India as a whole
and the right of her people to rule themselves.
As with aU great national movements, e.g. the French Revolution,
there was an mtelleetual background to this political regeneration.
In a previous chapter we have traced the growth of English
education in India. It is a matter of common knowledge that
a tremendous wave of liberalism was passing over English politics
and literature during the nineteenth century. By the study of
English literature and European history educated Indians imbibed
the spirit of democracy and national patriotism which England
unequivocally declared to be her political ideals. Further, the
promotion of these sentiments was deliberately encouraged by the
liberal statesmanship which England at first displayed in her
policy towards India and other dominions.
From the very beginning the British Government publicly
declared its liberal policy towards India. The Charter Act of 1813
definitely laid it down that “it is the duty of this country to promote
the interest and happiness of the native inhabitants of the British
dominions in India”. Tliis was not only corroborated but even
further elucidated by the Parliamentary Committee of 1833 when
it laid down “the indisputable principle that the interests of the
native subjects are to be consulted in preference to those of
Europeans whenever the two come in competition”. Finally came
the Queen’s Proclamation of 1858 in which she declared that
“ We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories
by the same obligations of duty which bind us to all our other
subjects”.
The pronouncement of Queen Victoria acquired a special signifi-
cance for Indians in view of the democratic constitution granted
to Canadian subjects during her reign, followed by similar measures
of self-government conceded to other colonies in subsequent times.
. AU these causes created new aspirations in the minds of educated
Indians. They had great faith in the liberal statesmen of Britain
and their sense of justice and fair play. They thought that as soon
as the Indians could make up a good case and present it well,
nothing would be wanting on tlie part of British liberals to meet
their reasonable demands. |
( The first concrete demand was naturally one for a larger admis-
sion of Indians to the higher ranks of the Civil Service. The Civil
Service has ever been the “steel-frame” of British administration,
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905 889
and Macaulay did not very much exaggerate the fact when he
said in the House of Commons that “even the character of the
Governor-General was less important than the character and spirit
of the servants by whom the administration of India was carried
on”. It was obvious to educated Indians that the first step to
secure a real and legitimate share in the management of the adminis-
tration was to get into the higher ranks of the Civil Service in steadily
increasing numbers^
A definite pledge was given by the Charter Act of 1833 that no
Indian “shall by reason only of his religion, place of birth, descent,
colour or any of them be disabled from holding any office or
employment under the Company”. This was reiterated in the
Queen’s Proclamation of 1858 and the Indian Civil Service Act
of 1861. In spite of these promises there was plainly visible a
growing reluctance on the part of the British Government to admit
Indians in large numbers to the Civil Service. The failure to fulfil
the pledges so repeatedly given is admitted by British statesmen
themselves. “Lord Houghton observed that the declaration which
stated that the Government of India would be conducted without
reference to differences of race, was magnificent but had hitherto
been futile.” That the Government did not choose to carry out
this pohcy is admitted by no less an authority than Lord Lytton I,
the Governor-General. In a confidential despatch on this subject,
he stated that “all means were taken of breaking to the heart
the words of promise they had uttered to the ear”.*])
It is easy to imagine the feelings of English-educated Indians,
who had pinned their faith on the liberalism and the sense of
justice of English statesmen. There was profound disappointment
and a rude disillusionm,ent, followed by feelings of bitter resent-
ment. Soon incidents occurred which changed the passive dis-
cqptent into an active agitation,'')
£ These incidents were connected with the appointment of Mr.
Surendranath Banerjea to thel.C.S. Although he proved successful
in the competitive examination, attempts were made to remove
his name from the list. Ultimately the name was restored by a
writ oi Mandamus in the Queen’s Bench, and Mr. Banerjea was
appointed to the I.C.S., but he was soon dismissed from the Service
on grounds which are now regarded as inadequate^
vThe man who was thus denied an opportunity to serve the
British Government was destined to be the leader of the great
national movement in India. He took to public life and in 1876
founded the Indian Association of Calcutta, which, to use the
language of its founder, “was to be the centre of an All-India
890
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
movement” based on “the conception of a united India, derived
from the inspiration of Mazzini”. It was an organisation of the
educated middle class with a view to creating public opinion by
direct appeals to the people. Mr. Banerjea’s great opportunity came
when in 1877 the maxiinum age-limit for the Civil Service Examina-
tion was reduced from twenty-one to nineteen. This created a painful
impression throughout India, and was regarded as a deliberate
attempt to blast the prospects of Indian candidates for the Indian
Civil Service. The Indian Association organised a national protest
against the reactionary measure. A big public meeting was held
in Calcutta and Mr. Banerjea led a whirlwind campaign, holding
similar meetings at Agra, Lahore, Amritsar^) Meerut, Allahabad,
Delhi, Cawnpore, Lucknow, ‘Aligarh and Benares! The nature and
object of these meetings is thus described by Mr. Banerjea: “The
agitation was the means; the raising of the maximum limit of
age for the open competitive examination and the holding of
simultaneous examinations were among the ends; but the under-
lying conception, and the true aim and purpose of the Civil Service
Agitation, was the awakening of a spirit of unity and solidarity
aipoug the people of India.” }
( The tour of IVIr. Banerjea was a great success. Sir Henry Cotton
wrote about it as follows in his book New India'. “The idea of
any Bengalee i^uence in the Punjab would have been a concep-
tion incredible to Lord Lawrence . . . yet it is the case that during
the past year the tour of a Bengalee lecturer lecturing in English
in Upper India, assumed the character of a triumphal progress;
and at the present moment the name of Surendranath Banerjea
excites as much enthusiasm among the rising generation of Multan
as in Dacca.”)
/ The results of the national movement organised by the Indian
Association with the help of Mr. Banerjea were indeed very great.
To use the words of Mr. Banerjea : “For the first time under British
rule, India, with its varied races and religions, had been brought
upon the same platform for a common and united effort. Thus
was it demonstrated, by an object-lesson of impressive significance,
that, whatever might be our differences in respect of race and
language, or social and religious institutions, the people of India
could combine and unite for the attainment of their common
political ends.” !
The Civil Service agitation thus taught important lessons which
ultimately found expression in the Indian Congress. It also opened
up another line, along which progress might be made toAvards the
political regeneration of the country.f A memorial on the Civil Service
891
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905
question was adopted at the Calcutta meeting and endorsed at
the other public meetings. It contained a prayer to the House
of Commons not to lower the limit of age for the open competitive
examination for the Indian Civil Service and to hold simultaneous
examinations in India and England. Instead of adopting the usual
course of sending the memorial by post, Mr. Lalmohan Ghosh, a
well-known Bengali barrister in Calcutta, was sent to England to
present it in person as the representative of the Indian Associa-
tion. Mr. Ghosh was an eloquent speaker and made a deep im-
pression upon the British audience about the pressing grievance
of India) Mr. S. N. Banerjea thus describes his campaign : “A great
meeting was held under the Presidency of John Bright) Mr. Ghosh
spoke with a power and eloquence that excited the admiration
of all and evoked the warmest tribute from the President. The
effect of that meeting was instantaneous. Within twenty-four
hours of it, there were laid on the table of the House of Commons
the Rules creating what was subsequently known as the Statutory
Civil Service. . . . Thus the deputation of an Indian to England
voicing India’s grievance was attended with an unexpected measure
of success and the experiment was in future years tried again
and again.’);)
The Civil Service agitation was soon followed up by similar
agitations against the Arms Act and the Vernacular Press Act
of Lord Lytton, which sought to limit the possession of arms and
control the Vernacular Press. All three measures were regarded
as part of a policy to hamper the growth of a National India,
and show the reactionary character of the regime of Lord Salis-
bury as Secretary of State for India. History teaches us that
“reactionary rulers are often the creators of great public move-
ments”. So it proved in India. The agitation against these un-
popular measures shaped the political life of India and made it
conscious of its strength and potentialities. Soon it ceased to be
a mere question of repealing these obnoxious measures. There
was a steady development of national aspirations, and a higher
ideal dazzled the vision of political Indiy It was not thought
enough that Indians should have their full share of the higher
offices. They must eventually bring the entire administration
under popular control and therefore make a definite demand for
representative institutions.
The new ideal called for an All-India organisation of a per-
manent character. This w'as considerably facilitated by the con-
troversy over the Ilbert Bdl. The Bill introduced in 1883 by Ilbert,
the Law Member of the Viceroy’s Council, sought to withdraw the
892
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
privilege, Mtlierto enjoyed by European British subjects in the dis-
tricts, of trial by a judge of their own race. The Anglo-Indian commu-
nity carried on an agitation against this measure both in India and
England. They started a Defence Association with branches aU over
India, and raised over a lakh and fifty thousand rupees. It provoked
a counter-agitation by educated Indians. The Government ulti-
mately withdrew the Bill and substituted for it a more moderate
measure which vested the power of trying Europeans in Sessions
Judges and District Magistrates who might be Indians. The success
of the anti-Ilbert Bill agitation “left a rankling sense of humiliation
in the mind of educated India”, but it also demonstrated the
value of combination and organisation. The lesson was not lost
upon educated India. As before, Surendranath took the lead and
within a year an All-India National Fund was created and the
Indian National Conference, with representatives from all parts
of Jndia, met in Calcutta (1883).
(During the same year a retired civilian, Allan Octavian Hume,
addressed an open letter to the graduates of Calcutta University
urging them to organise an association for the mental, moral,
social, and political regeneration of the people of India. He enlisted
official favour m support of such an organisation, ) The Governor-
General, Lord Dufferin, told him “that he found the greatest
difficulty in ascertaining the real wishes of the people and that
it would be a public benefit if there existed some responsible
organisation through which the Government might be kept informed
regarding the best Indian public opinion”.
(“Mr. Hume, with the support of some prominent Indians, sue-
ceeded in giving effect to his plan, and the first Indian National
Congress met in Bombay during the Christmas week of 1885
under the Presidency of a Bengali barrister, Mr. W. C. Bonnerjea.
About the same time the second session of the Indian National
Conference was held in Calcutta. It appears that the two movements
were simultaneous and independent, and the organisers of neither
knew about the other imtil on the eve of their sittings. Both the
organisations were conceived on the same lines and adopted the
same programme, and it was obviously undesirable that there
should be two such associations working independently in two
different parts of India. It is a striking testimony to the growth
of a feeling of national unity that without any difficulty the Indian
National Qonference silently merged itself into the Indian National
Congress. ^
The first Indian National Congress consisted only of seventy
delegates, for, as noted above, some prominent leaders, including
893
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA. 1858-1905
Surendranatli, could not attend it on account of the simultaneous
session of the Indian National Conference. Henceforth the Congress
for long years met every year, during Christmas week, in some
important town of India, the second and third sessions being held
respectively in Calcutta and Madras. Everywhere it evoked great
enthusiasm among the local public, and attracted gradually in-
creasing numbers of delegates from different parts of India. It
admirably fulfilled the object which Hume had formulated in the
following words in his opening manifesto; “directly, to enable all
earnest labourers in the National cause to become personally
known to each other, to discuss and decide upon the political
operations to be undertaken during the ensuing year; and in-
directly, this Conference will form the germ of a Native Parliament,
and, if properly conducted, will in a few years constitute an un-
answerable reply to the assertion that India is unfit for any form
of representative institutions.” ^
Throughout the nineteenth century the Congress chiefly con-
cerned itself with criticism of Government policy and demands for
reforms. Its views were formulated in the shape of resolutions
which were forwarded to the Government for their consideration.
It drew the attention of the Government to the appalling
poverty of the country and asked for proper inquiry and redress.
It criticised the Arms Act and various administrative measures,
particularly the Excise and Salt tax.
As regards reforms, it laid special emphasis on the following
speciflo measures:
(1) Development of self-government by means of representative
councils both in the Central as well as in the Provincial
Governments.
(2) Abolition of the India Council.
(3) Spread of education, both general and technical.
(4) Reduction of military expenditure, and military training of
Indians.
(5) The separation of Judicial and Executive fanctions in the
administration of criminal justice.
(6) Wider employment of In(fian8 in the higher offices in the
Public Service, especially by instituting I.C.S. examinations
both in England and India.
In criticising Government policy the Congress always main-
tained great dignity and moderation. It professed unswerving
loyalty to the Throne and cherished an unbounded faith in the
894
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
liberalism and sense of justice of British statesmen- Its whole
endeavour was directed towards rousing their consciousness to the
inherent justice of the Indian claims.
In the year 1896 an Industrial Exhibition was held in con-
nection with the Congress to give an impetus to Indian industry.
A Social Conference was also added in order to call public attention
to, and devise means for the removal of, the acknowledged social
evils.
( At the very beginning the Government looked upon the Congress
movement with favour, at least without any dislike. Government
officials not only attended the first meeting of the Congress but
even took part in its deliberations. Congress members were invited
to a garden party by the Governor-General (Lord I)ufferin) in
Calcutta (1886), and the Governor in Madras (1887). '
But the official world soon changed its view. Lord Dufferin,
on the eve of his retirement, expressed his disapproval of the policy
and methods of the Indian National Congress at the 8t. Andrew’s
Dinner in Calcutta and described the educated community as a
“microscopic minority”. The high officials took their cue from
him, and gradually the Government officers kept aloof from the
Congress movemenC)
The official attitude to the Congress was based on the plea that
the educated community as an infinitesimal minority had no
right or claim to represent the views of India. The Congress
rejoinder to this argument formed the basis on which rested the sole
justification of its claim to a representative character. It was ably
summed up as follows by Sir Eamesh Chandra Mitra in his speech as
Chairman of the Deception Committee of the Congress held in
Calcutta in 1896:
“The educated community represented the brain and conscience
of the country, and were the legitimate spokesmen of the illiterate
masses, the natural custodians of their interests. To hold other-
wise would be to presuppose that a foreign administrator in the
service of the Government knows more about the wants of the
masses than their educated countrymen. It is true in all ages
that those who think must govern those who toil; and could
it be that the natural order of things was reversed in this un-
fortunate country?”
tit is no wonder that the resolutions of the Congress evoked
but little response from the Government. As Hume declared,
“the National Congress had endeavoured to instruct the Govern-
ment, but the Government had refused to be instructed”. Dis-
appointed with the Government attitude, the Congress decided to
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905 895
bring pressure upon the Government by organising public opinion
i both in India and England. The method, popularly known as
Constitutional Agitation, henceforth became the chief instrument
of the Congress. Apart from organisation of meetings in India,
a paid agency was established in London in 1888. ■ It arranged
lectures in different parts of England and distributed pamphlets
to educate public opinion. Its place was soon taken by the British
Committee of the Indian National Congress which published a
I weekly paper called India.
I The agitation’ in England bore fruit. Charles Bradlaugh, M.P.,
I attended the fifth session of the Congress in Bombay in 1889, and
in consultation with Indian leaders drafted a Bill for the reform
and the expansion of the Legislative Councils. This he moved
in the House of Commons in 1890. To counteract it the Govern-
ment introduced a Bill of their own which was passed in 1892.
The India Councils Act of 1892 (p. 853) is thus indirectly an
achievement of the Congress.
As regards the other proposals of the Congress, little was done
; by the Government. Year after year the Congress passed nearly
I the same resolutions but without much effect on the Government.
I This brought about a feeling of despondency, and gradually a
spirit of opposition against the Government gained ground. A
1 section of the Congress even began to lose faith in the efficacy of the
I Congress programme. They ridiculed the idea of sending humble
petitions year after year to the Government, only to be most
I unceremoniously rejected by them. They believed that reforms
I would not be secured by talk, but action. The leader of this section
I was Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a Maratha Brahmapa of the class to
which belonged the famous Peshwas.
I Among the people of different parts of India the Marathas,
who had lost their independence so recently, had special reasons
to join a movement for national regeneration. No wonder, there-
fore, that the Maratha country proved a congenial soil for fostering
the new spirit. Tilak tried to create a strong national feeling
among the Indians by an appeal to their historic past. He led
the opposition against official interference in social matters. He
; organised annual festivals in commemoration of Shivaji. Through
; his paper, Kesari, he preached his new political ideals of self-help
; and national revival among the masses. The speeches and articles of
Tilak are generally held to have been responsible for the growth of a
‘ Radical section which soon became a powerful wing of the Congress.
/All sections and communities of the Indian population did not
at "first show an equal enthusiasm for the Congress movement.
896
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Some notable Muslim leaders took part in its annual deliberations,
and on a few occasions it had a Muslim President. Nevertheless,
it is an undeniable fact that a strong section' of the Muslims, from
the very beginning, adopted an unsympathetic attitude towards
the Congress, though Muslims in general were indifferent, rather
than hostile to it. Mr. Sayani, who presided over the Congress in
1896, observed with truth: “It is imagined by some persons that
all, or almost all, the Muslims of India are against the Congress
movement ; this is not true. Indeed by far the largest part do not
know what the Congress movement is.” ;
. There were deep-seated causes for this difference. The Muslims
did not show the same zeal and fervour for Western education and
culture as the Hindu community led by Rammohan Roy, Rajnarayan
Bose, Haris Mukherji, Telang, Ranade, and others. They still showed
a preference for the classical studies to which they had so long been
accustomed. Their reaction to the British rule was also different.
They still brooded over their erstwhile political dominance over the
greater part of India, and felt a sullen resentment against the
British. They therefore naturally supported, or felt sympathy for,
the revolutionary Wahhabi movement and the Revolt of 1867-59. It
is interesting to note that even at an early stage the British sought
to take advantage of this position by means of the policy of “Divide
and Rule”. “I cannot,” wrote Lord Ellenborough in 1843, “close
my eyes to the belief that that race (Muslims) is fundamentally
hostile to us, and our true policy is to reconcile the Hindus.” This
policy was successfully followed for some time till the growth of
national consciousness among the Hindus gradually alienated the
British, and made them favourably disposed to the Muslims)
/ This change in the attitude of the British rulers synchronised with
the rise of Sir Syed Ahmad as the leader of the Muslims, and the
entirely new turn he gave to their policy and activities. He was
deeply impressed by the fact that the Muslims were far behind the
Hindus in respect of Western learning, and consequently the Hindus
practically monopolised the higher offices of the state. He therefore
devoted himself to the promotion of English education among the
Muslims, and in 1875 founded a school which soon developed into the
Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College of Aligarh. His efforts were
crowned with success. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say
that no single institution has done so much for any community as
this college has done for the promotion of higher education and
modern culture among the Muslims.^
Sir Syed Ahmad was an ardent patriot and nationalist. He sup-
ported the Ilbert BiU and the agitation in favour of holding
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905 897
simultaneous examinations for the Civil Service. He held that the
Hindus and Muslims in India formed one nation. “They are,” he
said, “two eyes of India. Injure the one and you injure the other.
We should try to become one in heart and soul and act in unison ;
if united, we can support each other, if not, the effect of one against
the other will tend to the destruction and downfall of both.” He
further expressed the view that “no nation can acquire honour and
respect so long as it does not attain equality with the ruling race and
does not participate in the government of its own country”. But in
spite of these liberal views Sir Syed was definitely opposed to the
Congress movement from the very beginning. He urged the Muslim
community to keep aloof from it and denounced its objectives,
including the simultaneous examinations for the Civil Service which
he had once advocatedI\ In 1886 he set up an Educational Congress
as a rival organisation on the gTound that the Muslims would not
benefit by the discussion of political matters, and education was
the only means of ensuring their progress. He also established two
other Associations in order to oppose the Congress. The first, the
United Indian Patriotic Association, founded in 1888, had both
Hindu and Muslim members, but the second, founded in 1893 and
known as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental Defence Association of
Upper India, confined its membership to Muslims and Englishmen.
There can scarcely be any doubt that the change in Sir Syed
Ahmad’s attitude was partly due to the British policy of “Divide
and Rule”, now applied agaiust the Hindu^ This policy found a
great exponent in Mr. Beck, the Principal of the Muhammadan
Anglo-Oriental College’ at Aligarh from 1883 to 1899. Throughout
this long period Mr. Beck worked with unremitting zeal and industry
in order to wean Sir Syed Ahmad from the nationalist movement,
and to induce the Muslims to keep aloof from the Hindus, and
place themselves under the protecting wings of the British Govern-
ment. But it is not necessary to suppose that Beck’s efforts, though
highly successful, were solely responsible for Sir Syed Ahmad’s
opposition to the Congress. It is quite likely that he had a sincere
conviction that English education was the crying need of the com-
munity and it would be unwise to divert its energy to politics. It is
also possible that he detected in the Congress demand for popular
government something highly injurious to the Muslim cause. After
all, the Muslims formed but one-fourth of the population of India,
and Sir Syed Ahmad publicly expressed his fears that under a
democratic system of government, which formed the ideal of the
Congress leaders, “the larger community would fuUy override the
interests of the smaller community”. This sentiment has been
898 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
shared by the Muslim leaders ever since, and has largely shaped their
views and actions. Sir Syed Ahmad died in 1898, and Mr. Beck in
1899, but their policy survived and formed the background of
Muslim politics in subsequent years. Though even then, as later,
some eminent Muslim leaders occasionally took more catholic views,
adopted a nationalist policy, and even became ardent champions of
the Congress, they could not carry the whole community with them,
and in some notable cases they ultimately fell into line with the old
policy. The dread of majority rule, first pubhcly expressed by Sir
Syed, and widely spread by the propaganda of Beck and his successors,
inspired, in the successive stages of evolution in Muslim politics, the
demands for nomination, for a separate electorate with weightage,
and lastly for Pakistan, as will be related in a subsequent chapter.
4 . Trade and Industry
A. Trade
It has been already noted how the foreign trade of India passed
into the hands of European nations, notably the English. Although
the trading monopoly of the East India Company was abolished
in 1813, and gradually all the Euroj^ean nations were placed on
an equal footing in respect of trade in India, the British nation
virtually possessed the monopoly of Indian trade until the closing
years of the nineteenth century. This was due partly to the un-
doubted maritime supremacy of the British and partly to their
political domination in India, while other historical causes operated
in the same direction. Only during the last part of the nineteenth
century did Germany and Japan begin to encroach upon the
close preserve of British trade in India.
The volume of overseas trade began to increase enormously
with the opening of the Suez Canal. In 1855-1860 the average
annual value of Indian trade was about fifty-two lakhs of rupees.
During the five years beginning with 1869, when the Suez Canal 'was
opened, the average annual value of exports and imports amounted
to nearly ninety crores of rupees. The average in 1900 exceeded
two hundred crores, while in 1928-1929 it exceeded six hundred
crores.
The nature of exports and imports also changed. Instead of
the finished products of industry, India now exported jute, wheat,
cotton, oilseeds, tea, etc., whereas she imported the goods of
European manufacture to which reference -will be made later.
The large volume of foreign trade presupposes a corresponding
extension of inland trade. This was facilitated by the era of peace
899
THE GROWTH OF NEW INDIA, 1858-1905
introduced by British rule, the gradual abolition of the vexatious
inland transit duties and the development of the means of transport
and communication.
The transit duties were gradually abolished in the provinces
between 1836 and 1844, and by 1848 inter-provincial trade was
rendered free from them.
The development of communications by means of railways,
steamships, canals, telegraphs, and cables, which revolutionised
Indian trade, mostly took place after 1858. Up to the Revolt
railways were practically unknown in India, except for a few
miles around Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. But the disasters of
the Revolt opened the eyes of the Government to the value of
rapid means of communication. By 1871 a general system of rail-
ways was completed coimecting the different provinces, and the
hinterland of each province with its ports. The construction of
telegraphs was begun in 1851 and a really effective postal system,
with cheap postage rates, was introduced in 1854. The first
steamships plied on the Ganges only a few years before the Revolt.
As regards the development of roads and canals, no appreciable
work was done till the Public Works Department was organised
in 1854-1855 by Lord DaUiousie. Lastly, it was in 1865 that the
first telegraphic connection was established between India and
Europe.
B. Industry
In a previous chapter we have traced the decline and decay of
Indian trade and industry. The advent of new and cheap machine-
made goods from the West gradually changed men’s tastes and
habits. The old Indian products were almost completely ousted
to make room for foreign imports, and a list of imports into India
during the latter part of the nineteenth century is an interesting
study both from the economic and social points of view. It
consisted of articles of luxury such as silks and woollens, leather
and leather goods, cabinet ware and furniture, clocks and watches,
earthenware and porcelain, glass and glassware, paper, paste-
board, stationery, toys and requisites for games, scents, cigarettes,
carts and carriages, and more recently bicycles, motor- cycles and
motor-cars. To this must be added articles which have almost
become a necessity in every household, such as matches, sewing-
machines, umbrellas, soap, cheap glass and chinaware, pens and
nibs, aluminium and enamelled ironware, torches and kerosene
oil. Neither list is exhaustive. But the imported articles indicate
the growth of new habits and tastes, which have proved destructive
900 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
to Indian industries, such as the manufacture of fine wool, silk
and cotton goods, heU-metal ware, etc., which might otherwise
have flourished even now.
Thus slowly but steadily the Indian markets were inundated
with foreign manufactured goods and the old home-industry of
India came . to occupy almost a negligible place in the Indian
economy.
Gradually India rose from the stupor in which she was cast by
this sudden blow from the West. It was im^sossible that a highly
civilised and intellectual race like the Indians should acquiesce
for long in playing the role of hewers of wood and drawers of water
in the industrial world. Slowly industries began to be organised
on modern lines, and the effect was appreciably marked on the
exports and imports of India during the seventies of the last
century. Thus the proportion of manufactured exports to total
exports of India rose from 8 per cent in 1879 to 16 per cent in 1892
and to 22 per cent in 1907-1908; while the proportion of manu-
factured imports to total imports fell from 65 per cent in 1879
to 57 per cent in 1892 and to 53 per cent in 1907.
Among the more important organised industries in India, on
a large scale, may be mentioned cotton, jute, iron and steel, paper,
tanning and leather. But up to the end of the nineteenth century
they made very small advance, compared with the total volume of
trade in these commodities. Still it was a good beginning and had
immense possibihties. It is also to be noted that these big industries
were not always managed by Indians, some of them being owned
by Europeans.
The nature and extent of this new industrial aw^akening in
India is well illustrated by the history of cotton mills. Apart
from isolated instances, such as a mill erected in Calcutta in 1818,
the industry was at first centred in Bombay where the fibrst mill was
started in 1854. After 1877 several cotton mills were started in
cotton-producing areas like Nagpur, Ahmadabad, Sholapur, and
some other places. The Swadeshi movement in Bengal in 1905
gave a fillip to this industry, and since then large numbers of mills
have been started, including several in Bengal.
But this nascent industry, like others, had to make its way
against enormous odds. It had to fight for a place in the market
securely held by the West and had to compete against the long
and mature experience and unlimited capital of Western manu-
facturers. In this unequal contest it could not hope for any support
from the Government. Rather, as events showed, it had at first to
face its direct hostility. Lancashire manufacturers grew restive
THE GROWTH OF HEW INDIA, 1858-1905 901
at the success of Indian mills, and owing to their pressure the
Government of India excluded the manufactured English cotton
goods from the usual import duty which acted as a protection
to Indian industry. When, on account of financial difficulties,
the import duty had to be reimposed, the Lancashire interests had
to be placated by the imposition of a countervailing excise duty on
cotton manufactures in Bombay (p. 865), To the utter misfortune
of India, her industry fell an equal victim to the protectionist
policy of England in the eighteenth century and the free-trade
policy of the nineteenth century, both the opposing principles
operating favourably to British and unfavourably to Indian
industry. These difficulties partially explain the very slow growth
of Indian industry.
CHAPTER V
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1906-1937
I. The North-West Frontier
The vexed problem of the North-West Frontier engaged the
serious attention of Lord Gurzon, who found on his arrival in
India in January, 1899, that about 10,000 British troops had
been quartered on the farther side of the British frontier. The
new Vicero5'- followed in regard to the tribal tracts a course of
policy which has been described as “one of withdrawal and
concentration”. He ably defended the retention of Chitral and
the construction of the road from that town to Peshawar, but in
other respects differed from the policy of the “forward” school.
Under his orders large numbers of British troops were gradually
withdrawn from the Khyber Pass, the Kurram valley, Waziristan
and the tribal area generally, but some posts were retained
and fortified at Chakdarra, Malakand and Dargai. The place of
the British troops withdrawn was filled by tribal levies under
British officers, or by military police. British forces were, however,
concentrated within British lines, and strategic railways were
constructed up to Dargai at the base of the Malakand, Jamrud,
at the entrance to the Khyber Pass, and Thai, at the mouth of
the Kurram valley. At the same time Lord Ourzon was careful
to regulate and limit the importation of arms to tribesmen
and also to encourage the important tribes to maintain peace and
tranquillity and check crime by granting them allowances at
regular intervals.
Another aspect of Lord Gurzon’ s policy was the creation of
the North-West Frontier Province in 1901 in the teeth of much
opposition from the Punjab officials. Formerly the north-west
frontier districts had been under the control of the Lieutenant.
Governor of the Punjab, subject only to the indirect control of the
Government of India. The new Frontier Province, extending over
an area of 40,000 square miles, included the political agencies of the
Malakand, the Kurram, the Khyber, the Tochi and Wana, and all the
trans-Indus districts of the Punjab, excepting the settled district of
Dera Ghazi Khan which remained under the control of tlie Punjab
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1906-1937 903
Government. It was placed under a Chief Commissioner, directly
responsible to the Government of India. The old North-Western
Provinces were given the name of “the United Provinces of Agra
and Oudh”.
The civil and military reforms of Lord Gurzon on the North-West
Frontier gave comparative peace after a period of severe fighting
and reduced to some extent the heavy expenditure caused by
frontier wars. It was, of course, necessary to blockade the Mahsuds
in 1900-1902, and deal with the risings of the Mohmands and Zakka
Khel in 1908-1909, but Lord Curzon claimed that during his seven
years of office, he had spent only £248,000 on military activities on
the North-West Frontier as against £4,584,000 in the years 1894-
1898.
Lord Curzon did not, however, finally solve the Frontier problem.
His system could not thoroughly check the spirit of restlessness
so prominent among the local tribes, and administrative difficulties
regarding justice and revenue continued to trouble both the settled
districts and the tribal areas. The pillars of his system fell under
the strain of general unrest engendered by the Great War of 1914-18.
The changed conditions made the Government of India pursue a
vigorous policy in the North-West Frontier, marked by the retaining
of commanding posts at important points, opening up the country
by roads, entrusting the regular troops with the duties of the Militia
for policing the tribal lines, and by attempts to introduce among
the tribes the elements of a new civilisation. The influence of the
Indian National Movement, and the attempts of the Government
to introduce social and educational reforms, not to the hking
of the tribes, have complicated the problem to a great extent.
In fact, the Government of India had to resort to extensive
military preparations in suppressing frontier outbreaks in
recent times, such as the rising of the Waziris in 1919, that
of the Mahsuds in 1925, the serious rising of the Waziris, Mohmands
and Afrids in 1930-1931, the Mohmand outbreak in 1933 and the
Tori Khel rebelHon of 1936-1937.
3. British Relations with Afghanistan and Persia
A. Afghanistan
The relations of the Government of India with Afghanistan
were influenced considerably by the political, commercial and
constructional activities of Russia in the Persian Gulf and Central Asia
and also by the intrigues of the German, Austrian and Turkish
904 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
missions at Kabul during the war of 1914-18, On the death of the
Amir, ‘Abdur Rahman, who had concluded a friendly treaty with
the British Government, in September 1901, Lord Curzon had some
trouble with his successor, Amir Habibullah, over the renewal of
the treaty. Habibullah claimed that it was an agreement between
the two countries and did not require renewing on the death of
the Amir; but Lord Curzon argued that the treaty with the late
Amir was a personal one and insisted on its renewal. For some
years all communications with the Government of India were
stopped by Amir HabibuUah, who refrained from drawing his
subsidy and claimed the title of ‘'His Majesty”. He was undoubtedly
encouraged by the anti-English activities of Russia. But in
November 1904, during Lord Curzon’s absence from India, the
acting Viceroy, Lord Ampthill, sent a mission to Kabul under
Sir Louis Dane. A treaty was concluded in March, 1905, by which
all the engagements between the British Government and ‘Abdur
Rahman were renewed and Amir HabibuUah’s claim to the title
of “ His Majesty” conceded.
The tables were, however, turned two years later after the signing
of the Anglo-Russian Convention in August, 1907. According to
this Russia agreed to treat Afghanistan as outside her sphere of
influence and equal commercial facilities were provided for England
and Russia in that kingdom. The Amir, who “regarded this
union of the two great neighbours with natural suspicion”, refused
to give his consent to the clauses of the Convention. But this
counted for nothing, as Russia stood by the agreement. Hence-
forth Habibullah remained aloof, but during the First World War
he rendered England valuable service by maintaining a policy of
strict neutrahty in spite of the incitement of hostile parties.
The combination of the European powers, and their attempts to
introduce Western civilisation in Afghanistan, gave an impetus
to Pan-Islamic forces in that country, which became formidable
after the fall of the Tsarist Government in Russia in 1917 and
the consequent disappearance of Anglo-Russian friendship. Amir
Habibullah made himself unpopular with the orthodox and anti-
British party in Afghanistan by his attempts to introduce Euro-
pean manners and customs into his land and was assassinated
on the 20th February, 1919.
A short struggle for the throne ensued in which Amanullah, a
son of the murdered Amir, came out successful. Partly under the
pressure of internal troubles, and partly under the influence of
the war party, Amanullah decided to embark on a wur with the
English. Thus began the Third Anglo-Afghan War {April-May,
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1906-1937 905
1919). The use of aeroplanes, wireless, and high explosives enabled
the British Indian army to defeat the Afghan army severely and
bomb Jalalabad and Kabul within ten days. The Afghans asked
for an armistice on the 14th May and a treaty of peace was signed
at Rawalpindi on the 8th August, 1919, which was confirmed
by another treaty concluded on the 22nd November, 1921. Accord-
ing to the terms of these treaties, the Afghans were prohibited
from importing arms or munitions through India, and the arrears
of the late Amir’s subsidy were confiscated by the British Govern-
ment and no new grant was made to the new Amir ; but the British
Government expressed their desire to make no attempt to control
any longer the foreign relations of Afghanistan, and both the
parties agreed to respect each other’s independence. An accredited
British minister was henceforth to reside at Kabul, and the Amir
was to be represented by one of his own ministers residing in
London. Since then Anglo- Afghan relations have continued to be
cordial in spite of occasional minor disturbances and Bolshevik
activities in Afghanistan.
But soon Afghanistan was convulsed by a civil war. On returning
from his European tour in the summer of 1928, Amir AmanuUah,
full of reforming zeal, tried to introduce certain internal reforms,
social, educational and legal, which were not liked by the conserv-
ative sections of the people of his kingdom. Their discontent found
expression in a civil war and in May, 1929, AmanuUah was compelled
to abdicate the throne, which was usurped by Bachai-i-Saqqao,
a daring adventurer. During the troubles caused by this upheaval,
Kabul was cut off from communication with other countries, but
the Royal Air Force succeeded in bringing away large numbers of
British Indian subjects, many foreigners, and &ally, on the 25th
February, 1929, the Legation itself. While watching the course of
the Afghan civil war with grave anxiety, the Government of India
followed a policy of “scrupulous non-intervention”. Order was
eventually restored in Afghanistan by Muhammad Nadir Shah, a
scion of the old ruling house and an able officer of the expelled
Amir, who became Amir by general choice. With considerable
knowledge of the world, he took up again Amanullah’s mantle of
reform, but proceeded with much caution and tact with his schemes
of modernization. Relations between Afghanistan and India again
became satisfactory. But this course of events was tragically
interrupted by the assassination of King Nadir Shah on the 8th
November, 1933, by a fanatic with a personal grudge. His son,
Muhammad Zahir, however, peacefully ascended the throne and
wisely continued the policy of his father.
906
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
B. Persia
Great Britain liad vital interests in the Middle East, and especially
in the Persian Gulf, for political as well as commercial reasons,
and she guarded these as jealously as possible. But other powers,
■like France, Russia, Germany and Turkey, challenged, during the
closing years of the nineteenth century, the exclusive influence of
Britain in the Persian Gulf and tried to establish their respective
control over it. Russian penetration into Northern Persia was
particularly a matter of grave anxiety for England. The Govern-
ment of India vigorously resisted the claims of these powers,
and frustrated their efforts. Lord Lansdowne, the British Foreign
Secretary, declared in the House of Lords on the 5th May, 1903 :
*‘I say it without hesitation, that we should regard the establish-
ment of a naval base or of a fortified post in the Persian Gulf by
any other Power as a grave menace to British interests, and we
should certainly resist it by aU means at our disposal.”
The first effective steps to counter these anti-British influences
in the Persian Gulf were taken by Lord Curzon, who visited the
Gulf in 1903 and tried to protect British interests there by several
measures, such as the establishment of consulates in the ports
and trading centres in the interior, the Seistan Mission of 1903-1906
which under Sir Henry MacMahon brought to a completion the
work of boundary delimitation begun in 1872 by Sir Frederick
Goldsmith, the projection of a railway from Quetta to Nushki,
the construction of a road from Nushki to Robat ICila, a frontier
post, the opening of a postal service along the route and the
reorganisation of customs and tariffs.
Soon Persia became subject to grave internal disorders due to
the conflict between the forces of constitutionalism, favoured by
her people, and the forces of autocracy, represented by the ruling
dynasty. England and Russia, however, decided to determine the
sphere of their respective interests in Persian territory by a
peaceful settlement, and thus signed the Anglo-Bussian Convention
on the Slst August, 1907. According to this, the two parties agreed
to pay due regard to the integrity and political independenee of
Persia. A Russian sphere of influence was demarcated in Northern
Persia and a British sphere in the south-eastern provinces. Each
power agreed in regard to the other’s sphere of influence ‘‘not to
seek for herself or her own subjects or those of any other country
any political or commercial concessions such as railway, banking,
telegraph, roads, transport, or insurance”, and not to prevent
the other party from acquiring such concessions there.
907
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1906-1937
There is no doubt that the Convention served to avert serious
conflicts between England and Russia during the critical period,
1907-1910, when Persia was in a state of chaos which might have
tempted any power to intervene in her affairs to further its designs.
But it was not above criticism. As Sykes points out, it “gave grave
offence to the Persians”, who were not consulted in the least about
the new settlement which vitally affected their destiny. There is much
truth in the significant observation of Lovat Eraser, \dth refer-
ence to this agreement, that “there is something amazingly cynical
in the spirit in which Western powers dispose of the heritage of
other races”. In the opinion of some, the Convention gave more
advantages to Russia than to England. While the sphere of influence
of the former extended over half the territory of Persia, that of
the latter was rather too small. But there was one factor which
England could not very well ignore. Russia had already penetrated
far too deep into Northern Persia to be asked to retreat quietly, and
so, in consideration of this, one has to agree with the statement of
Sir J. D. Rees that Great Britain “had not so much given away
advantages as accepted a position that had grown up”.
During the War of 1914-18, Persia, herself in a miserable condition
due to the continuance of internal troubles, declared strict neutra-
lity. But Germany and also her ally Turkey, acting for herself
or as the avant-courier of Germany, tried to “embarrass Great
Britain and Russia by creating disturbances in Persia, in Afghanistan
and on the frontiers of India, and to force Persia into the World
War on their side”. This stirred Great Britain to an unusual
activity in the Persian Gulf. However, her relations with Persia
continued on the whole to be friendly.
3 . The North-Eastern Frontier
A. Tibet and the States on the Northern Frontier
Though nominally subject to the suzerainty of China, Tibet
was for all practical purposes an independent theocracy under the
two great Lamas, the Dalai Lama of Lhasa and the Tashi Lama
of the famous monastery of Tashilhunpo near Shigatse. Pofltical
power was centred in the hands of the Dalai Lama or the council
that niled during his minority.
The earliest attempts to establish British relations with Tibet
were made as early as the year 1774. Warren Hastings sent Bogle
on a mission to the Tashi Lama of Shigatse. The object was mainly
to obtain facilities for trade with that country. But in subsequent
908
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
times the Tibetans began to resent British intercourse with their
country. In 1887 they made an “inexplicable invasion” into the
protected State of Silddm, but were driven out the next year by
General Graham. The provisions of the Anglo-Chinese Convention
of 1890, relating to the Sikkim-Tibet boundary and some com-
mercial facilities, made more definite in 1893, were coldly received
by the Tibetans.
On his arrival in India, Lord Curzon found British relations
with Tibet “at an absolute deadlock”. The problem became more
complicated at this time through two factors. On the one hand,
the Dalai Lama having passed beyond his period of minority had
overthrown the regency government by a coup d'etat with the help
of his tutor, Dorjieff, a Russian Buddhist, and had been trying
to show himself a strong ruler. On the other hand, the Tibetans,
eager to throw off Chinese sovereignty, were willing to welcome
Russian friendship as a counterpoise. Dorjieff led Tibetan missions
to Russia in 1898, 1900, and 1901, and rumours spread that he
had concluded a treaty with Russia virtually placing Tibet under
the protectorate of Russia. The Russian Government officially
contradicted this rumour and assured the British ambassador at
St. Petersburg that the object of these missions was religious.
But this could not remove England’s suspicions about Russian
designs. As a matter of fact, British policy in Tibet represented
but one phase in the long-drawn-out rivalry between England
and Russia in Central Asia.
To meet the situation. Lord Curzon proposed in 1903 to send
a mission to Tibet, with an armed escort, which the Home Govern-
ment sanctioned with much hesitation. A mission under Colonel
Younghusband accordingly started for Tibet, and after several
sharp encounters with the Tibetans reached Lhasa on the 3rd
August, 1904. Finally, a convention was signed, by which the
Tibetans agreed to open trade marts in Gyantse, Gartok and
Yatung, to pay an indemnity of twenty-five lakhs and to allow
the English to occupy the Chumbi vaUey for three years as a tem-
porary pledge. In June, 1906, England and China concluded a
convention by which the former agreed neither to annex Tibetan
territory nor to interfere in the internal administration of Tibet
and the latter promised not to allow any other foreign power to
interfere with the internal administration or territorial integrity
of Tibet. Further, England was granted the power to open tele-
graph lines coimecting the trading stations with India, and the
provisions of the Convention of 1890, and the Trade Regulations
of 1893, were declared to be in force. The indemnity was paid by
909
POLITICAL RELATIONS, 1906-1937
the Chinese Government in three years and the English evacuated
the Chumbi valley. i :
The political results of the Younghusband mission were not t
very important. Its only direct result was the opening of three !
trade marts and the establishment of a British Trade Agent at
Gyantse. Younghusband is given the credit of “unveiling Lhasa”,
but it should not be forgotten that in ancient and medieval times
Bengal missionaries had penetrated into Tibet on religious missions, i
and also that, long before Younghusband, a famous scholar and ' :
explorer, Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra Das, O.I.E., having no dread *
of the unknown, had entered the forbidden land of the Dalai j:
Lama at the risk of his life. *;!
By the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, both England and ij
Russia agreed to carry on political relations with Tibet through |!
China. The suzerainty of China over Tibet, hitherto a mere “con- |i
stitutional fiction”, was now explicitly reaffirmed and she tried
to make it as real as possible, so much so that Chinese troops
overran Tibet and the Dalai Lama took refuge in Darjeeling. The
British Government, acting on the representations of the Govern-
ment of India, strongly protested against this policy of the Chinese
Government. This attitude of the Government of India, and the
disorders in China due to an internal revolution, encouraged the
Tibetans to resist Chinese attempts and finally to throw off the
last vestige of Chinese suzerainty in 1918.
The changes in Russia after the revolution of 1917, and the
growing confusion in China, relieved the Government of India of
the menace of external forces affecting English interests in Tibet,
and Britain and Tibet have since then remained on terms of cordiality
with each other. A British Goodwill Mission, led by Mr. B. J. Gould,
I.C.S., of the Political Department, visited Tibet during the winter
of 1936-1937 and established or renewed friendly relations with
the chief officials of the Tibetan Government and the people of
Tibet.
Relations with Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, wdth which India’s
northern frontiers are in contact, have been cordial. To resist
Chinese activities in Tibet, the Government of India in 1910
strengthened then relations with Bhutan by raising the amount
of their subsidy from fifty thousand to a lakh of rupees a year and
undertaking to guide Bhutan in her foreign relations. The Govern-
ment afterwards officially notified China that they would protect
the rights and interests of Bhutan and Sikkim.
ill
010
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
B. Assam and Burma
On the partition of Bengal in 1905, the new province of Eastern
Bengal and Assam was formed by the amalgamation of Assam
and the Surma vaUey with fifteen districts of the old Bengal pro-
vince. But this arrangement being annulled in 1912, Assam was
again made a separate administrative unit. Of the several Assam
border tribes, such as the Daflas, the Miris, the Abors and the
Mishmis, none gave much trouble to the British Government
except the Abors. In 1911 the Minyong Abors murdered Mr.
WiUiamson and Dr. Gregorson, whereupon the Government of
India sent an expedition to the Dihang valley of the Abor country
on the north-east frontier, to subdue the tribe. The expedition
proved successful in its object, and friendly missions were sent
to the Miri and Mishmi countries. Owing to the rather undefined
boundary of the Chinese province of Yunnan on the frontier of
Burma, the British Government apprehended minor mcursions
into Burmese territory, and carefully guarded this frontier. Negotia-
tions between China and Great Britain were carried on with
a view to settling the frontier between Burma and the Chinese
province of Yunnan, and a Delimitation Commission, consisting
of British and Chinese Commissioners, with the famous Swiss
engineer. Colonel E. Iselin, as its neutral Chairman, conducted
enquiries into this matter during 1935 and 1936 and submitted a
unanimous report in the spring of 1937, which definitely fixed the
frontier line between Burma and Yunnan.
CHAPTER VI
CONSTITUTIONAIi CHANGES, 1906-1937
I. Whitehall and the Government of India
The control of the British Parliament over the Government of
India exercised through the Secretary of State was firmly held,
and even a strong personality like Lord Curzon was overruled by
the Home Government. The power of superintendence and
direction was vigorously asserted by Lord Morley as the Secre-
tary of State for India, and he claimed a larger and more direct
share in Indian administration than his predecessors had done.
Mr. Lovat Fraser observed in the Edinburgh Eeview for January,
1918: “Lord Morley . . . whatever his virtues may have been>
was certainly the most autocratic and the least constitutional
Secretary of State ever seen in Whitehall.” But the Governor-
General being the man on the spot, his “old discretionary power”
did not altogether disappear.
During the early years of the present century, some Indian
politicians, including the late Mr. Gokhale, demanded certain
changes in the Home Government, particularly the abolition of
the India Council. In 1907 two Indian gentlemen were appointed
members of Lord Morley’s Council. A Committee, appointed in
1919, with Lord Crewe, an ex-Secretary of State for India, as
chairman and Prof. A. B. Keith and Mr, B. N. Basu among others
as members, to examine and report on the working of the Home
Government, recommended the total abolition of the India Council.
But the recommendation was not accepted by the Joint Committee
of Parliament. The Committee advocated certain changes in details
which were given effect to by the Act of 1919.^ Vacancies in the
Council were to be filled, as before, by the Secretary of State,
but henceforth it was to consist of nol; less than eight and not
more than twelve members, half of whom were to be qualified by
not less than ten years;’ residence or service in India and must have
left India only recently. Their term of office was reduced from
seven to five years. The concurrence of a majority vote of the
^ For the Acts of 1919 and 1936 referred to in this section, see Section 2.
. .. '911
912
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Council was required only in cases of (i) the grant or appropriation of
any portion of the revenues of India, (ii) the making of contracts,
and (iii) the framing of rules to regulate matters relating to the
Civil Service. The Council remained clearly subordinate to the
Secretary of State, who retained his discretionary powers not
only in relation to it but also in relation to the Government of
India, particularly for Imperial or Military affairs, foreign relations,
the rights of European British subjects, the law of naturalisation,
the Public Debt, customs, currency and shipping. His control was
restricted only over “transferred” subjects. Before 1919 the salary
of the Secretary of State, and the expenses of his department, were
paid from the Indian revenues. As a result Parliament could not
criticise the Indian Budget in the same way as the Budget pre-
sented by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer. With a view
to bringing the Secretary of State under more effective criticism by
Parliament, the Act of 1919 provided that “the salary of the
Secretary of State shall be paid out of moneys provided by
Parliament, and the salaries of his under-secretaries or any other
expenses of his department may be paid out of moneys provided by
Parliament”. A Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament
was appointed to consider Indian questions, rules and enactments,
that were laid before the Houses. Thus indirectly the control of
Parliament over British India was strengthened.
The Government of India Act 1935 changed the legal position
of the Secretary of State. According to it, “all rights, authority
or jurisdiction in or in relation to territories in India” were to rest
with the British Crown. The Governor-General or Provincial
Governor exercising executive authority on behalf of His Majesty
was to be, while acting in his discretion, under the general control
of the Secretary of State, who was a member of the British
Cabinet and was responsible to Parliament in all matters relating
to India. In substance the authority of the Secretary of State
remained almost rmchanged but for some relaxation due to
theintroductionof autonomy in certain provinces and partial respon-
sibility at the Centre in case a Federation came into being. He
contuxued to “stand at the top of the Indian administration as
its guardian ”. As provided by the Act of 1935, the India Council
was abolished from 1st April, 1937, and in its place the Secretary
of State was given a body of advisers not less than three
or more than six in number, of whom half at least must have
served for ten years under the Crown in India and must have been
appointed within two years of ceasing to W'ork in India. The
Secretary of State had full liberty in his discretion to consult his
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, 1906-1937 913
advisers collectively or individually or to ignore them, and he
might act or refuse to act according to their advice except in
certain specified cases, such as the exercise of powers conferred
on him in regard to the Services under the Crown, for which the
concurrence of at least one half of the members present at the
meeting was necessary.
To relieve the Secretary of State of agency work for the Central
and Provincial Governments of India, the Act of 1919 provided
for the office of High Commissioner, which was established by
Order in Council of 13th August, 1920. He was to be appointed
by the Government of India, to whom he remained primarily
responsible, and his salary was to be paid from Indian revenues.
His duties were to procure stores for Indian governments, to supply
trade information, to promote the interests of Indian commerce,
to look after the education of Indian students in England, and to
furnish information on India to enquirers. Ho also represented
India as one of the delegates at International Conferences. Under
the Act of 1935, the High Commissioner was to be controlled by
the Governor-General in his “individual judgment”, and he might
act, if empowered by the Governor-General, for a province, a
federated State, or Burma.
2. The Indian Government
The strong regime of Lord Curzon, instead of checking the forces
of Indian nationalism, intensified the desire for political advance
among the Indians, which manifested itself in some places in an
extreme form. Besides taking some measures to assert the law,
Government planned certain constitutional changes, which were
embodied in the Morley-Minto Eeforms of 1909. These re-
forms provided for the association of qualified Indians with
Government to a greater extent in deciding public questions.
Thus one seat on the Governor-General’s Executive Council was,
in actual practice, reserved for an Indian member. Satyendra
Prasanna Smha (afterwards the first Lord Sinha of Baipur) was the
first Indian to attain the honour of being appointed Law Member of
the Governor- General’s Council. The members of the Executive
Councils of the Governors of Madras and Bombay were increased
to four. An Executive Council was introduced in Bengal in 1909,
and when Bihar and Orissa was created a separate province in 1912
it also was given an Executive Council in that year, though three
years later such a proposal for the United Provinces was set aside,
it should also be noted that, though the Act of 1909 did not
specifically provide for the appointment of Indians on provincial
914
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
iCxecutive Councils, the practice was begun of including such
members in them, Raja il^shori Lai Goswami being appointed a
member of the Executive Council of Bengal.
The most striking feature of the Act of 1909 was that it intro-
duced important changes in the composition and functions of the
Legislative Councils. The number of additional members of the
Central Legislature was raised from sixteen to a maximum of
sixty, of whom not more than twenty-eight were to be officials.
The Governor-General had the power to nominate three non-
officials to represent certain specified communities and had also
at his disposal two other seats to be filled by nomination. The
remaining twenty-seven seats were to be filled by non-official elected
members, some of whom represented certain special constituencies
such as the landowners in seven provinces, the Muhammadans in five
provinces, and two Chambers of Commerce in Calcutta and Bombay,
while thirteen others were to be elected by the non-official members
of the nine provincial Legislative Councils. Thus a small official
majority was retained in the Central Legislative Council. Lord
Morley clearly laid down that the Governor-General’s Council “in
its legislative as well as its executive character should continue
to be so constituted as to ensure its constant and uninterrupted
power to fulfil the constitutional obligations that it owes and
must always owe to His Majesty’s Government and to the Imperial
Parliament”. In the provincial Legislative Councils, the number
of additional members was raised to a maximum of fifty in the
major provinces ; and it was so arranged that a combination of official
and nominated non-offioial members might have a small majority
over the elected members, except in Bengal where there was a
clear elected majority. The greater part of these additional non-
official members were to be elected by groups of local bodies, land-
holders, trade associations and universities. By conceding the
demand of the Muhammadan community for separate representa-
tion by members chosen by the votes of a Muslim electorate, the
Reforms of 1909 introduced the principle of communal representa-
tion, which, as the Indian Statutory Commission observed in 1929,
became “a cardinal problem and ground of controversy at every
revision of the Indian electoral system”.
As regards the functions of the Legislatures, the Act of 1909 em-
powered them to discuss, and to move resolutions on, the Budget,
before it was finally settled, and also certain matters of general
interest. Their resolutions were to be expressed and to be operative
as recommendations to the Executive Government and any of them
might be disallowed by the Head of the Government acting as
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, 1906-1937 916
President of the Council at his discretion. No resolutions could
be moved in matters concerning the Army, Foreign Relations,
the Indian States and sundry other matters.
Though the Morley-Minto Reforms marked an important step in
the introduction of representative government, they did not give
Parliamentary Government to India. This was plainly admitted by
Lord Morley himself, when he said in the House of Lords on 17tii
December, 1908: “If it could be said that this chapter of reforms
led directly or indirectly to the establishment of a parliamentary
system in India, I, for one, would have nothing at all to do with
it.” In fact, Indian administration still continued to be canted on
with absolute responsibihty to Whitehall. The non-official members
could not act in a responsible mamier, as nothing that they might
say could lead to any modification in the fundamental policy of the
Government. As the authors of the Report on Indian Constitutional
Reforms, 1918, observed, “the reforms of 1909 afforded no answer
and coTild afford no answer, to Indian political problems. . . .
Responsibility is the savour of popular government, and that
savour the present councils wholly lack”. Indirect election and
sex^arate communal representation had also obvious disadvantages.
The Morley-Minto Reforms did not come up to the expectation
of the Indian people, whose discontent continued unabated. Thej^’ re-
newed their claims with emphasis during the First World War, which
broke out within five years of the introduction of these Reforms ;
and two schemes were put forward, one by Mr. G. K. Gokhale
and the other jointly by the National Congress and the Muslim
League. To satisfy the widespread demands of the Indians for
constitutional reforms, and in recognition of their loyal services
to Great Britain during the war, Mr. Edwin Montagu, the Secretary
of State for India, made the famous annoimcement in the House
of Commons on the 20th August, 1917, that 'Hhe policy of His
Majesty’s Government, with which the Government of India are in
complete accord, is that of the increasing cbssociation of Indians in
every branch of the administration and the gradnal development of
self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realisation
of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British
Einpire”. He came to India early in November, 1917, and having
ascertained public opinion in this country by an exten si ve tour,
published in April, 1918, the Report on Indian Constitutional
Reforms, commonly known as the Montagu-Chelmsford Report.^
^ The Report bore the joint signature of Mx, Montagu and Lord Chelmsford,
the Governor-General, but, as we know from Mr. Montagu’s Indian Diary,
the Governor-General played a vacillating and insignificant part in the whole
transaction.
916 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
This Report formed the basis of the Government of India Act,
1919, which came into operation early in 1921.
This Act made a clear division, as far as possible, of the functions
of the Central and Provincial Governments. The Centre was
entrusted with duties regarding defence, political and external affairs,
the principal railways and other strategic communications, posts and
telegraphs, currency and coinage, the Public Debt, commerce, civil
and criminal law and procedure, ecclesiastical administration,
the All-India Services, certain institutions of research and all other
matters not mentioned as provincial subjects. The Provincial Govern-
ments were charged with duties in respect of internal law and order,
administration of justice and jaUs, irrigation, forests, inspection
of factories, supervision of labour questions, famine relief, land-
revenue administration, local self-government, education, medical
department, sanitation and public health, public works, agriculture,
development of industries, excise and co-operative societies. The
spheres of the Central and Provincial Governments with regard
to the sources of income and the heads of revenue were also
delimited.
We have already noted the effect of the Act of 1919 on the
Home Government. We have now to study how it modified the
Government of India. It did not introduce diarchy in the Central
Government, and the Governor-General remained, as before,
directly responsible to the Secretary of State and Parliament,
and not to the Indian Legislature. The Executive Council was
enlarged. Though it was not laid down in the Act, yet after 1921
the practice prevailed of choosing three of the members from among
qualified Indians. Lord Sinha was succeeded by Sir ‘All Imam
as Law Member, but the next Indian member. Sir Sankaran Nair,
was given the portfolio of Education. After 1920 some eminent
Indian lawyer invariably held the office of Law Member. The
Finance Members were recruited from the British Treasury.
The Central Legislature was thoroughly remodelled and made
bi-cameral, the two chambers being the Council of State and
the Legislative Assembly. The members of the Executive Council
could become members of one or the other house of the Legislature
on nomination by the Governor- General, The Council of State
or the Upper Chamber was mamly a revismg body. It was to
consist of not more than 60 members, 34 of whom were to be elected.
Not more than 20 were to be officials. The Legislative Assembly,
or the lower and the more popular chamber, was to consist of 140
members. The number was later on raised to 145 of whom 105 were
elected, 26 were nominated officials and 14 nominated non-officials.
917
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, 1906-1937
Elections to both the houses were direct and the franchise was
based on a high property qualification, that for the Assembly being
somewhat wider than that for the Council. The tenure of life of
the Council of State was fixed at five years and that of the
Assembly at three years. But the Governor-General had the
power to dissolve either chamber or, in special circumstances, to
extend its tenure. The powers of the two chambers were co-
ordinate, but demands for grants were submitted to the lower
house. In case of a deadlock between the two houses, the
Governor-General might summon a joint session. The Council
of State was to have a President, nominated by the Governor-
General fi-om among its members. i,The Assembly, too, was to
have a President and a Deputy President of its own. The President
was to be appointed for the first four years by the Governor-
General and thereafter to be elected by the chamber itself.
The powers of the Central Legislature were made extensive in
theory. In spite of delimitation of functions between the Central
and Provincial Governments, the Central Legislature had the
power to enact laws for the whole of British India, subject to the
limitation that the previous consent of the Governor- General was
necessary for the introduction of bills in certain matters.^ Further,
if a bill, recommended by the Governor- General, was thrown out
or unsatisfactorily amended by either house, the Governor- General
had the power to certify the original bill as essential for the safety
and tranquillity of British India. He was also empowered, in
cases of emergency, to promulgate ordinances, which, though
originally effective for a period of six months, could be subsequently
embodied in law if necessary. Thus the Governor-General was
“an important, if not the predominant, factor of the Indian
Legislature”. As regards finance, the Central Legislature was
given some control over it with certain specific exceptions. Thus
proposals for appropriation of money for purposes of interest
and sinking fund charges on loans, for expenditure classified by
the Governor-General as political, ecclesiastical and defence, and
for the payment of the salaries or pensions of men appointed
under the authority of His Majesty or the Secretary of State in
Council, were not to be submitted to the vote of the Legislature ;
1 A bill which had for its object the regulation of a Provincial subject or
the repeal or amendment of any Act passed by the Provincial Legislature;
a bill which sought to repeal or amend any Act or Ordinances passed by the
Governor-General; measures affecting the Public Debt or public revenues
of India, the religion of any class of British subjects, the discipline of any
portion of His Majesty’s Military, Naval and Air Porces and the relations
of the Government of India with foreign powers or Indian States.
918 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
but for these an appropriation made by the Government was
suflficient. Further, the Governor-General had the power, in cases
of emergency, to certify any expenditure that he considered
essential for the safety and tranquillity of British India or any
part thereof. Thus both over legislation and finance the control
of the Legislature was in fact greatly limited.
In considering the Provincial Government, we find that the
Act of 1919 did away with the distinction between the Regulation
Provinces of Bengal, Bombay and Madras and the Non-Regulation
Provinces like the Punjab, Assam, etc. AH the Provinces, ten in
number, with the inclusion of Burma since 1923 and the North-
West Frontier Province since 1932, became Governors’ Provinces,
each having at its head a Governor, appointed by His Majesty.
The Governor of a Province, with enormous powers and privileges,
continued to remain as the real authority over it. The Act intro-
duced diarchy or dual government in the Provincial Executive.
The Governor with his Executive Council was invested with
authority over “Reserved subjects for the administration of
which he was responsible not to the Legislature but to the Governor-
General and Whitehall. The “Transferred subjects were placed
in charge of the Governor acting with his Ministers, who were to
be appointed by him from the elected members of the Provincial
Legislative Council and whose numbers varied from province
to province and in the same province at times. The ministers were
to hold office during the pleasure of the Governor, as has been
the case in theory in Great Britain and Canada, though by con-
vention and practice the principle of ministerial responsibility
to the Legislature has been established in both these countries.
The ministers were required to retain the confidence of the
Legislature, but their responsibility to it tended to “demoralise
into an irremovable executive”. Further, the Governor’s powers
of interference in Transferred subjects were extensive.
The different Provinces were given unicameral legislatures
known as Legislative Councils. The membership of each Legislative
Council was increased — 139 (later on raised to 140) in Bengal,
127 (132) in Madras, 123 m U.P., 111 (114) in Bombay, 103 in
Bihar and Orissa, 93 (94) in the Punjab, 70 (73) in the Central
Provinces, and 50 (63) in Assam. At least 70 per cent of the
members were to be elected, and of the nominated members not
^ Police, justice and prisons, irrigation, forests (except in Bombay and
Burma), famine relief, land-revenue administration and inspection of factories.
® Local self-government, education (excepting .‘Eurojiean education),
public health, sanitation and medical administration, public works, agricul-
ture, excise, co-operative societies and development of industries.
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, 1906-1937 919
more than 20 per cent were to be officialg. Different groups
like landowners, chambers of commerce and universities; and
communities of Muhammadans, Europeans, Anglo-Indians, Indian
Christians and Sikhs in the Punjab were given separate repre-
sentation through their own electorates. During the first four
years the Governor of a Province appointed the President
of the local Legislature, and on the expiry of that period the
Legislative Councils were given the privilege of electing their own
President. Each Legislative Council was given the privilege of
entertaining a biU on any subject concerning the Province. No
bin relating to any of the Transferred subjects could be passed
without its consent ; but a bill concerning any of the Reserved
subjects might become an Act over its head and in spite of its
refusal, if the Governor certified that it was necessary in view of
his special responsibility for maintaining the safety and tran-
quillity of the Province. Further, previous consent of the Governor-
General was necessary for introducing certain bills. As regards
finance, it was provided that a budget of the estimated income
and expenditure, with the exception of certain items^, was to be
placed before the Legislative Council in the form of a demand for
grants. So far as the Transferred subjects were concerned, the
Council could cut down or refuse any demand. But if in the case
of Reserved subjects any demand was rejected or modified by
the Council, the Governor had the right to certify the expenditure,
as provided for in the original demand, as essential for the discharge
of his responsibility. Thus both in matters of law-making and
finance, the Council’s authority over Reserved subjects was strictly
limited.
There is no doubt that the Government of India Act, 1919,
gave real responsibility to the representatives of the people in
only a very limited sphere of administration; and, judged from
the standpoint of a truly democratic measure, it had certain
defects with regard to both the Central and Provincial Govern-
ments. Nevertheless, it should be regarded as an important
instalment of constitutional reform. For the first time the British
Government officially laid down, as the goal of constitutional
development in India, not only Dominion Status but also Responsible
Government, The latter could only mean the parliamentary form
of government of the British type which was repudiated by Lord
^ Provincial contributions to the Central Government; interest and sinking
fund charges on loans; the salaries and pensions of officers appointed by or
with the approval of His Majesty or the Secretary of State in Council,
expenditure of which the amount is prescribed by law.
920 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Morley even as late as 1908 (see page 915), The introduction of direct
election, for the first time, on a comparatively wide franchise was
a significant concession. Further, the people were given a valuable
opportunity both for political training and for influencmg the
actions of the Government, This Act also provided that after
the expiry of a decade of working of the new Constitution,
a Commission of Enquiry should be constituted, with the approval
of Parliament, to report after due investigation whether responsible
government should be further extended or restricted.
The Reforms of 1919 did not satisfy the national aspirations of
the Indians, and then* effect upon the national struggle for in-
dependence is described in Chapter IX. The Indian demand
for political advance gradually grew more and more insistent.
So the Conservative Government of Mr. Baldwin, in which
the late Lord Birkenhead was the Secretary of State for India,
appointed a Statutory Commission, earlier than provided in the
Act of 1919, under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon, to report
on the working of the reforms. As all the seven members of the
Commission were British, it was boycotted by the Congressites, the
Liberals and important sections of the Muslim community when it
landed in Bombay on 3rd February, 1928. There was also a wider
ground on which the Congressites took their stand. They held that
it did not accord with the principle of self-determination to have
constitutional changes effected on the recommendations of a Com-
mission appointed by an outside authority. In view of the difficult
situation in India, Sir John Simon wrote a letter to Mr. Ramsay
MacDonald, the Premier belonging to the Labour Party which had
come to power after the general election of 1929, on the 16th October,
1929, suggesting the advisability of inviting, after the publica-
tion of the Report of his Commission, the representatives of both
British India and the Indian States to a conference before final
decisions were made. This suggestion was accepted by the British
Cabinet, and on Slat October, 1929, the Governor-General, Lord
Irwin, made the momentous announcement ‘‘that the natural issue
of India’s Constitutional progress . . . is the attainment of Dominion
Status ” and that a Round Table Conference would be held in
London after the Simon Commission had reported.
The Report of the Simon Commission was published in May,
1930. Briefly speaking, it recommended complete Responsible
Government in the Provinces, even the control of police and
j ustice being transferred to the Ministers responsible to the
Legislatures. Legislatures were to be based on a wider franchise
and the official bloc was to go. In the Central Government, it
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, 1906-1937 921
recommended the continuance of complete British authority and
control. It pointed out the importance of the growth of contact
with the Indian States and envisaged the scheme of an AU-India
Federation, including the Princes, though its perfect realisation
was considered to be a distant possibility. But the recommenda-
tions of the Commission were repudiated outright by the Indian
nationalists. The British Government then summoned in London
a Bound Table Conference, consisting of 16 representatives of the
three British political parties, 16 delegates from the Indian States
and 57 delegates from British India, including some prominent
Indians like Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Mr. Srinivasa Sastri, Mr. C. Y.
COUNCIL AND ASSEMBLY BUILDING, DELHI
Chintamoni, Dr, B. R. Ambedkar and Sir Mohammad Shafi,
to consider the question of the Indian Constitution. The
first session of the Conference was held from 12th November,
1930, to 19th January, 1931, and the Princes declared their willing-
ness to Join the proposed Federation provided that responsibility
was given to the Central Government. Though the Congress did not
at first participate in the Conference, Gandhiji attended the second
session (7th September to 1st December, 1931) as its sole re-
presentative, but could not get what he wanted. The third session
of the Conference, attended by a far smaller number of representatives
than before, met from 17th November to 24th December, 1932.
As a result of the discussions at the Conferences, the British Govern-
ment drafted its proposals for the reform of the Indian Constitution,
922 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
which were embodied in the White Paper published in March, 1933.
The White Paper was examined by a Joint Committee of both the
Houses of Parliament, presided over by Lord Linlithgow, Viceroy
of India, since 1936, with the help of Indian assessors. The Com-
mittee approved of the proposals of the White Paper subject to
certain modifications and presented its report in October, 1934.
A Bill, prepared on the report of this Committee, known as the
Government of India Bill, 1935, was introduced in Parliament
and became an Act on 2nd August, 1935, with slight alterations.
The Act of 1935 embodied two main principles — (1) an All-India
Federation, comprising Governors’ Provinces, Chief Commissioners’
Provinces, and the Federating Indian States, and (2) Provincial
Autonomy, with a Government responsible to an elected Legislature
in every Governor’s Province. All functions hitherto exercised by
the Secretary of State, the Government of India and the Provinces
were resumed by the Crown, which redistributed them between the
Central Government on the one hand and the Provinces on the other.
As regards the Indian States, the functions and powers of para-
moxmtcy were to be exercised henceforth not by the Government
of India but by “His Majesty’s Representative for the exercise of
those functions of the Crown”. Normally, though not necessarily,
this office was to be held by the Governor- General, but as His
Majesty’s representative and not as the head of the Federal
Government. Further, certain important departments like foreign
affairs, ecclesiastical affairs and defence, being excluded from
the control of the Indian Legislature, were to be administered by
the Governor-General under the superintendence and direction of
Whitehall alone; and the Governor-General and the Governors of
Provinces were invested with special powers, in respect of functions
transferred to the control of Ministers, for which they had responsi-
bility to the British Parliament. Thus the constitutional status of
India, even under the new Act, was that of a dependency, though
it was “gradually gravitating towards that of a Dominion”.
The States being “independent” entities could not be compelled
to enter the Federation. Each State willing to join it was required to
execute through its ruler an Instrument of Accession, which must bo
accepted by the Crown before it became a member of the Federation.
The Federation was to be proclaimed by His Majesty when two con-
ditions were satisfied : (1) an address in that behalf must be presented
to the King by each House of Parliament, and (2) States vdiich were
entitled to choose not less than fifty-two members in the up]3er house
of the Federal Legislature, and whose population xvas not less than
one-half of the total population of the States, must accede to it.
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, 1906-1937 923
As this portion of the Act dealing with the Federation was never
actually brought into operation, we need not discuss it in detail and
will only briefly describe its provisions. The Act provided for a
“Federal Executive” of a diarchical nature consisting of two parts.
One of these, in charge of “transferred departments”, was to be
responsible to the Legislature; and the other, dealing with speci-
fically reserved departments like Foreign Affairs, Defence, etc., was
to remain under the sole charge of the Governor-General, who was
in these matters responsible only to the British Parliament. Even
in those subjects which were to be handed over to the Ministers,
the Governor-General was given special powers and responsibilities,
and discretion to act on his own authority.
The Federal Legislature was to be a bicameral body consisting of a
“Lower Chamber ”, known as the House of Assembly or the Federal
Assembly, and an “ Upper Chamber ”, known as the Council of State.
The Lower Chamber was to consist of 250 representatives of British
India and not more than 125 of the Indian States. The members
of the Federal Assembly were to be elected not by popular con-
stituencies, but by the Legislative Assemblies of the Provinces.
Even in this indirect form of election, the General (Hindu), Muslim
and Sikh seats were to be filled by the representatives of these
commxmities in the Provincial Assemblies, voting separately for a
prescribed number of seats for each community. The Council of
State, or the Upper Chamber, was to consist of 156 members for
British India and not more than 104 for the federating States. The
State members were to be appointed by their respective rulers. Of
the members for British India, six were to be nominated by the
Governor-General so as to secure the due representation of the
minority communities, depressed classes, and women, and the rest
were to be directly, in a few cases indirectly, elected on a high
franchise by communal electorates. The tenure of life of the Federal
Assembly was to be for five years, but the Governor-General could
dissolve it earlier at his discretion. The Council of State was to be a
permanent body not subject to dissolution. The term of each member
was not to exceed nuie years, and one-third of the total number
of members were to retire every three years. Barring some minor
details, both the Chambers were to have co-ordinate powers in almost
all respects, even in financial matters.
The character and shape of the Provincial Government w^ere
changed considerably by the Act of 1935. It made provision for
redistribution of the Provmces, and two new Provinces were
created — Sind, separated from the Bombay Presidency, and
Orissa, comprising a portion of the teiritory of the old Province
924 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of Bihar and Orissa, part of the Central Provinces, and certain areas
of the Madras Presidency, inhabited by the Oriyas. Burma was
separated from British India, and Aden also ceased to be a part
of India. In all, there were now eleven Governors’ Provinces and
six Chief Commissioners’ Provinces, The Chief Commissioners’
Provinces were administered by the Governor-General through a
Chief Commissioner appointed by him according to his discretion.
In the Governors’ Provinces, diarchy was abolished and Pro-
vincial Autonomy introduced. The Act vested the executive
authority of a Province in the Governor himself as the representative
of the Crown. He was provided with a Council of Ministers
to aid and advise him in the discharge of the functions conferred
on him by the Act, in the entire sphere of provincial government,
except in certain matters like law and order, etc., for which he
had special responsibilities and which were in his sole discretion.
The Mhiisters were to be appointed by the Governor normally
from amongst the members of the local Legislature^ and were to be
responsible to it. In constituting the Ministry, the Governor was to
pay due regard to the interests of minorities. The salaries of the
Ministers would not vary during their term of office.
The Provincial Legislature consisted of the Governor as His
Majesty’s Representative, and one or two chambers. Madras,
Bombay, Bengal, the United Provinces, Bihar and Assam, had
each two chambers known as the Legislative Council and
the Legislative Assembly ; the rest of the Provinces, the
Punjab, the Central Provinces and Berar, the North-West
Frontier Province, Orissa and Sind, had each a single chamber
known as the Legislative Assembly. The strength of the Legisla-
tive Assembly, or the lower chamber, varied from 50 to 250
members, all elected; and it was to sit for five years, though it
might be dissolved earlier by the Governor. The electorate in
every Province for choosing representatives of the Legislature
was formed on the basis of communities and interests, according
to the terms of the Communal Award of 4th August, 1932, as
modified by the Poona Pact of the 26th September, 1932. Besides
representatives of special electorates, certain seats out of the
general ones were reserved for the “scheduled castes”, that
is, the so-called depressed classes. About 10 per cent of the total
population of India was enfranchised by this Act, and women
were given a wider franchise than was provided by the Act of
^tinder the Act of 1919 the Ministers were rocmited from among the
elected members of the Legislature. But according to the Act of 1935 a
nominated member of the Upper Chamber of the Legislature might be
appointed a Minister.
925
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, 1906-1937
1919. The Legislative Council, or the upper chamber, was a per-
manent body not subject to dissolution, but as near as might
be one-third of its members were to retire every third year. It was
formed on the same communal basis as the Legislative Assembly.
The powers of the two Chambers were co-ordinate, except in the
matter of voting certain grants to the Government and intro-
ducing financial bills, which were within the purview of the Legis-
lative Assembly. If there were a difference of opinion between
the two Chambers in regard to a Bill, the Governor had the power
to convoke a joint session of the two Chambers and to form a
decision according to the opinion of the majority of members of
the joint meeting.
The Governor was invested with some extraordinary powers.
Under certain conditions, he could refuse his assent to bills passed
by the Legislature. He had the power to promulgate ordinances
if, when the Legislature was not in session, he thought that circum-
stances rendered it necessary for him to take immediate action, and
also to issue ordinances at any time with regard to certain subjects.
These ordinances had the same force and effect as an Act of the
Provincial Legislature during the prescribed period. Further,
under certain conditions, the Governor could issue permanent Acts,
known as Governor’s Acts, either forthwith or after consulting
the Legislature if it so pleased him. Again, in case of the failure of
the constitutional machinery, the Governor might by proclamation
“declare that his functions shall, to such extent as may be specified
in the Proclamation, be exercised by him in his discretion”. The
Governor exercised these powers under the direction and control
of the Governor-General and the British Parliament. Thus though
the Act of 1935 had given autonomy to the Provinces in a large
sphere of public administration, the special powers of the Governor
were regarded as limitations on real responsible government. The
constitutional provisions regarding the Provincial Governments
came into force on the Ist April, 1937. In July, 1937, the
Congress formed Ministries in the majority of the Governors’
Provinces and remained in office till the closing months of
1939.
3. The Indian States
The constitutional problem of India continued to be very much
complicated by the existence of the States as an outstanding feature
in Indian political life. British paramountcy over the States was
clearly asserted by Lord Curzon, LordMinto II and Lord Hardinge II,
though in view of the disturbed political situation in India after the
926
AN ADVANCED HISTORY Of INDIA
Bengal Partition agitation and the difficulties of the 1914-18 War
respectively, Lord Minto II and Lord Hardinge II adopted a more
conciliatory attitude towards the States and tried to secure greater
co-operation from them. When investmg the Maharaja of Jodhpur
with ruling powers on the 26th February, 1916, Lord Hardinge II
described the Indian princes as “helpers and colleagues in the
great task of imperial rule”.
Later this policy was manifested in two ways. One was the
development of the Imperial Service Troops (maintained by the
States and trained by British officers), which had their beginnings
in the days of Lord Dufferin (1884-1888) and rendered valuable
ser vices to the cause of the British Empire, especially during the First
World W’ar. The other was the growth of a consultative body com-
posed of representatives of different States. Attempts to constitute
such a body had been made before by Lord Lytton, Lord Cinrzon,
Lord Minto II and Lord Hardinge 11, and its importance was further
realised by Lord Chelmsford after the First World War. The
Montagu-Chelmsford Report made a definite recommendation for
such a body, and accordingly the Chamber of Princes was set up by
the Crown by a Royal Proclamation on the 8th February, 1921. The
Chamber of Princes was a consultative and not an executive body,
consisting of representatives of different classes of States, with the
Viceroy as its President and a Chancellor and a Pro-Chancellor
elected aimually from among the members. The Viceroy could con-
sult its Standing Committee freely in matters relating to the territories
of the Indian States generally on those problems which concerned
British India and the States in common. The Chamber, however,
could not deal with the internal affairs of Indian States or thefr rulers,
or their relations with the Crown, or interfere in any way with the
existing rights or engagements of the States or restrict their freedom
of action.
At the same time, the growth of paramountcy and the right
claimed to interfere in the internal affairs of the States were not to
the hking of the rulers of the States, who became more touchy on
this point owing to the gradual Indianisation of the Government
of India. They also began to demand a share in the formulation
of the tariff policy and the collection of the customs revenue.
So in December, 1927, the Secretary of State appointed the Indian
States Committee, popularly known as the Butler Committee, after
the name of its Chairman, Sir Har court Butler, ^ to investigate the
relationship between the Paramount Power and the Indian States
^ Formerly Governor in succession of the United Provinces and of Burma,
and previously a member of the Governor-General’s Council.
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, 1906-11)37 927
and to make recommendations for the adjustment of economic and
financial relations between British India and the Indian States.
The Committee reported early in 1929 and along with several
recommendations recorded its strong opinion “that, in view of
the historical nature of the relationshix? between the Paramount
Power and the Princes, the latter should not be transferred without
their own agreement to a relationship with a new Government in
India responsible to an Indian legislature”. The recommendations
of the Committee were criticised on the ground that they were
not in consonance with the spirit of the times and did not make the
relations between the two halves of India “harmonious and
satisfactory”.
But sober opinion on both sides soon realised the necessity
of a closer association between the Indian States and British
India in a federation, as both were intimately inten-elated
in various ways. The Nehru Committee in 1928 and the
Indian Statutory Commission emphasised this point. We have
already noted how the Government of India Act, 1935, provided
for the accession of the States to the proposed Federation.
CHAPTER VII
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION AND GENERAL CONDITION, 1906-1938
I. General Review
The POLITICAL agitation which followed upon the Partition of Bengal
by Lord Ourzon gradually assumed a revolutionary character.
Apart from the growth of a radical section in the Congress, and the
movement for boycotting foreign goods by w^ay of protest against the
Partition, secret societies grew up in various parts of India with the
avowed object of collecting arms and manufacturing bombs to do
away with certain types of officials and, if possible, to organize an
armed insurrection. There was a “general state of serious unrest”
not only in Bengal but even in distant Provinces lilte the Punjab
and Madras, and Government adopted strong measures. Laws were
passed which put severe restrictions on popular movements as well
as on the Press and public meetings. Some of the leading figures
were deported without trial. Others were hanged or transported for
life, and a large number, including notable leaders like Tilak, were
sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. But even these severe
measures could not check the murders and outrages, and ultimately
the Government decided to modify Lord Curzon’s measure. The
despatch of the Government of India on the subject, dated the 25th
August, 1911, testified to the bitterness of feeling engendered by the
Partition. It also frankly recognised the “substantial grievance”
of the Bengalis “who found themselves outnumbered in the legis-
latures of both the Provinces of Bengal and Eastern Bengal”, and
the “growing estrangement, which had assumed a very serious char-
acter in many parts of the country, between Mahommedans and
Hindus.”
The accession of Emg George V was followed by a Durbar in
Delhi held by the King and Queen in person in December, 1911. His
Majesty made two famous annormcements in the Durbar. One was
the creation of the Presidency of Bengal under a Governor. Bihar,
Orissa and Chota Nagpur were separated from it and formed into a
Province under a Lieutenant-Governor, while Assam was restored
as a Chief-Commissionership. (Both were subsequently placed under
Governors.) The other was the transfer of the capital of India from
928
930
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
Calcutta to Delhi, The Viceroy, Lord Hardinge, was severely criticised
for recommending these measures, but time to a large extent justi-
fied his policy, idthough terrorist outrages were not stamped out
altogether, there was a considerable improvement in the general
situation, and feelings against the British grew much less bitter.
This was abundantly demonstrated in less than three years’ time,
for the outbreak of the World War in 1914 put the loyalty of India
to a stern test, and she acquitted herself in a way which won her the
gratitude of Britain and the admiration of the world. Her people and
Princes ungrudgingly placed their resources at the disposal of the
Government, and Lndiau soldiers fought with bravery and won
distinction in various theatres of war in Europe, Africa and Western
Asia. Even in the first few months of the war nearly 300,000 were
sent overseas to fight on different fronts, and India supplied England
with “70,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition, 60,000 rifles
of the latest type, and more than 550 guns.” During the course of
the war more than 800,000 combatants and 400,000 non-combatants
were recruited on a voluntary basis. India’s contribution in material
was also almost equally important. Apart from munitions, her
cotton, jute, iron, steel, wolfram, manganese, mica, saltpetre, rubber,
skins, petroleum, tea and wheat, were of great help to the Allies.
India also made financial contributions to her utmost capacity.
Although her troops were employed outside her borders, she paid the
normal expenditure for their maintenance, which varied between
20 and 30 million poimds sterling per annum. She also paid the cost
of an additional force of 300,000 men and made a free gift of
£100,000,000 sterling to the British Government. These heavy
payments involved India in currency difficulties of a serious nature
for many years.
England fully recognised the generous services of India. Apart
from the constitutional changes of 1919, described above, Indians
were admitted to the War Cabinet and the Imperial Conference.
Mr. S. P. Sioha was made a peer and appointed Under-Secretary of
State for India. Indians were admitted to King’s Commissions in the
army. A Territorial Eorce and a University Training Corps were
organised. When the League of Nations was established India be-
came one of its foimdation members.
2 , Local Self-Government
Whatevee might have been the intentions of Lord Ripon, his
reforms in the sphere of local self-govemment did not make it
free from official control, and, as the Indian Statutory Commission
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 931
observed in 1929, “no real attempt was made to inaugurate a
system amenable to the wiU of the local inhabitants”. These
defects were clearly recognised by the Montagu-Chelmsford Report,
and Lord Chelmsford’s Government issued a Resolution on the
16th May, 1918, declaring the “policy of the gradual removal
of unnecessary Government control and of differentiating the
spheres of action appropriate for Government and for local bodies
respectively”. It was proposed to make these bodies as representa-
tive as possible, to remove unnecessary restrictions regarding
tasation, the budget and the sanction of works, to bring the
franchise as low as possible and to replace nominated Chairmen
by elected non-ofhcials. This Resolution also emphasised the
importance of developing the corporate life of the village.
In 1921 local self-government became a Transferred subject
in charge of Ministers. The Municipalities and Local Boards were
vested with enhanced powers and functions, were freed com-
paratively from official control, became responsible to an enlarged
electorate, and came to have elected Chairmen except under
extraordinary conditions when expert guidance became necessary.
The Provincial Governments began to evince great zeal and interest
for the progress of local institutions, and passed several Acts
modifying their nature in the cities and the villages to suit modern
conditions. It is of course true that the local bodies have not
worked satisfactorily in aU cases. But this is not because the people
are incapable of self-government, but is, as the Central Com-
mittee rightly pointed out, “the inevitable result of the suddenness
with which the transition from official tutelage to complete freedom
was made”.
One notable feature of local self-government in modern times
is the institution of Improvement Trusts in important cities like
Bombay, Calcutta, Lucknow, Allahabad, Cawnpore and Rangoon,
which have undertaken important activities to improve local
sanitation.
3. The Public Services
During the early years of the twentieth century Indians con-
tinued to agitate for a greater share in the Public Services.
In September, 1912, a Royal Commission on the Public Services
in India was appointed, with Lord Islington as Chairman. Among
the members of the Commission were the late Mr. G. K. Gokhale,
Lord Ronaldshay (later Lord Zetland), Sir Yalentine Ohirol,
Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, Mr. Herbert Fisher, later Warden of
New College, Oxford, and Sir ‘Abdur Rahim. Owing to the outbreak
932 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
of the First World War, the publication of this Commission’s report
was deferred till 1917. It recommended that besides the recruit-
ment of Indians to the I.O.S. through the London examination,
25 per cent of the posts in the Superior Civil Service should
be filled from among Indians partly by direct recruitment and
partly by promotion from the lower service. To make the working
of this scheme possible, it also recommended the holding of an
examination in India for the recruitment of civilians, thus
conceding to the Indians in a changed form what they had been
demanding for more than half a century.
The authors of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report took a more
liberal and sympathetic view than the Islington Commission, on
the question of Indianising the Indian Civil Service. They pro-
posed that (1) “33 per cent of the superior posts should be recruited
for in India, and that this percentage should be increased by per
cent annually” until the situation was revised by a Commission;
(2) that all racial distinctions in the matter of appointments should
be abolished; and (3) that “for aU the Public Services, for which
there is recruitment in England open to Europeans and Indians
alike, there must be a system of appointment in India”. For
about four years, the principle laid down in the Montagu-Chelmsford
Report was followed in the matter of recruiting Indians. But the
members of the Superior Services became rather perturbed at the
growing Indianisation of the Services. Accordingly, pursuant to the
recommendation of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report, the Secretary
of State in Council introduced a scheme under which AU-India
ofiS-cers, selected for appointment before 1st January, 1920, and
not permanently employed under the Government of India, were
allowed to retire, before the completion of the normal period of
service, on a pension proportionate to their length of service.
But certain difSculties regarding the Services continued, for the
solution of which a Royal Commission was appointed in June,
1923, with Lord Lee of Fareham as its Chairman. The Lee Com-
mission submitted its report in 1924 and most of its recommenda-
tions were accepted and put into force by the Government.
The Commission recommended that AU-India officers of the Indian
Civil Service, the Indian Police Service, the Irrigation Branch of
the Service of Engiueers and the Indian Forest Service should
continue to be appointed and controlled by the Secretary of State
in Council, while the services in the Transferred departments should
be controUed by Provincial Governments, excepting the Indian
Medical Service, for which each Province was to appoint in its
civil medical department a certain number of officers lent by the
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 933
Medical Department of the Army in India. As regards Indianisation
of Services which were stiU to be controlled by the Secretary of
State, the Commission recommended that 20 per cent of the
officers should be recruited by promotion from Provincial Civil
Services, and of the remaining 80 per cent half should be British
and half Indian. It calculated that by foUowing this principle
there would be in 1939 equal numbers of Europeans and Indians
in the Superior Civil Service posts. But this calculation was wrong,
and the Simon Commission pointed out that the number of Indians
in Superior Civil Service posts was likely to be 643 as against 715
Europeans on the 1st January, 1939. As provided by the Govern-
ment of India Act, 1919, the Lee Commission recommended the
immediate establishment of a Public Service Commission. Such
a Commission, composed of five whole- time members, was appointed
in 1925. Further, after 1922 certain officers in the Indian Civil
Service were recruited on the result of a competitive examination
held every year in India.
Part X of the Government of India Act, 1935, defined the rights
and status of the civil and military officers in the Provinces and
the proposed Federation and guaranteed their existing privileges
regarding pay, promotion, leave, pension, etc. It also provided
for the establishment of a Federal Public Service Commission and
Provincial Public Service Commissions ; but two or more Provinces
might “agree that one Commission shall serve a group or that all
the Provinces shall use one Commission”. The functions of the
Commissions were purely advisory. They could only recommend
names, which the Ministers, at least in some cases, might accept
or reject.
4 . The Judiciary
The year 1861 saw the establishment of High Courts in
Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, in which were amalgamated the
previously existing Supreme Courts and Sadar Courts. At least
one-third of the judges of the High Courts were to be recruited
from Her Majesty’s Civil Service in India, another one-third
from among barristers of England or advocates of Scotland, and
the rest might be recruited from among the pleaders of the High
Courts or the officers of the subordinate judiciary. The Chief
Justices of the High Courts were to be appointed from among the
barristers of England or advocates of Scotland. On the strength
of the Indian High Courts Act of 1911, High Courts were estab-
lished at Patna, Lahore and Rangoon. The elimination of the
Civilian element from the bench had been demanded by Indian
934 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
public opinion. But the anangement provided by the Government
of India Act, 1935, did not satisfy this demand. It abolished
the old proportional arrangement and laid down that Judges would
be appointed, according to convenience, from these three classes
but “not necessarily in the old proportion” and thus held out
greater advantage in this respect for members of the Indian Civil
Service than what existed before. Further, the old rule of appoint-
ing the Chief Justices exclusively from among barristers or
advocates was modified to the extent that they now might be
recruited either from among the pleaders of High Courts or from
among the officers of the Indian Civil Service.
Another change in the Judiciary was necessitated by the proposed
Federation. Sections 200 and 203 of the Government of India Act,
1935, provided for the creation of a Federal Court, which was
normally to be located at Delhi and was to consist of a Chief Justice
and not more than six puisne Judges. The Judges were to be ap-
pointed by the Crown and were to hold office till the age of sixty-
five. The Federal Court was to have original Jurisdiction in cases of
constitutional disputes between one Province and another, between
a Province and a federated State, and between a Province and
the Federal authorities. It would also hear appeals from the High
Courts provided the latter certified that the cases related to a funda-
mental question of law regarding the interpretation of the Govern-
ment of India Act or any Order in Council made under it.
The Federal Court was constituted on October 1, 1937.
5. Police and Jails
The PoHce system established by the Police Act of 1861 revealed
grave defects in actual working, chiefly because the responsible
task of maintaining law and order was entrusted to rather untrained
and consequently irresponsible persons. A Police Commission was
appointed in 1902 to investigate the state of police administration.
The Commission made comprehensive recommendations regarding
different aspects of police organisation, which were accepted
in the main by the Government with some minor modifications
in matters of detail. This Commission created specialised police
agencies, known as Criminal Investigation Departments, in each
Province for the investigation of “specialist and professional”
crimes. Also a Central Intelligence Bureau under the Home Depart-
ment of the Government of India was formed to collect information
from all provincial Criminal Investigation Departments, and to work
for inter- provincial liaison.
ADMINISTEATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 935
Strictly speaking, no Indian or All-India police was created. The
police established by the Act of 1861 became an essentially provincial
organisation, administered by the Local Government concerned,
and not subject to the general control of the Central Government.
At the head of the police organisation in each Province was placed
an Inspector-General of Police with general control over it. Deputy
Inspector- Generals were given subordinate charges of portions of
the Province. At the head of each district was appointed a
District Superintendent of Police, having under him Inspectors of
Police, Sub-Inspectors and Constables in subordinate charges called
sub-divisions and tMmMs. In villages provision was made for chow-
hiddrs or watchmen, who were not to get stipends but were to
receive perquisites from the residents of the -^lage, or rent-free
lands, or small sums of money from the Government. In the
Presidency towns like Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, was stationed a
unified police force under the Police Commissioner, acting not under
the provincial Inspector-General but dealing directly with the
Government and responsible for law and order and for departmental
training and efficiency.
There is no doubt that the police organisation stiU requires
thorough-going reforms. One thing essentially needed is that the
“morale and intelligence” of the police officers shah be improved
so that they may exercise their authority with more discretion.
The recruitment of a number of literate police constables, during
recent years, and employment of Home Guards for local watch and
ward, are encouraging features.
Jail administration in India came to be regulated in modem times
by the Indian Prisons Act of 1894 and by rules issued under it by the
Government of India and the Provincial Governments. Three types
of jails were established, — Central, District and Subsidiary, In each
Province the Jail Department was placed under the control of an
Inspector-General of Prisons, who was generally to be a member
of the Indian Medical Service with jail experience. The Central
Jails were under Superintendents, who also came to be recruited
from the same Service and to be assisted in large Central Jails by
Deputy Superintendents. A District Jail came under the charge
of a Civil Surgeon, with subordinate staff composed of jailors, deputy
and assistant jailors, and warders. Many big cities were provided
with Reformatory Schools, administered since 1899 by the Education
Department.
The Government of India appointed a Jails Committee in 1919
with a view to reforming jail administration. This Committee
made a comprehensive survey of Indian prison administration and
936 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
emphasised “the necessity of improving and increasing existing
jail accommodation; of recruiting a better class of warders; of
providing education for prisoners ; and of developing prison industries
so as to meet the needs of the consuming Departments of Govern-
ments”. It also recommended the separation of Civil from Criminal
offenders and the creation of Children’s Courts, and drew particular
attention to the reformative side of the system. The Provincial
Governments have tried to carry out these recommendations
more or less.
Under the Government of India Act, 1919, the maintenance
of prisons fell within the sphere of Provincial Governments, subject,
however, to all-India legislation. With the introduction of Pro-
vincial Autonomy from the 1st April, 1937, jail administration
became a Provincial subject and the power of legislation in this
respect was vested in the Provincial Governments, the Central
Government exercising only concurrent law-making powers with
the Provincia.1 Governments as regards the transfer of prisoners
and criminals from one unit to another.
6. The Military System and Defence
During the viceroyalty of Lord Curzon, a significant change took
place in the Army administration. Till then the Commander-in-
Ohief was an Extraordinary Member of the Governor-General’s
Executive Council. But there was also on this body a Military
Member as the “ constitutional adviser of the Viceroy on all questions
relating to the Army”. The Commander-in-Chief had to introduce
his proposals and schemes before the Council through the Military
Member, who was an officer of lower rank than himself. Lord
Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief of India since November, 1902, con-
demned this system as a “military solecism involving, moreover,
great expense and delay ”. He advocated the abolition of the Military
Member, and sought to make the Commander-in-Chief the sole mili-
tary adviser to the Government of India. But Lord Curzon opposed
it on the ground that the military must be held subordinate to the
civil power. This controversy led to the resignation of the Viceroy
in August, 1905. The British Cabinet decided in favour of Lord
Eatcheiier and made a compromise which, however, proved un-
workable within a short period and was consequently abrogated.
After 1909 the Commander-in-Chief was the sole military adviser
of the Government of India, but in the opinion of many
publicists Lord Curzon’s standpoint was reasonable and just. The
next higher authority, above the Commander-in-Chief, in military
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 937
administration was the Governor-General-in-Couneil, who had to
pay due regard to all orders received from the Secretary of State in
regard to the Defence Administration in India. The Secretary of
State, as one of His Majesty’s Ministers, had special responsibility
and authority in this matter.
The problem of Indian defence has been one of the burning
topics of modern Indian politics. With the progress of the Nation-
alist Movement in India, her people demanded a definite
control over the defence administration, and political leaders
insistently complained against the heavy Army expenditure, which,
in their opinion, should be diverted to “nation-building” activities.
The Montagn-Chelmsford Report, after praising the brilliant and
faithful services of the Indian Army during the First World War,
emphasised “the necessity of grappling with the problem” of
Indianising it further. The Nehru Report advocated the transfer
of control over the Indian Army to the Ministers, The Skeen
Committee, appointed in June, 1925, with Major-General (after-
wards General) Sir Andrew Skeen, the then Chief-of-Sta£f of the
Army in India, as Chairman, and commonly known as the “Indian
Sandhurst Committee”, recommended the abolition of the “eight
units scheme”, which had been announced in 1923 by Lord
Rawlinson, the then Commander-in-Chief in India, and the establish-
ment of an Indian “Sandhurst” by 1933. These recommendations
were not fully carried out. The Indian Statutory Commission
considered the “cardinal problem” of national defence from
different points of view, and insisted on the presence of the British
element in the Indian Army on three considerations — frontier
defence, internal security and obligations to the Indian States.
It observed that “the control of an Army including a British
element cannot be made over to an Indian Legislature” and that
“the evolution of an entirely Indian military force capable of
undertakmg unaided the tasks now discharged by the Army in
India, must be a very slow process indeed”. No “substantial
change” was made in the matter of India’s defence by the
Government of India Act, 1935.
As regards the organisation of the Army, we may note that the
Command system introduced by Lord Bdtchener in 1904 was abolished
by him in 1907, when the Indian Army was divided into two sections,
the Northern and the Southern. The war of 1914-1 8, during which
Indian troops of all descriptions rendered valuable services, showed
the defects of this system, and it was reorganised after the war
was over. The Indian territory was divided into four commands,
subdivided into fourteen districts, each district containing a certain
938 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
number of brigade commands. One of these, the Western Com-
mand, was abolished on the 1st November, 1938.
The defence forces of India consisted in 1939 of the Regular
Army, including units from the British Army ; the Auxiliary Eorce,
the membership of which was limited to European British subjects ;
the Territorial Force, composed of three main categories, provincial
battalions, urban units and the University Training Corps Units ;
the Royal Air Force from October, 1932; and the Royal Indian
Marine, designated as the Royal Indian Navy from October, 1934.
There were also the Indian State Forces, formerly known as the
Imperial Service Troops, raised and maintained by the rulers of
States at their own cost and for State service.
There were two main categories of officers in the Indian Army,
those holding the King’s Commission and those holding the
Viceroy’s Commission. The latter were all Indians having a limited
status and power of command. As for the King’s Commission,
Indians had been eligible for it since 1918 in three ways {a) by quali-
fying themselves as cadets at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst,
and the Indian IVIilitary Academy at Dehra Dun (opened in October,
1932), (6) by the selection of efficient Indian officers or promotion
of non-commissioned officers of regiments from the ranks, and
(c) by the award of honorary King’s Commissions to officers who
cannot qualify themselves for these on account of their advanced
age or lack of education. In 1932 the Government announced
its intention of Indianising a Division of all Arms and a Cavalry
Brigade. Another important stage in the Indianisation of the
Indian Army was marked by the passing of the Indian Army (Amend-
ment) Act by the Central Legislature during its autumn session
of 1934. According to this measure, officers commissioned from
the Indian Military Academy would enjoy legal status and would
be designated as “Indian Commissioned officers”.
Important steps were taken during succeeding years to bring
the equipment and organisation of the defence forces of India
into line with modem conditions. In September, 1939, the recom-
mendations of the Chatfield Committee were published. Provision
was made for a gift of thirty-three and a half crores by the United
Kingdom for bringing about the desired reforms, and a loan of
eleven and three-quarter crores free of interest was also provided
for. The establishment of British troops was to be reduced by about
25 per cent. The Army was to be distributed on the following basis,
namely, frontier defence, internal security, coast defence and
general reserve. Provision was also made for light tanks
and armoured cars and for motor transport. Artillery regiments
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938. 939
were to be mechanised and better equipped with guns. The Air
Force was to be provided with bomber squadrons, flights for coast
defence and for co-operation with the army- The Royal Indian
Navy was to be strengthened by vessels of the newest type.
Ordnance factories were to be reconstructed and expanded.
7- Financial Administration
To Lord Mayo’s Government belongs the credit for taking the
first important step towards financial decentralisation in India by
giving to each Provincial Government a fixed grant for the mainten-
ance of certain definite services, such as police, jails, education and
the medical services, with powers, under certain financial rules,
to allocate the revenues assigned to them at their discretion and
to provide for extra expenditure by economising, or, if necessary,
by raising local taxes. The next significant step in this direction
was taken in 1877 during the Viceroyalty of Lord Lytton, when,
as we have already noted, certain important heads of revenue were
provincialised, while the responsibility of Provinces as regards
expenditure was extended to the departments of land revenue,
general administration, and law and justice. Settlements on these
lines were made in 1882 and 1897 with, however, no change of
principle in any case.
A departure was made in 1904 with the introduction of "the
system of quasi-permanent settlements” under which assignments
of revenues made to Provincial Governments were definitely fixed
and were not subject to change by the Central Government except
under extraordinary circumstances. Something more was gained
by the Provinces a little later by the introduction of the famine
insurance scheme, according to which a fixed amount was placed
by the Government of India to the' credit of each Provincial
Government, which the latter could utilise in case of famine vdthout
touching its normal resources. In 1917 the famine relief expenditure
was made a divided head, the expenses being borne by the Central
and Provincial Governments in the proportion of three to one.
No radical change in financial relations between the Centre
and the Provinces was proposed by the Royal Commission on
Decentralisation in India appointed in 1908. But in 1912 Lord
Hardinge’s Government made the financial settlements permanent,
reduced the fixed provincial assignments and increased the share
of the Provinces in the growing revenues. The restrictions on the
financial powers of the Provincial Governments were still very
stringent. The Montagu-Chelmsford Report pointed out how
940 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
seriously the existing financial arrangements operated “as an
obstacle to provincial enfranchisement ” and suggested a wider degree
of financial devolution. Accordingly a Committee, known as the
Financial Relations Committee, was appointed, with Lord Meston,
who had been Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces and
the Finance Member of the Governor- General’s Executive Council,
as Chairman. The scheme set up according to the recommenda-
tions of this Committee, with slight modifications made by the
Joint Select Committee of Parliament, is known as the Meston
Award. It avoided, as far as possible, divided heads of revenue.
To make the financial relations between the Central and Provincial
Governments clear and definite, certain sources of income, such
as Land Revenue, Excise, Irrigation, Forests, Judicial Stamps
and Registration Fees and Minerals, were made Provincial, while
sources like Customs Duty, Income Tax, Railway Revenues, Posts
and Telegraphs, Salt and Opium were reserved for the Central
Government. Total abolition of the divided heads was not possible
and it was laid down that the Provinces should receive some
share in the increase of revenue from income tax. The contri-
butions to be made by the Provincial Governments to meet the
Central deficit, varying in amount, were also fixed, their total
being a little less than ten crores of rupees. The Province of Bihar
and Orissa was not required to make any contribution at aU. The
Provinces protested against these contributions, which, being
consequently reduced in amount in successive stages, finally dis-
appeared from the Budget in 1928-1929.
With the begimiing of attempts for the introduction of the
proposed Federal Constitution, the important question of the
distribution of revenues between the Central Government and the
Provincial Governments was considered by the India Statutory
Commission (Layton Report), by a sub-committee of the Federal
Structure Committee under the chairmanship of Lord Peel, and
by a Federal Finance Committee with Lord Eustace Percy as its
Chairman. The Government of India Act, 1935, provided a com-
posite financial arrangement, based on the findings of the above-
mentioned bodies. A classification was made of the sources of
revenue as Federal and Provincial in separate lists. The following
taxes w^ere to be levied and collected by the Federal Government :
{i) Duties in respect of succession to property other than agricultural
land, {ii) Stamp duties in respect of bills of exchange, cheques,
promissory notes, bills of lading, letters of credit, policies of in-
surance, proxies and receipts, (m) Terminal taxes on goods or
passengers carried by railway and air, {iv) Taxes on railway’ fares
ADMINISTEATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 941
and freights, (v) Taxes on income, excluding corporation taxes
(that is, a tax on the profits of companies), (vi) Salt excise and
export duties.
The net proceeds of some of these duties and taxes, such as the
income tax, duties on jute export, etc., were to he distributed,
under certain conditions, among the Provinces and the Federal
States within which these had been collected. The Federal Legis-
lature was, however, competent to levy a surcharge on these duties
and taxes and to appropriate the proceeds for Federal purposes.
The Secretary of State appointed a financial expert, Sir Otto
Niemeyer, to determine the terms of the financial settle-
ment between the Central and Provincial Governments. His
report, published in April, 1936, was accepted and its main
recommendations were : (i) To enable all the Provinces to possess
adequate financial resources on the inauguration of the new Consti-
tution on 1st April, 1937, certain Provinces to be given cash
subventions, (n) some Provinces should be granted relief in the
form of cancellation of debts incurred prior to 1st April, 1936,
(ni) twelve and a half per cent of the jute tax should be distributed
among the jute-growing Provinces, and (w) subject to certain
conditions, half of the income tax should be assigned to the
Provinces beginning from five years after the inauguration of
Provincial Autonomy, This scheme did not satisfactorily solve
the fundamental problem of Indian finance by giving adequate
funds to the Provinces for their relief or added strength. In order
to secure financial stabihty, the Reserve Bank Act was passed in
1934 and the Bank began operations in 1935.
Land revenue is the main source of revenue of the Provinces.
It is partly in the nature of a rent and partly a tax. In recent times
attempts had been made to bring it under the effective control of
the Legislature, and with the inauguration of Provincial Autonomy
the new Legislatures in the Provinces paid much attention towards
revising land revenue administration. The Socialists demanded the
abolition of the Zamindari system, and some new Governments in
the Provinces also want to enforce it.
8. Communications and Public Works
A. Bailways
Under the new Guarantee System (1879-1900), most of the
railways were acquired or purchased hy the State on the expiry of
the respective periods of contract with the companies concerned.
942
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
But the management was left to the companies, subject to Govern-
ment control, exercised through the Railway Board, which was
created in 1905. The fourteen years before the First World War were
marked by a rapid extension of railways and a beginning of railway
profits. But during the period 1914-1921, there was a setback,
partly due to wartime pressure on them and partly due to the
decrease of the annual programme of capital expenditure.
After the introduction of the reforms of 1919, a Committee
was appointed, wdth the late Sir William Acworth as its Chairman,
to investigate into the working of the railways and recommend a
suitable policy for their further development. The Committee
recommended an expenditure of 150 crores of rupees every five
years on improving the railways; and its majority report definitely
favoured State management of the railways and construction of
new lines by State agency. The Committee also recommended
the creation of a new department of communications, reorganisa-
tion of railway boards, establishment of a Railway Rates Tribunal,
and separation of the railway budget from the general budget.
It should be noted that Indian public opinion has always been
opposed to company management of railways, not only because
their profits thereby went out of India but also because the
companies were considered to be unsympathetic towards Indian
national interests. Though the Government of India did not
definitely accept the recommendation of the majority report regard-
ing the ending of company management, yet under the pressure
of Indian opinion it ultimately took under its direct manage-
ment the East Indian Railway (Ist January, 1925), the Great Indian
Peninsular Railway (30th June, 1925), the Burma Railways (1st
January, 1929) and the Southern Punjab Railway (1st January,
1930). The Government began to undertake all new construction
of railways. The Railway Board was also reorganised. As con-
stituted in 1936, it had the Chief Commissioner as President,
the Financial Commissioner and three other members, The Rates
Advisory Committee was created in 1926, and the Central Publicity
Bureau of the Railway Board was started on the 1st April, 1927.
In accordance with the recommendation of the Acworth Committee,
railway finance was separated from the general Budget from 1925.
B. Hoods
Progressive decentralisation, and the growth of local self-
government, have afforded considerable stimulus to road develop-
ment. More attention has also been recently paid to the need
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 943
for co-ordination of rad-road transport, and this question was
discussed in 1933 by a specially convened Road-Rail Conference
at Simla. A special Road Development Committee was appointed
in 1927 to consider the road problems of India. In accordance with
its recommendations, the import and excise duties on motor spirit
were increased from four to six annas per gallon in March, 1929, the
additional duty being earmarked for expenditure on road develop-
ment ; the Standing Committee of the Indian Legislature on R.oads
was created in the following April ; and the All-India Road Con-
ferences began to be convened from time to time.
• C. Water Transport
The importance of Water Transport has decreased in modern
times, owing to the construction of railways. The water transport of
India falls into two divisions : Inland water transport, facilitated
by the river systems of Northern India, and Marine transport
along India’s extensive coastline. In 1918 the Industrial Com-
mission emphasised the need of co-ordinating railway and waterway
administrations in order to relieve railway congestion and meet
the requirements of small-scale transport. For several reasons,
the position of India’s shipping and ship-building industries had
become unsatisfactory. The need of developing an Indian
Mercantile Marine was keenly felt, and, on the recommendation
of the Marine Mercantile Committee (1923), the Government
provided a training ship, the I.M.M. T. S. Dufferin, for Indian
cadets.
D. Irrigation
Irrigation works have a special importance in an agricultural
country like India, where the rainfall is unequally distributed
throughout the seasons and is liable to failure or serious deficiency.
The famines of 1896 and 1901 clearly showed the need and import-
ance of protective irrigation works. Lord Curzon appointed a
Commission on Irrigation m 1901, which submitted its report
in 1903. A new chapter in the irrigation policy of the Govern-
ment was opened by the recommendations of this Commission.
Among other things, it specially recommended the possible
extension of the scope of productive, especially protective irriga-
tion works for the Deccan districts of Bombay, Madras, the Central
Provinces and BundeUdiand. It sketched out a rough programme
of irrigation works for the next twenty years, adding million
acres to the irrigated area at an estimated cost of £30,000,000.
944 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
There are three classes of irrigation works in India : {i) WeUs,
(ii) Tanks, and (Hi) Canals. The canals are of three kinds: (a)
Perennial canals, (6) Inundation canals, and (c) Storage works.
Since 1921 irrigation works have been classified under two main
heads : (i) Productive, and (ii) Unproductive, with a third class
covering areas irrigated by non-capital works.
After the reforms of 1919, irrigation became a Provmcial subject.
The Provmcial Governments have shown much activity re-
garding irrigation works, and the important measures that have
been undertaken in this direction, are ; {i) The Sutlej Valley project
in the Punjab, completed in 1933, (ii) the Sukkur Barrage in Sind,
completed in 1932, {Hi) the Kaveri Reservoir and Mettur project,
completed in 1934, (iv) the Nizamasgar project, completed in 1934,
{v) the Sarda-Oudh canals in the United Provinces, and (vi) the
Lloyd Dam in Bombay, completed in 1926, which is one of the
largest masses of masonry in the world.
g. Agriculture, Rural Indebtedness and Rural Reconstruction, and
the Co-operative Movement
A. Agriculture
As a result of the recommendations of the Famine Commission
of 1880, agricultural departments were started m the various
Provinces. In 1901 an Inspector-General of Agriculture was
appointed to advise the Imperial and Provincial Governments.
This post was abolished in 1912, and its duties were transferred
to the Director of the Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa,
who was until 1929 Agricultural Adviser to the Government of
India. The present Departments of Agriculture, however, owe
their existence to Lord Curzon, whose famous despatch of 1903
marked the beguming of a reorganisation in 1905. The Pusa
Institute was started in 1903, together with a college to provide
for advanced agricultural training. An All-India Board of Agri-
culture was established in 1905 with a view to bringing the Provmcial
Governments more in touch with one another and making suitable
recommendations to the Government of India. The Indian
Agricultural Service was constituted in 1906. An agricultural
college was founded at Poona in 1908 and similar colleges were
started in subsequent years at Cawnpore, Nagpur, Lyallpur,
Coimbatore, and Mandalay.
With the introduction of the reforms of 1919, agriculture became
a Transferred subject tmder a Minister, though the Government
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 945
By courtesy of Indian Eailways Bureau, 57 Maymar
the enormous possibilities for future work and made compre-
hensive recommendations regarding the different problems of
agriculture. On its recommendation, an important step was taken
in July, 1929, by the establishment of the Imperial Council of
Agricultural Kesearch, whose primary function was to promote,
guide and co-ordinate agricultural, including veterinary, research
in India and to extend help in these matters to the Provincial
departments of agriculture. The Central Banking Enquiry Com-
mittee (1931) recommended that a Provincial Board of Economic
Enquiry should be established in each Province to supply the
Government with the information it requires to be able to pursue
a constructive agricultural policy. Sir John Russell and R. Wright,
who subsequently reviewed the progress of agricultural research work
in India, made, in their report, important recommendations to
bridge the gulf between the research worker and the cultivator.
These were examined by a special Sub-Committee of the Imperial
Council of Agricultural Research. The Government of India
declared their intention to extend further help to the agriculturists
by providing better facilities for credit and for the marketing of
agricultural produce. A central marketing section was started under
the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research. It worked in
collaboration with the marketing staff in the different Provinces.
B. Rural Indebtedness and Rural Reconstruction
Closely connected with agriculture is the serious problem of
heavy rural indebtedness in modem India. As the Central Banking
Enquiry Committee reported in 1931, the total agricultural in-
debtedness of the Provinces in British India was about 900 crores
of rupees. The greater part of the rural debt, contracted at exor-
bitant rates of interest, is unproductive. The Government
adopted certain measures, from time to time, to deal with this
problem. The Usurious Loans Act, consolidated and amended in
1918, tried to determine the legal maximum amount of interest
recoverable. The Royal Commission on Agriculture recommended
regulation of money-lending, and some of the Provincial Banking
Enquiry Committees recommended Hceiising of money-lenders.
of India also took an interest m tJtie work of rural reconstruction
and granted in 1935-1936 over two crores of rupees for this purpose.
The Co-operative Movement in India also aims at solving the
problem of rural indebtedness.
0. The Co-operative Movement
Frederick Nicholson, a Madras civilian, first suggested in his
Report (1892) to the Madras Government the introduction of
co-operative credit societies in India. In 1901 the Government
of India appointed a Committee to consider the question of the
establishment of agricultural banks in India, and after the Com-
mittee submitted its report, the Co-operative Credit Societies Act
was passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in 1904. It provided
for the starting of rural as well as urban credit societies. Thus the
Co-operative Movement was inaugurated in India on the 24th
March, 1904. The movement showed remarkable progress in every
Province within a few years. It received a fresh impetus by the
Amending Act of 1912, which granted recognition to non-credit
societies, central financing societies, and unions. The Maclagan
Committee (1914-1915) made some valuable recommendations for
the organisation of co-operative finance. After the reforms of 1919,
co-operation became a Eroyincial subject and the local govern-
ments were left free to adapt the Act of 1912 to their own require-
ments. There are three parts in the financial structure of the
Co-operative Movement : (i) The Agricultural Credit Society,
(ii) Central Financing Agencies, and (iii) Provincial Co-operative
948 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
Banks. The question of the relief of old debts of agricuituristSj
through long-term credit, led to the establishment of a special
type of bank, known as the Land Mortgage Bank, in some Provinces.
But the Co-operative Movement passed through a very
critical stage during recent years, owing partly to the fall
of agricultural prices and general economic decline and partly to
some defects in its working. In spite of all that has been done, the
poverty and indebtedness of the Indian masses are still appalling
problems in Indian economic life, like the problem of unemploy-
ment among the middle classes (into which investigations were
carried on by specially appointed committees, the most important
being the Sapru Committee which submitted its report in 1935), in
some Provinces like Bengal, Madras, Bombay, the Punjab, U.P. and
Bihar, and in some of the Indian States, The solution of these
problems is vitally necessary, though the stupendous and perplexing
character of the task cannot be denied.
10. Famine Relief
As noted above (p. 871), important recommendations about the
principles of famine relief in India were made by the Famine Com-
mission of 1880, which had as its Chairman Sir Bichard Strachey.
Reference has also been made to the subsequent famines, in 1896-7
and again in 1899-1900, and the Commissions appointed on both
these occasions. The last Commission, with Sir Antony MacDonnell
as its President, which reported in 1901, stressed the need for
“moral strategy” or “putting heart into the peo|)le”, that is,
helping the people with loans and other means, as soon as there is
any sign of danger, by timely and liberal grants of taJcJcavi loans, by
the suspension of land revenue, by being watchful about the signs of
approaching calamity, by organising private charity and by enlisting
non-official support. The present famine relief policy is shaped in the
light of its recommendations. Side by side with the growth of the
machinery for famine relief has developed the policy of famine preven-
tion through railway and irrigation works and improvement of agri-
culture and industries. Under the financial decentralisation rules of
the Government of India Act, 1919, each Provincial Government
(except Burma, which is now separated from India, and Assam) was
required to contribute every year, out of its resources, a definite
sum for expenditure on famine. These annua] assignments from the
revenues of the Provinces were to be spent on relief of famine only, the
term “Famine” covering famines caused by drought or other natural
calamities ; but the sum not required for this purpose was devoted
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 949
to building up a Famine Relief Fund. Under the 1935 Constitution,
famine relief expenditure became entirely a Provincial charge,
though the annual contributions of the Provinces to the Famine
Relief Fund continued as before.
II. Trade, Industry, Fiscal Changes, and Labour
A. Trade
We have already observed how after 1869, when the Suez Canal
was thrown open for navigation, India’s foreign trade began to
expand rapidly with the growth of peace and order, improvements
in means of communication, the adoption of the policy of free
trade, and disappearance of internal customs barriers and transit
duties in India. Great Britain for a long time held the predominant
position in the Indian market. But after the end of the nineteenth
century, other countries, like Germany, the United States of America
and Japan, appeared as her competitors in Indian trade, and the
volume of it, as a whole, consequently increased. The War of 1914-18
first caused a temporary reduction in the volume of this trade,
particularly the import trade. But owing to some favourable factors
on the termination of the war, there was a trade boom in India as
in other countries, which again was followed by a trade depression.
After a temporary recovery, trade received a severe setback due
to general economic depression throughout the world. In 1932-
1933 the export trade declined in value to Rs.l86 crores, and the
import trade reached the lowest level, that is, Rs.ll? crores,
in 1933-1934. Soon there was a partial recovery. During
1934-1935 the value of the export trade rose to Rs.lSS crores and
of the import trade to 135 crores. The report of the
Economic Adviser to the Government of India for 1939
s1;ated that India witnessed the culmination of a period of
recovery in world trade, world production and international
price level in 1937-1938”. But ‘"the turnover of India’s over-
seas trade in merchandise for the year 1938-39 suffered a
substantial reduction as compared with 1937-38”.
Important changes have taken place m recent times in the
distribution of India’s trade. Before the War of 1914-18, there
was a distinct tendency on the part of India’s foreign trade
to divert itself from the United Kingdom to the other European
countries. During the war the United Kingdom recovered to
a large extent her share in the export trade, though it after-
wards decreased so far as the import trade was concerned, owing
950
AN ABVAJSrCED HISTORY OP INDIA
to the active competition of the United States of America,
Japan and the Central European countries. The United King-
dom’s share in the import trade was 40.6 per cent in 1934-1936
as compared with 64 per cent in 1913-1914. Subsequently there
was some recovery in her share, and the Ottawa preferences to
imports from the United Kingdom were meant to benefit her.
Besides India’s external trade, her internal trade includes the
coasting trade and inland trade. The coasting trade with Burma
is of special importance.
The matter of commercial intelligence began to attract
increasing attention. Besides the Department of Commercial
Intelligence and Statistics (functioning since 1922), there were
Indian Trade Commissioners in London and Hamburg, Non-
official bodies like the European and Indian Chambers of Commerce
also took much interest in the development of trade.
B. Industry
The Pa, min e Commission of 1880 and 1901 emphasised the need
of industrialising India as one of the means of combating the
problem of famine. A change from the indifferent attitude of the
Government towards industries seems to have commenced in the
time of Lord Curzon, at whose instance a separate Imperial Depart-
ment of Commerce and Industries was created in 1905. The
SwadesM Movement also gave rise to considerable enthusiasm for
the industrial regeneration of India. But the Government again
reverted to the old laissez-faire policy, when in 1910 Lord Morley,
the then Secretary of State for India, who was suspicious even
of creating a Provincial Department of Industries, sent a despatch
to the Government of India discouraging attempts at the develop-
ment of industries.
The war of 1914-18 strikingly revealed India’s industrial poverty
and made the Government realise clearly the importance of indus-
trialisation not only from the economic but also from the military
point of view. After the Government of India had issued Rules
for the Defence of the country which authorised the Executive
to control supplies of all kinds and to organise the resources of India,
a Munitions Board was established in February, 1917. Although
the primary functions of this Board were to control the purchase
and manufacture of Government stores and munitions of war,
it indirectly gave a great stimulus to industrial development in
India by supplying information and advice, by placing orders
with Indian firms and in some other ways.
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 951
In response to Indian public demand, the Government appointed
an Industrial Commission in 1916 to examine the possibilities of
industrial development, to find out new openings for Indian capital
in trade and industries and to recommend means of Government
encouragement to industries. The Industrial Commission presented
its report in 1918 and recommended to the Government the initia-
tion of “a policy of energetic intervention in industrial affairs”, the
establishment of Imperial and Provincial Departments of Industry,
the organisation of scientific and technical services, the provision of
greater facilities for industrial and technical education, a change in
the policy of purchasing stores, the grant of technical and financial
aid to industries, the encouragement of industrial co-operation, and
the improvement of transport and freight facilities. Government
accepted these recommendations and tried, to some extent, to
carry them out in practice. After the reforms, “industries” became
a Transferred subject. The fate of Indian industries is closely linked
with the tariff policy of the Government, which we will now try to
review briefly.
C. Fiscal Changes
The stimulus to industries during 1914-18 was temporary.
Soon after its termination, foreign competition appeared again and
the need of protection for Indian industries was felt. As a matter
of fact, Indian public opinion had demanded a revision of tariff
policy for about half a century before the war, and this demand
revived under post-war conditions. Although this subject was
excluded from the deliberations of the Industrial Commission, the
Montagu-Chelmsford Report supported India’s claim to determine
her own tariff policy. The Joint Select Committee on the India Bill
recommended the grant of fiscal autonomy to India. In response to
a resolution for full fiscal autonomy, moved in the Council of State
in 1921, the Secretary of State sent a despatch, dated 30th June,
1921, accepting this principle. A Fiscal Commission was appointed
in the same year to determine the nature of this policy. This
Commission recommended the adoption of a policy of ‘‘discriminate
protection’^, the claims of the respective industries to protection
being determined by a Tariff Board. The Government accepted
this recommendation and a Tariff Board was appointed in July,
1923. Acting under the instructions of the Government, the Board
examined the claims of many industries, and protection was
extended to the iron and steel, cotton, paper, sugar, salt, match and
other industries. Certain important changes in the tariff were
afterwards introduced by several Acts, the ihost important of these
962
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
being the Indian Tariff (Ottawa Trade Agreement) Amendment Act,
1932, which gave effect to the tariff changes necessitated by the Trade
Agreement made between the Government of India and His Majesty’s
Government in the United Kingdom at the Imperial Economic
Conference held at Ottawa during July-August, 1932, These agree-
ments, which came into force from the 1st January, 1933, provided
for certain margins of preference on a number of goods on im-
portation into India from the United Kingdom or from a British
Colony. According to some Indian politicians and commercialists,
they benefited British trade with India at the cost of India’s wider
interests”, as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru puts it in his Autobiography.
D. Labour
The modern conditions of fife have made the regulation of
labour an almost indispensable duty of the State in India. The
agitation carried on by Lancashire and Dundee trade interests
led to the appointment of a Factory Commission in 1908, which
after carefully investigating conditions in factories of different
kinds recommended certain important changes. These were accepted
in the main by the Government and were finally embodied in the
Factory Act of 1911. The Act limited the working hours of children
and women to seven and eleven respectively and provided for a
compulsory recess for half an hour in the midday in all factories.
The old limits (nine to fourteen) for the age of the children were
retained, but arrangements were provided to get their age properly
certified. Particularly in the case of textile industries, the working
hours of children were limited to six and of adult males to twelve.
Certain new provisions were introduced about the health and
safety of the industrial workers. The ferment m the labour world
after 1919 made further changes in the conditions of labour in India
necessary, and the incentive for these came this time also mainly from
outside. The Draft Conventions and the Draft Recommendations
of the International Labour Conference at Washington (1921)
were introduced into the reformed Indian Legislature and became
law in 1922. This new Act widened the definition of factory;
abolished the old distinction between textile and non-textile
factories; raised the minimum age for a child employee from
nine to twelve, and the maximum age from fourteen to fifteen,
provided that the children should not be employed for more than
six hours a day, and fixed compulsory rest intervals; restricted
the work of all adults to eleven hours a day and sixty hoxirs
a week, with a rest interval of one hour after six hours’ work
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 953
and a regular weekly holiday, and made regulations regarding
payment for overtime work. But the provisions of this Act applied
only to factories and not to all industrial workers. It underwent
slight amendments in 1923 and 1926 to ensure better working.
A Workmen’s Compensation Act was passed in 1923 providing
compensation for certain kinds of injury, or death, of industrial
workers of various classes.
But the working of these Acts for a few years revealed some
defects in them, and, at the same time, industrial um’est, the
influence of the labour movement, and the co-operation of India,
as an original member of the League of Nations, in the Inter-
national Labour Organisation at Geneva, stimulated proposals
for further reform. In the middle of the year 1929 the Govern-
ment of India announced the appointment, by His Majesty the
King-Emperor, of a Royal Commission on Indian Labour, with
the late Rt. Hon. J. H. Whitley as its Chairman, ''to enquire
into and report on the existing conditions of labour in industrial
undertakings and plantations in British India; on the health,
efficiency and standard of living of the workers ; and on the relations
between the employers and the employed; and to make recom-
mendations”. The Royal Commission exhaustively reviewed the
existing labour legislation and labour conditions in India, and
made a series of recommendations m its Report which was published
in July, 1931. It is not possible to attempt here even a brief
summary of these recommendations, on some of which action
was taken by the Central and Provincial Governments. The most
important measures of such labour legislation were the Amendment
of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1933, wffiich further expanded
the scope of the Act of 1923; the Indian Factories Act of 1934,
which extended the provisions of the previous Factories Acts
regarding the hours of wwk and sanitary and other conditions of
industrial labourers; the Payment of Wages Act of 1936, which
sought to regulate the payment of wages to the workers ; and the
C.P. Unregulated Factories Act of 1937, which regulated the labour
of women and children and made provision for the welfare of labour
in the factories to which the Factories Act of 1934 did not apply.
The hours of work were limited to ten a day or fifty a week in all
“perennial” factories. Each Province appointed Factory In-
spectors to secure the observance of the Factories Acts. Efforts
were made to improve the conditions of labourers through
welfare work, organised occasionally by institutions like the
Y.M.C.A,, the Social Service Leagues, and the Depressed Classes
Mission Society. Under the reformed Constitution, Congress
954
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
Ministries attempted to improve the conditions of labour in
various ways, and appointed Committees, such as the Bombay
Textile Labour Inquiry Committee (appointed in October,
1937), the Cawnpore Labour Inquiry Committee (appointed in
November, 1937), the Central Provinces Textile Labour Inquiry
Committee (appointed in February, 1938), and the Bihar Labour
Inquiry Committee (appointed in March, 1938), to inquire into
the conditions of labour prevailmg in the industrial centres and
to make recommendations for their improvement. The question
of representation of labour in the Central and Provincial Legisla-
tures assumed a special importance and was considered by some
committees. The Indian Delimitation Committee, which was set
up in 1935 with Sir Lawrie Hammond as Chairman and published
its report in February, 1936, proposed the formation of certain
constituencies for the return of representatives of labour to the
Federal Assembly and to the Provincial Legislative Assemblies on
the basis of registered trade unions.
Besides State legislation and philanthropic activities for the benefit
of labour, we should note the influence of the labour movement itself
in Modern India. This movement owed its origin to the general
awakening following the First World War, combined with the high
prices of the bare necessities of life and the fixed wages which were
mainly responsible for the deplorable conditions of living. The Madras
Labour Union, formed by Mr. B. P. Wadia in 1918, may be regarded
as the first trade union in the proper sense of the term. The labourers
soon realised the value of organisation and the efficacy of strikes. In
1920 Mr. Narayan Malhar Joshi created the first All-India Trade
Union Congress. Trade Unions sprang up in most of the industrial
centres and strikes broke out irequently. Trade Union activities
were to a certain extent legalised by the Indian Trade Unions
Act of 1926. The Royal Commission recommended a recon-
sideration of this Act, especially regarding the limitations
imposed on the activities of Trade Unions and their officials.
The Trade Union Movement continued to expand, though
its progress was much hampered by iUiteracy among workers,
lack of efficient leadership, the agricultural outlook of Indian
labour and its heterogeneous character. In 1929 there was a split
among its leaders due to the attempts of the Communists to capture
the Trade Union Congress. Moderate Trade Unionists under the
leadership of Mr. N. M. Joshi seceded from the Congress and
started a new organisation called the Indian Trades Union Federa-
tion. A further split occurred in 1931. Attempts were made to
bring about unity in the ranks of Indian labour by amalgamating
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-103S 955
all tlie bodies into one central organisation, but without suceess. In
1938 the combined Trade Union Congress had a total membership
of about 354,500 with 191 affiliated Unions.
12 . Social and Religious Reforms
The cultural renaissance which marked the advent of a new age
in India was in full vigour during the ffist half of the twentieth
century.
We have reviewed the activities of the Brahma Samaj, the
Prarthana Samaj, the Arya Samaj, the Deccan Education Society,
the Theosophical Society and the Ramakrishna Mission during the
second half of the nineteenth century. The twentieth century saw a
continuation of these efforts for popular uplift.
After completing his twenty years’ service with the Deccan Educa-
tion Society, Gokhale founded in 1905 the stiU more famous
organisation known as the Servants of India Society. The object
of the Society was to train “national missionaries for the service
of India, and to promote, by all constitutional means, the true
interests of the Indian people”. Its members should be such as
were “prepared to devote their lives to the cause of the country
in a religious spirit”. It was not a Society founded for any specific
activity, political, educational, economic, or social, but merely a
group of men who were trained and equipped for some form of
service to the motherland.
“Whether such members in future were to run schools or papers
or legislatures or co-operative societies or slum work or what not
— that was not of prime importance, but what was to be the dis-
tinctive feature, the indispensable characteristic of any such
work, was to be the fact that it was to be undertaken for its own
sake, as a good work which is its own end, not for the further-
ance of a party or a class or a corporation or — least of all — for
personal self-aggrandisement.”
Both Gokhale and Srinivasa Sastri, who succeeded him as
President of the Society on his death in 1915, devoted themselves
mainly to politics and attained unique distinction in that line.
Some other members devoted themselves to work of other
kinds and developed independent organisations. We wiU refer to
the activities of three of them.
(i) One such member, Narayan Malhar Joshi, founded in 1911
the Social Service League in Bombay, its aim being “to secure for
the masses of the people better and reasonable conditions of life
and work”. “Within fifteen years they had come to run 17 night-
956
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
scliools for 760 adults, 3 free day schools for half-timers in the
miUs, 11 libraries and reading rooms with a daily average of 200
readers, and 2 day nurseries. They had organised over a hundred
co-operative societies; they did Police Court Agents’ work; gave
legal advice and wrote petitions for the illiterate; they arranged
fresh-air excursions for slum children and provided six gymnasia
and three theatrical stages for the recreation of the working
classes; they did sanitary work, gave medical relief in three dis-
pensaries to nearly 20,000 outdoor patients per annum and had
started Boys’ Clubs and Scout corps.”
In 1920 Mr. Joshi founded the All-India Trade Union Congress
and became recognised as the foremost representative of the Labour
Movement in India. He served the Labour Movement ably mitil 1 929
when a resolution was passed at the amiual meeting of the Trade
Union Congress to affiliate the All-Indian Federation (founded by
Mr. Joshi) to Moscow, and this leaning towards Communism forced
Joshi and his adherents to leave the meeting.
(ii) Hriday Nath Kunzru, another member of the Servants of
India Society, founded in 1914 the Seva Samiti at Allahabad.
In addition to the promotion of education, sanitation, physical
culture, etc., it organises social service during fairs, famines,
floods, epidemics, and especially on the occasion of religious festivals
like the Kumbha Mela.
(iii) Shri Ram Bajpai organised the Seva Samiti Boy Scouts’
Association. It was founded in 1914 on the line of the world- wide
Baden-Powell organisation, which at that time refused to allow
Indians to join it. Although Lord Baden-PoweU, as a result of
his personal visit to India, raised the colour bar, Bajpai’s organi-
sation decided to preserve its separate existence, as its aim
was the complete Indianisation of the Boy Scout Movement in
India.
The activities of the five fllustrious members of the Servants
of India Society (Gokhale, Sastri, Joshi, Kunzru and Bajpai) wfll
suffice to mdicate clearly its role in moulding the national life of
India.
The Servants of India Society conducted three papers — The
Servant of India, an English weekly edited by Mr. S. G. Vaze ; the
Dnydn Prahdsh, the oldest Marathi daily, edited by Mr. Limaye;
and the Hitawad, a weekly.
The minority communities in India, like the Parsis and the
Sikhs, were also profoundly influenced by the wave of refor-
mation. The Parsi community owes a great deal to its famous
reformer, Behramji M. Malabari, for his brilliant services in the
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 957
cause of Indian women, children, education, and Journalism. The
Zoroastrian Conference, inaugurated in 1910 at the instance of
a Pars! priest named Dhala who had visited America and studied
in Columbia University under the renowned Zoroastrian scholar,
Professor Jackson, has rendered beneficial services to the community.
The Chief Khalsa Diwan, with its headquarters at Amritsar and
branches in different parts of the country, advocating liberal reforms
in society and culture, and the Khalsa College at Amritsar, gave
eloquent proofs of Sikh awakening.
Largely through the ‘Aligarh Movement, the history of which
has been already traced, Islam in India was roused to a new
life. The chief exponents of this “New Islam ” were Maulavi Chiragh
‘All, the Rt. Hon. Syed Amir ‘Ali, Sir Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal,
Prof. S. Khudabakhsh and Prof. A. M. Maulavi. A number of
anjiimans or societies, and a powerful Muslim press, sprang
up for the service of the Muslim community. The Ahmadiya
Movement, started by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian in the
Gurudaspur district of the Punjab for the restoration of the “true
and unpolluted faith of Islam to the followers of the Prophet”,
also gained a number of followers in different parts of the world.
Under the influence of the general awakening of the country,
a spirit of reform permeated various classes of Indian society and
profoundly modified their ideas, habits and customs. The
most striking change in Indian social life of to-day is in the
position of women. Women are not only coming out of their
•purdah and receiving education, but are also taking active interest
in social and political matters and are claiming their rights as
citizens. As a matter of fact, the women’s movement in India,
which started largely under the inspiration of Ramabai Ranade,
has “succeeded with a swiftness and to a degree that would have
seemed fantastic even a few years earlier”.
Attempts have been made by the State and reformers to do
away by legislation with the e-vll of early marriage. In 1901 the
Gaikwar of Baroda passed the Infant Marriage Prevention Act,
which fixed the minimum marriageable age in the State, for girls
at twelve and for boys at sixteen. The Age of Consent Committee
met at Simla in June, 1928, to enquire mto the question of marriage
reforms. After its report appeared, Rai Saheb Harbilas Sarda’s
Child Marriage Bill was passed in 1930. The Act evoked much
opposition among the conservative sections of the people and did
not prove very effectual in actual working. The Widow-Remarriage
Movement, which had many notable Indian social reformers as
its advocates, has also made some progress, though widow-
958
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
remarriage is still so uncommon as to attract attention in
the papers whenever it takes place. Laudable attempts to improve
the lot of the widows have been made by the Maharani’s School
at Mysore, the Arya Samaj and the Purity Society in the Punjab,
and the Hindu Widow Reform League of Lucknow.
The women themselves have been zealous in making attempts
to improve their lot in all possible ways. In 1923 a Women’s
Indian Association, with many branches, was started and opened
a Children’s Home in Madras. In 1924 a Birth Control League was
founded in Bombay, and the Journal Navayuga (The New Age)
offered its services to the cause of this movement. Of the 6,000
members of the Indian National Conference, held at Belgaum in
December, 1924, 1,000 were women. In December, 1925, the
talented Indian poetess, Sarojini Naidu {n&e Chatterjee), became
the President of the annual meeting of the Indian National
Congress. The Women’s Indian Association, started in Madras,
has rendered valuable services to the cause of the uplift of women
in a variety of ways. It opened, on the 21st March, 1934, a Rescue
Home to facilitate the working of the Rescue section of the Immoral
Traffic Act, enforced by the Government. Muslim ladies also were
affected by the spirit of reform, as is clear from the sessions of
the All-India Muslim Ladies Conference since 1914. In 1919 the
All-India Muslim Ladies Conference, at its Lahore session, pro-
nounced against polygamy. Her Highness the Dowager Begam
of Bhopal presided over the annual session of the All-India
Women’s Conference in 1928 and she introduced many social
and educational reforms for women in her State. Since 1926, the
AU-India Women’s Conference has expressed, in its annual sessions,
the legitimate demands of the women for better facilities regarding
education, and abolition of social abuses.
The growth of political consciousness among women is strikingly
illustrated by the success of the Women’s Suffrage Movement since
the day when the historic All-India Women’s Deputation waited
upon Montagu in Madras on the 18th December, 1917. Mrs.
Annie Besant, Mrs. Sarojini Naidu and !Mfs. Herabai Tata gave
evidence before the Joint Select Committee on the Government
of India BUI, 1919, in support of the extension of the franchise
to Indian women. Representatives of Indian womanhood took
part in the Roimd Table Conferences in London. The Government
of India Act, 1935, gave political rights to Indian women far in
advance of those enjoyed by them before. They were allotted
6 seats out of a total of 156 reserved for British India in the Federal
Council of State and 9 out of a total of 250 so reserved in the
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 959
Federal Assembly. So far as Provincial Assemblies were concerned,
women bad reserved to them 8 seats in Madras, 6 in Bombay,
5 in Bengal, 6 in the United Provinces, 4 in the Punjab, 4 in Bihar,
3 in the Central Provinces and Berar, 1 in Assam, 2 m Orissa
and 2 in Sind. The franchise qualifications affecting them were
liberalised, so that more than 6 million women (against 315,000
under the Act of 1919) received the right to vote, compared with
29 million men.
With the spread of education among women, efforts have been
made to train Indian sisters ministrant to serve the poor, the
sick and the distressed. The Poona Seva Sadan, started in 1909
by the late Mrs. Ramabai Ranade, the late Mr. G. K. Devadhar,
and a few other ladies and gentlemen, and its branches in different
parts of the coimtry, have done much valuable work “with special
reference to the training of nurses and midwives, the promotion
of maternity and child welfare, and the finding of employment for
widows”. Similar work has been done by another organisation
also known as the Seva Sadan Society, started in July, 1908, by
the late Mr. B. M. Malabari and Mr. Dayaram Gidumal. Im-
portant institutions to serve the same end were inaugurated
by the wives of several Viceroys. The National Association
for Supplying Medical Aid by Women to the Women of India,
started by the Countess of Dufferin in 1885 and having subsequently
twelve provincial branches and numerous local committees, had for
its object “the training of women as doctors, hospital assistants,
nurses and midwives, as well as the provision of dispensaries, wards
and hospitals”. As a part of this Association, a special Women’s
Medical Service for India was constituted in 1914. The Victoria
Memorial Scholarships Fund was organised % Lady Curzon in
1903 with a view to training midwives. The Lady Hardinge Medical
College at Delhi, opened by Lord Hardinge on the 17th February,
1916, trains Indian women in medical science. The Maternity and
Child Welfare Bureau, working in connection with the Indian Red
Cross Society, has rendered useful services in training women
for ministering work. The hospital known as the Chittaranjan
Seva Sadan in Calcutta has done much valuable work in this respect.
A very important feature in the social history of modern India
is the gradual change in the condition of the so-caUed Depressed
Classes, who, like the women of India, are “waking from age-long
slumber to a new consciousness”. Valuable philanthropic work
has been done in this respect by the various Christian Societies,
the Ramkrishna Mission and particularly the Arya Samaj, through
the means of Suddhi, that is re-Hinduising people who had been
960
AN ADYANCBD HISTORY OF INDIA
converted to other religions, or Hinduising non-Hindus, The
Depressed Classes Mission Society, started in Bombay in 1906
with the object of improving “the social as well as the spiritual
conditions of the Depressed Classes”, has been sincerely devoted
to its mission. The Bhil Seva Mandal, founded in 1922 by Blr.
Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar to elevate the condition of the
Bhils and other aboriginals of India, has done a great deal of useful
work. The influence of the “Harijan^’ movement, started by
Mahatma Gandhi, is potent in this sphere of social service. As a
matter of fact, Indian youths of to-day are keenly alive to social
service, as is manifest in their activities as members of the Boy
Scout Associations, the Junior Red Cross and St, John’s Ambulance
Associations, the Seva Samiti Boy Scouts Association, and the
Bratachari Association, started under the guidance of hlr. Gurusaday
Datta, I.C.S.
13 . Progress of Education and Cultural Renaissance
The general awakening of Modern India would not have been
possible without significant changes in the educational ideas and
institutions of the country. Much in the sphere of education was
tried and achieved in India during the nineteenth century, and
stiU more has been accomplished in the present century. Lord
Curzon’s viceroyalty marks in this respect, as in several other
matters, a turning-point. In January, 1902, he appointed a Univer-
sities Commission to investigate the conditions and prospects of
the Indian Universities and to recommend measures to improve
their constitution and working and standard of teaching. The
Commission was presided over by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Thomas
Raleigh, Law Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, and
included among its members two distinguished Indians, Mr. Syed
Husain Bilgrami, then Director of Public Instruction in the Nizam’s
Dominions, and Mr. (afterwards Sir) Gurudas Banerjee, a judge of
the Calcutta High Court. Its report came out in June, 1904, and
its recommendations were embodied in the Universities Act of
1904. This Act was intended to tighten Government control over
the educational institutions of the country by limiting the number
of senators and syndics and creating a majority of nominated
members in the Senate. It assigned territorial limits to each
University, laid down stringent conditions for the affiliation of new
colleges, and prescribed a systematic inspection of colleges by the
University. Such a “comprehensive scheme of officialisation”
evoked protests from different quarters. But at the same time,
ABMENISTRATION AISTD CONDITION, 1906-1938 961
the Act recognised the higher functions of the Universities including
instruction of students, appointment of Professors and Lecturers,
and equipment of laboratories and museums. Thus, though the
late Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, then Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta
University, opposed its illiberal provisions, it was utilised by
him to open the teaching section of the University of Calcutta,
which has done much useful work for the cause of higher
education, not only in Bengal, but also in other parts of the
country.
In 1910 a Department of Education was established in the
Government of India. It came to have an office of its own and a
Member to represent it in the Executive Council. Sir Harcourt
Butler was the first Member. The Resolution, dated 21st February,
1913, of the Government of India advocated certain measures
for the advance of education and recommended the establishment
of teaching and residential Universities. But the educational
improvements foreshadowed in it were in most cases delayed by
the War of 1914-18 and other causes. The growth of com-
munal consciousness and provincial patriotism greatly helped
the establishment of new Universities during the period under
review in various places, such as Patna, Lucknow, ‘Aligarh,
Benares, Agra, Delhi, Nagpur, Waltair, Dacca, Mysore, Hyderabad,
Chidambaram, Trivandrum and Rangoon. The Indian Women’s
University at Poona was started in 1916 by Dhondo Kesha v
Karve, with Sir R. G. Bhandarkar as its first Chancellor. The
Vishwabharati (1921) founded by Rabindranath Tagore at
Santimketan, Bolpur, is a unique educational institution, famous
for its cosmopolitan outlook. It represents a happy blending of
the East and the West, and of Old and New India.
The progress of education continued to be reviewed by different
Commissions and Committees, some of whose recommendations
were put into practice by the Government. These bodies were
the Calcutta University Commission with Dr. (afterwards Sir)
Michael Sadler as its Chairman and Sir Asutosh Mookerjee as a
leading member, whose report was published in August, 1919;
the Auxiliary Committee of the Indian Statutory Commission
under the Chairmanship of Sir Philip Hartog, which published
its Report in 1929; the Lindsay Commission, appointed in 1929
by the International Missionary Council, with Dr. A. D. Lindsay,
Master of BaUiol College, Oxford, as Chairman, which visited India
in 1930-1931 and whose report was published in 1931; and
the Unemployment Committee, United Provinces, popularly known
as the Sapru Committee after the name of its President, the Rt.
i
962 AU ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
Hon Sir Tei BaiilduT Sapru, which was appointed by the Govern-
of 4e United Evinces in 1934 and whose report was
®"“wer/ toe important bodies to look after t^gyess
of eLcation in general and to consider
s;srs5£»““"— ^rsr::
the recommendation of the Indian
and of allt^, h y e^ Conference at Simla, summoned
mendati^ of the U Inter-Dniversity
bv the Government ot India m may, ,
Board for India came into existence durmg 1925, and smoe
lnTsttada“ht|hri?L"^^
The “TEtooalorr in India, abolished in 1923 aa ~e
ofhtertto « to'^eduoational problems in the ™
^^Tha^Reforms of 1919, supplemented by those
££r%rizr^b?r*s:;-7r.
»Ki?rSSSSii’“‘=
sr» “i t
5™L need of the measure. Some attempts were made to
? iT+o-pan-D- Thus eiaiht Provincial Ijegislatures passed
of one Province ina4»tated an Adult Education campaign to make
ADMINISTEATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 963
adults able to read and write. Hans to give seeondarj)' education
a vocational bias were also considered.
The question of the medium of instruction in educational insti-
tutions attracted serious attention under the pressure of national
awakening. A representative Conference, which met at Simla in
1917 under the Chairmanship of Sir Sankaran Nair, the then
Education Member, discussed the position of English as a foreign
language and as a medium of instruction in public schools. Its
decisions were not conclusive. But the use of the modern Provincial
languages as the medium of instruction and examination in schools
and in some places in colleges gradually increased. Some educationists
also thought of evolving a common script for the whole of India.
Good pioneer work in this direction was done by Mr. A. Latiff,
I.C.S., by the introduction of the Romanised Urdu Script.
It is interesting to note that education of women, attempts for
the spread of which began in the nineteenth century, has progressed
greatly during the present century through State efforts and the acti-
vities of various reformed SaTndjas and Societies, like the Brahma
Samaj, the Arya Samaj and the Servants of India Society. Colleges
specially meant for girls were established, and in some Provinces
co-education made good progress; for example, in Madras and
Assam more girls studied in boys’ institutions than in those for girls.
Co-education is, however, itself a delicate problem, which requires
tactful handling. The Indian Women’s University, started at
Poona in 1916 by Professor Karve and transferred to Bombay in
1936, has done much valuable work. Customs and prejudices
which had so long been detrimental to the growth of education of
women are fast disappearing, and a strong public opinion has grown
up in its favour, though there are differences of opinion amongst
educationists and other thinkers about the natme of education
suitable for our womenfolk. Very valuable work on Educational
Reform is being done by the All-India Women’s Conference, which
holds its meetings annually and has constituent conferences in
different parts of the country. An AU-India Women’s Educational
Fund Association has been started in connection with this Conference.
In 1930 a special Committee was appointed by this Association
to determine the feasibility of estabhshmg a central Teachers’
Training College. The recommendation of the Committee for the
establishment of a college, “on absolutely new lines which
would synthesise the work of existing provincial colleges by
psychological research”, was accepted by the Association, and
accordingly the Lady Irwin College was established in New Delhi.
This College provides a three years’ Teachers’ course for those
■964 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
who intend to qnaUfy themselves as High School tmchers of
HoL See; others may take the Home oonrse of two years.
Several factors, such as growing contact with the outside world,
eager yearning for the revival of the cultural treaaimes of ^e past
thf desL to Lorm all aspects of life, and specu ations about the
orobtZof r^imon weid and common woe, have profoundly
Stimulated Indian thought and have caused a c^omprehensive
cStoal mn^nce, the influence of which is visible on modem
Sd^ Li^^re as’well as Art. Indeed, we W a
Indian remonal literatures, Bengali, Oriya, Urdu, Mara ,
each of which presents a harmonious blending
rfX wit. High-class works have been produced during the
iTtoted years in different branches of Uterature fiction, drama,
iasii nunare BengaH literature, the mfluence and con-
SSoi S lsw“;“, Mifdhusudan Dutt, Bankim Sandra
SattS Id EabindrLath Tagore have been unique. Shreejut
Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s contributions m the sphere of Bengal
literatmeare also of profound significance. His novels present an in-
terestinv picture of the Bengali society of modern times— lia merits
and demerits, its sorrows and 3oys--and thus s^PPly The^drama
for reflection to th.e who se^^momsoma^^^^^^
Dtabi^iu ®r:f«Sh cinS: cLsh, D. L. Roy ^italai
Basu and others. This period has further witnessed the pro-
duction of outstanding biographies and autobiographies, and
some notable attempts have been made to reconstruct
history of BengaH Hterature, largely through the ^
the late Sir Aratosh Mookerjee. The Yangiya SaMya Panshad
has been doing much to revive the lost treasures of Bengali htera-
ture Some Indians have to their credit important compositions in
B^gHs" names of Torn Dutta, and of Mrs. Sarojmi Naidu,
deserve special mention in this respect. ^ ^
^ Urdu, Hindi and Oriya literaturea are showing sigm of advance
The writings of Sir Muhammad Iqbal of the Punjab have
Wrth to a new age in the history of Urdu
movement is now on foot for the development of Hmdi literature.
One very striking feature of Indian oultural renaissmoe is
the spirit of research which animates the study of the past
Ltor? and antiquities of this country. Smee the foundation
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784, a large oi
European as well as Indian scholars have devotrf *1*®“®*“
earnestly to this branch of study, and their laboms have produced
marvellous results. The Ancient Monuments Preservation Act,
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION. 1906-1938 965
passed during the Viceroyalty of Lord Curzon, for the protection
of historic monuments and relics, and also for State control over
the excavation of ancient sites and traffic in antiquities, gave
an immense impetus to the cause of research. Under the guidance
of the Archaeological Department of the Government of India,
and a few other institutions, valuable scientific excavations, which
have considerably modified many of the old views about the
ancient history of India, have been made on historic sites. Those
at Mohenjo-daro in Sind, Harappa and Taxila in the Punjab,
Pataliputra and Nalanda in Bihar, Paharpur, Mahasthan and
Bangad in Bengal, Sanchi in the Bhopal State, Sarnath near Benares
and Nagarjunikonda in the Madras Presidency deserve special
mention. Much attention has also been paid to the establishment
and development of museums, in different places, as centres of
research and education. Further, the epigraphical materials disclosed
by official as well as non-official efforts have supplied us with valu-
able details about the history and chronology of various dynasties of
India. Some of the Indian Universities, notably the Universities
of Calcutta, Dacca, Benares and Madras, and organisations like
the All-India Oriental Conference, the Indian History Congress,
the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute and the JBMrat
Itilidsa SamsodhaJca Mandala at Poona, the Indian Historical
966
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Records Commission and the Vangiya SdMtya Parishad, are giving
considerable impetus to the scientific study of Indian history and
antiquities.
Indians have also made in the present century remarkable
progress in the study of science, philosophy and politics. The
valuable discoveries of Sic J. C. Bose, Sir P. G. Ray, Sir 0. V.
Raman and Dr. Meghnad Saha, and the painstaking as well as
fruitful anthropological studies of Rai Bahadur S. C. Roy of
Chotanagpur, have earned them a wide reputation. The cause
of scientific research in India is being furthered by scientific
surveys, like the Zoological Survey of India, the Botanical Survey
of India and the Geological Survey of India, and by the activities
of the Indian Science Congress, which meets each year in January.
Attention has also been devoted to philosophical studies, through the
inspiration of teachers hke Sir B. N. Seal, Sir S. Radhakrishnan,
and others. The Indian Universities have become keenly inter-
ested in the study of Political Science, and much useful work has
been done by the Indian Institute of Political and Social Science,
started on the 30th March, 1917, “to promote a systematic
study of political and social science in general and Indian political
and social problems in particular in all their aspects. . .
The spirit of renaissance has also produced a finer appreciation
and cultivation of the Fine Arts such as painting and music. Dr.
Abanindranath Tagore has taught and inspired a group of artists ;
other famous artists of the period are Nandalal Bose of Bengal and
‘ Abdur Rahman Chaghatai of the Punjab, and some members of the
Ukil family. The Bombay School of Art has tried to develop a new
style by the application of Western technique and methods to current
Indian conditions. The artistic renaissance of India owes a great
deal to Mr. E. B. Havell, who was for some years Principal of the
Government School of Airt in Calcutta and left India in 1907,
and to Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, who did much to preach
the majesty and glory of Indian art. As with painting, there
has also been a revival of sculpture. Modern Indian archi-
tecture divides itself sharply into two classes : {i) that of the
indigenous Indian “Master-builder”, to be found chiefly in the
Indian States, particularly in Rajputana, and (n) that based on
an imitation of Western models. During recent years, there
has been a tendency to revive old architectural styles. A new
spirit in the cultivation of music is evident in our country. The
efforts of some members of the Tagore family are largely respon-
sible for a finer appreciation of music ; and new schools for the
scientific study and practice of Indian music, vocal as well as
ADMINISTRATION AND CONDITION, 1906-1938 967
instrumental, have sprung up in Calcutta, Bombay, Poona, Baroda
and several other places. Earnest efforts are being made to revive
indigenous types of dances and drama. The Prdchm Kdinarfipl
Nritya Sangha of Assam is trying to train boys and girls in the
characteristic dances of that Province. In South India efforts are
being made for the revival and development of Kathdkali. Good
work is being done in this field by Rabindranath Tagore’s
Vishwabharati, the Travancore University and the Kerala Kaldman-
dalam.
CHAPTER VIII
INDIA DtJKING AND AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR
I. India’s War Contributions
When Britain declared war against Germany on September 3,
1939 India, «-as automaticaUy inYolyed in what afterwards became
rial war. Britain was naturally anxious to ntitee India s
abLdant resources for the prosecution of the war. Later, the prox-
tatty of the theatres of war to India's borders moreased her strategic
‘T"ns to be noted later, the two great political parties m
India the Congress and the MusUm League, refuted to co^-operate
Sihe GoverSuent in its war effort. The Inchan toces, however,
stcJod solidlv behind the Government, which had also no Mculty
in securing' sufficient recruits without any compulsion. It is un-
necessary to describe in detail the course of the war. Suffice it to
sav tha/it took a calamitous turn for the Allies in the summer of
1940 First Norway and Denmark, and then Belgium, HoUand, and
France, quickly fell under enemy control. Britain soim
Lied imminlt, but the Koyal Air Force heteieaily beat off the
superior numbers of the German aircraft, and fastrated the plans
for a German invasion of England. The entry of Italy into the war on
the side of Germany was regarded as a serious menace to the Suez
tol the “life-line’’ of the British Empire. It was thought possible
that the enemy might he able to occupy Egypt and eventuaUy nmke
an attack upl India. In fact, the British Parhament passed in
mid-June tL India and Burma (Emergency Provisions) Act
authorizinv the Governor-General, “in the event of a complete
breakdown of communications with the Dnitod Kingdom, to
exercise some of the powers of the Secretary of State
At this fateful and critioal moment m the history of Groat
Britain, her war efforts were greatly reinforced by the man-power
and material resources of India. * 7*
traditional bravery in Aftica and the mddle East tiU ^
turned in favour of the Allies. The part they played in liquidatmg
the Italian Empire in Africa was, as the Viceroy observed in
DURING AND AFTER SECOND WORLD WAR 969
December, 1941, “of the first significance and of the greatest value,
Indian troops also gave splendid assistance to the Allied cause
throughout the struggle for the liberation of Europe till the final
collapse of the Axis powers in that continent in May, 1945. India’s
contributions towards the achievement of victory were both manifold
and substantial, and earned the highest praise. Lieut.-General Mark
Clark, the American General in command of the Allied armies in
Italy, paid the following tribute to the valour of Indian troops;
“The achievements in combat of these Indian soldiers are note-
worthy. They have carried on successfully in grim and bloody
fighting against a tenacious enemy helped by terrain particularly
favourable for defence. No obstacle has succeeded in delaying them
for long or in lowering their high morale or fighting spirit. . . .
The Fourth, Eighth and Tenth Indian Divisions will for ever be
associated with the fighting for Cassino, the capture of Rome, the
Arno valley, the liberation of Florence and the breaking of the
Gothic Lme. I salute the brave soldiers of these three great Indian
divisions.” General Leese,^ the commander of the 8th Army, and
General Sir Claude Auchinleck, the Commander-in-Chief in India,
spoke in the same strain.
A highly important part was also played by the Indian troops in
withstanding the Japanese attack and in driving them out of the
territories they had occupied on India’s frontier. General Sic
William Slim, Commander of the 14th Army, which completely
destroyed Japan’s military power in South-East Asia, bore testi-
mony to the wonderful services of the Indians in this epic struggle.
“India was,” he observed in 1946, “our base, and three-quarters
of ever.ythmg w^e got from there. The best thing of all we got from
India was the Indian army. Indeed, the campaign in Burma was
largely an Indian Army campaign. The bulk of the fighting troops
and almost the whole of those on the lines of communication were
soldiers of the Indian Army, and magnificent they were. India, too,
trained and sent us our reinforcements.’’^
The pre-war strength of the Indian Army was 182,000. By the
middle of 1945 the Army numbered over 2,000,000 men although
recruitment had continued all along on a voluntary basis. The
casualties in the ranks of the Indian troops numbered 180,000, of
whom “one in six was killed besides 6,500 merchant seamen, who
were either killed or missing.” In addition, bombing caused 4,000
civilian casualties. There would have been larger casualties but for
The Indian Annual Register, 1945, Vol. II, p. 284.
2 r/je ,g^QjtesTOan, STov. 7, 1944.
^ Asiatic Review, April, 1946.
970
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the yeomen service rendered by the members of the Civil Defence
Corps, numbering at one time 82,000A
There was a proportionate increase in recruitment to the officer
class, including both King’s Commissioned officers and Viceroy’s
Commissioned officers. The Indian Mlitary Academy at Dehra Dun
made provision for 600 cadets, compared with 200 before the war,
and other Officer Traiaiug Schools were opened. Though there were
only 400 Indian Officers at the outbreak of the war, the number of
Indian Commissioned and King’s Commissioned officers had risen
to more than 10,000 at its close. There was a large increase in the
number of training schools of all descriptions to bring about the fuller
mechanisation of the Army and secure more efficient training. The
Indian Artillery was also greatly expanded and developed. Valuable
services were rendered by the Corps of Indian Electrical and
Mechanical Engineers, formed on 1st May, 1943, for the repair, re-
covery and maintenance of the technical equipment of the Indian
Army; the Indian Signal Corps, formed in 1922 and greatly ex-
panded during this war ; the Indian Army Medical Corps, formed in
1943 ; and the Women’s Auxiliary Corps, numbering over 10,000,
formed to release soldiers and technicians for more active duty. The
Royal Indian Navy, with its personnel raised from 1,200 officers and
men at the commencement of the war to about 30,000 by the
beginning of 1944, had notable services and exploits to its credit.
The Indian Air Force (started in 1932 and subsequently designated
the Royal Indian Air Force), with strength augmented from 200 to
27,000, and equipped with modern aircraft, both fighters and
bombers, fought gallantly over Burma from 1942 onwards. India
also made very large contributions to the Allies in arms, ammunition,
equipment and various other kinds of war material. Special reference
must be made to the Tata Iron and Steel Company and the Steel
Corporation of Bengal, which considerably assisted the war effort by
speeding up the production of steel. Indian shipyards built 2,000 small
vessels during the war, with a total tonnage of 100,000 tons. Large
numbers of Indian railway wagons were sent to the Middle East.
The Indian States were liberal in their help. Besides supplying
more than 376,000 recruits for the fighting forces of India, they
provided men for technical work, and important materials, such as
steel, blankets and other kinds of woollen cloths, silk for parachute
manufacture, webbing cloth, and rubber products. The total financial
contributions of the States exceeded Rs. 65,000,000. About half the
total contribution to the Viceroy’s Fund came from them.
^ For this section, see { 1 ) Statistics relating to India's War Effort ( Government of
India Publ.Feb. 1947) ; (2) The Indian Annual Register, 1945, Vol. I, pp. 277-296,
DURING AND AFTER SECOND WORLD WAR 971
2 . India’s Participation in Efforts for Peace
Having made this immense contribution towards the achievement
of victory by the Allied powers, India showed a genuine interest in
the solution of the problems of tormented humanity and became
actively associated with the organizations working for international
security and peace. She was associated with the principal organs and
specialised agencies of the United Nations Organization. She is a
signatory to its charter and is an original member of it. One of her
representatives became the Chairman of the Social and Economic
Council of the U.N.O. and rendered much valuable assistance in the
difficult initial stages. Her prepresentatives all played very im-
portant parts in the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation.
In the 1946 session of the U.N., Indian representatives took an
independent line on some major issues. They succeeded in making
the XJ.N. take up the question of the treatment of Indians in South
Africa against the opposition of the United Kingdom and the U.S.A.
India also tried persistently to protect the rights of politically back-
ward peoples in the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations. But
in 1947, on two matters in which she was directly interested, that is,
her election to the Security Council and the dispute with South
Africa, she did not succeed in gaining what she hoped for. She
continued, however, to participate actively in the work of the United
Nations. As tension developed between the two great groups of
world powers, one under the leadership of the U.S.A. and Great
Britain, and the other under the U.S.S.R. (Russia), India wisely
proclaimed her policy of not identifying herself with either group.
She also came to have her diplomatic representatives, of various
ranks and designations, from Ambassadors to Consuls and Com-
missioners, m different countries abroad. Similarly foreign countries
stationed here their representatives, diplomatic or consular.
India not only participated in many international Conferences like
the Pacific Relations Conference (1934-44), the World Trade Union
Conference (February, 1945), the Commonwealth Relations Con-
ference (February-March, 1946), the World Trade Union Congress
(September, 1945), the Subject Peoples Conference (London,
October, 1945), and the International Labour Conference at Geneva
(July, 1947), but also organized the Asian Relations Conference
(New Delhi, 23rd March-2nd April, 1947). She also exchanged
delegations and missions and entered into various treaties with other
countries. Associations interested in India sprang up in foreign
972
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
countries, e.g. the National Committee for India’s Freedom, formed
on the 25th October, 1943, with headquarters at Washington, the
Australian India Association formed in October, 1943, and the
Indo-Iranian Cultural Society, Teheran, founded in 1944.
3. Post-War Economic Conditions
A. Development of Industries
The social and economic effects of the Second World War on India
were profound and far-reaching. No branch of economic life re-
mained miaflfected, and with the cessation of hostilities new forces
were released in the social and cultural sphere, so that the country
had to face various acute problems of reconstruction and re-adjust-
ment. The war can mdeed be regarded as marking the beginning of
a new social order.
Some favourable factors, such as the growing demand for war
materials both at home and from other parts of the Commonwealth,
restrictions on imports, and greater care and assistance on the part
of the Government with regard to industries, contributed to in-
creased activity and output in all items of industrial manufacture
except jute, matches and wheat flour. The decline in jute manu-
facture was due principally to lack of demand, and the fall in the
production of matches to lack of raw materials, while wheat flour
dropped owing to the shortage of supplies for mills, though the
crops were relatively large. Petroleum and electrical power were the
outstanding examples of increased production. Labour shortage
affected the production of coal and iron ore. Though India’s ship-
building industry had not yet satisfied legitimate national ex-
pectations, it may be noted that shipbuilding yards were opened m
Vizagapatam in 1940, and within two years 4,000 sea-going ships
were repaired. In April 1947, the Reconstruction Policy Sub-
Committee on Shipping recommended a planned development of
Indian Shipping on economic as well as strategic considerations.
B. Economic Planning
The complex problems of modern times and the influences of the
Second World War created in India, as in most other countries, an
almost universal impulse towards a planned reconstruction of the
entire pattern of economic life.
A National Planning Committee was constituted towards the end
of 1938, at the instance of the Indian National Congress, under the
DUEING AND AI'TER SECOND WORLD WAR 97S
iChairmaiiship of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It consisted of fifteen
members together with representatives of the Provincial Govern-
ments and such Indian States as chose to join it. But this Com-
mittee languished, owing to the change in the political situation after
the outbreak of the war and the resignation of the Congress Ministries,
and it did not resume its work until September, 1945. Several other
plans for economic reconstruction were later formulated, such as the
Bombay Plan, the People’s Plan, the Gandhian Plan, besides the
Provincial plans, the plans of the Departments of the Central
Government, plans for major industries, and plans of Indian States.
Broadly speaking, the objectives of plamiing were “to raise the
general standard of living of the people as a whole and to ensure
useful employment for all” by the development of the resources of
the country to the maximum extent possible, and by the distri-
bution of national wealth in an equitable manner. Early in June,
1941, the Government of India formed a Post-War Reconstruction
Committee. On the 26th October, 1946, it announced the appoint-
ment of an Advisory Planning Board, which, in its Report of January,
1947, emphatically expressed the opinion that the “proper develop-
ment of large-scale industries can only take place if political units,
whether Provinces or States, agree to work in accordance with a
common plan.” But the state of affairs in mdustry continued to
be disquieting for several reasons, one of which was the continuance
of strained relations between labour and management.
C. Labour
The war had tremendous repercussions on labour in India. Ab-
normal economic conditions, largely the result of an unprecedented
rise in the cost of living, caused an insistent demand for better
conditions, which had mostly to be satisfied by increases in wages,
grants of dearness allowances and bonuses, and the introduction of
pension schemes, provident funds, and more scientific systems of
payment.
This period was marked by a growing sense of responsibility for
the improvement of the lot of the ordinary worker in this country,
resulting in important labour legislation. The Factories Amendment
Act, passed in April, 1946, and enforced from 1st August, reduced
maximum working hours per week from 64 to 48, and from 60 to 50
in peremiial and seasonal factories respectively. It fixed the
maximum daily hours of work at 9 and 10 respectively. The
Act also prescribed uniform rates of payment for overtime work
both in perennial and Seasonal factories, amounting to double
974
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OP INDIA
the ordinary rate. According to the Industrial Employment (Stand-
ing Orders) Act of 1946, owners of industrial establishments in British
India, employing a hundred or more workers, were required to define
clearly the conditions of service and to have these duly certified by
an officer appointed for this purpose either by the Central Govern-
ment or by the Provincial Government as the case might be. The
Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1946, amended in 1947, made
workmen earning wages up to the maximum limit of Rs.400 a
month entitled to compensation for injuries sustained m the course
of their emplo 3 mient, and laid down a scale of compensation for
workers earning between Es.300 and Rs.400. The Indian National
Government passed some important Acts regarding industrial
relations, social insurance, and improvement in conditions of work.
The Provincial Governments were also alive to their responsibilities
in relation to labour and industries ; as a specific example may be
mentioned the Bombay Industrial Relations Act (1946), which
aimed at the regulation and rapid settlement of labour disputes by
the establishment of labour courts and also of joint committees of
management and labour in industrial establishments. Several other
important steps were also taken by the Central and the Provincial
Governments to harmonise industrial relations. At a Conference in
1947, representatives of employers, employees and the Government
came to a unanimous decision to maintain industrial peace and to
avoid lock-outs, strikes, and slowing down of production for the next
three years. The various adjudication awards and recommendations
of the Conciliation Boards also aimed at securing cordial industrial
relations. For instance, the recommendations of the Board of
Conciliation (1947), which investigated the causes of industrial
disputes in the coalfield areas of Bengal and Bihar, were hailed as
a “new deal for coal-miners”. They provided for the improvement
of the conditions of a class of workers whose interests had been
neglected in the past.
The war gave added strength to the labour movement and
facilitated the further growth of Trade Unionism. In 1940 the
National Trades Union Federation, into which the Indian Trades
Union Federation (p. 954) had merged, was amalgamated with the
All-India Trade Union Congress. But there was again a cleavage
in the ranks of labour in India in 1941, when a new central
organisation, called the Indian Federation of Labour, came into
being. The year 1947 saw the birth of yet another organisation,
under the name of the Indian National Trade Union Congress.
Drawing its inspiration from Gandhian philosophy, it sought to
“secure redress of grievances, without stoppages of work, by means
toUElNG AND AB1DBE SECOND WOELD WAE 975
of negotiation and conciliation, and failing that, by arbitration or
adjudication”. This organisation, representing 577 unions of 19
industrial groups, very soon became “a force in national life”. But
in spite of all this, there is still immense confusion and much
ferment in the Indian labour world.
D. The Hard Lot of the Comynon People
The common people of India, whose condition had always been
deplorable, suffered great hardships during and after the war. There
was a rapid rise in the prices of all goods “thanks to ceaseless in-
flation following upon the endless stream of British purchases in
India against sterling securities in the Paper Currency Keserve”.
There was a drastic reduction in the supply of essential commodities,
particularly food grains and cloth, to the civilian population. “Be-
fore the war the total available supply of cereals was more than 45
million tons. During the first half of the war period it was reduced
to 43 million tons. . . . Again, as against the 6,000 million yards
of cloth in supply before the war, only 3,700 million yards were
available in 1942; and even two years later the supplies barely
exceeded 5,000 million yards.”
The Eeport of the Sub-Committee on Labour of the National
Planning Committee significantly remarks: “Notwithstanding all
measures of control, regulation of price. Government procurement
and distribution of essential supplies, like food, kerosene, sugar, and
the entire rationing system applied to town after town and Province
after Province, prices continued to soar, black markets flourished,
corruption knew no bounds of rank or sex.” The horrible Bengal
famine of 1943, producing untold miseries for the people of that
province, was undoubtedly a direct result of war conditions, but was
accentuated by the “carelessness and complete lack of foresight of
those m authority”, and the inordinate greed of persons in certain
positions. As the Famine Inquiry Commission presided over by Sir
John Woodhead stated in its Eeport published in May, 1945 : “It has
been for us a sad task to enquire into the course and causes of the
Bengal famine. We have been haunted by a deep sense of tragedy.
A million and a half of the poor of Bengal feU victim to circumstances
for which they themselves were not responsible. Society, together
with its organs, failed to protect its weaker members. Indeed, there
was a moral and social breakdown, as well as an administrative
breakdown”. The wounds inflicted on Bengal by this terrible
calamity were very slow to heal.
976
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
E. Agriculture
Indian agriculturists and ordinary consumers were the worst
sufferers by the failure of economic controls, profiteering, and
widely prevailing corruption, though bigger farmers with more
surplus to sell derived advantage from high prices. So far as agri-
cultural economy is concerned, numerous problems were brought
to the forefront by the Second World War — the plannmg of pro-
duction and distribution, the provision of an adequate transport
system connecting the widely separated surplus and deficit areas,
maintenance of minimum stocks, effective control over costs of
production and prices, and regulation of exports and imports. The
Central and Provincial Governments promised to bring about an
improvement in the state of agriculture and in the lot of the common
people by proper agricultural planning, which w^ould facilitate the
attainment of high levels of production and prosperity.
F. Co-operation
An important part m this general improvement w^as assigned to
co-operation. During 1946-46 the number of provincial and central
co-operative banks was 614, with a total membership of 226,000,
The working capital increased from Rs.60 lakhs in 1944-45 to 69*97
lakhs in 1945-46. The number of agricultural co-operative societies
rose from 136,354 in 194'D-45 to 146,968 in 1946, and their member-
ship increased from 5,013,000 to 6,501,000. It was expected that
they would all function fruitfully under the democratic Governments
at the Centre and in the Provinces.
G. Trade
The Second World War had, of course, far-reaching effects upon
India’s trade. It cut her off entirely from the continent of Europe,
and ffom Japan and the various neighbouring countries which were
oven’un by the Japanese, and it interfered greatly with her trade with
the countries within the British Commonwealth of Nations. There
was an actual decline of about 38 per cent in exports and 70 per cent
in imports in 1942-43 as compared with the jire-w'-ar year 1938-39.^
There was, however, an improvement in India’s trading position
in 1943-44 as compared with the previous year.^ The composition
^ Eastern Econamht, July 30, IMS, p. $65.
* Review of the Trade of India in 1943-44, p. 56.
DURING AND AD-TEE SECOND WORLD WAR 97?
of her export trade was also vastly altered during the war. There
was an increase in the exports of manufactured goods and a decrease
in those of raw materials. “In 1938 manufactured articles comprised
only 30 -5 per cent of exports, and raw materials and food 44-3 per cent
and 23-5 per cent respectively. In 1944 manufactured articles were
51-5 per cent, and raw materials and food 24*7 per cent and 22-5 pet
cent respectively.” The figures mentioned do not incltide imports of
food grains, etc., made on Government account, and imports’ of
Government stores, railway stocks, etc.^ During 1946 the value of
India’s total trade amounted to Rs.566-2 crores compared with
Rs.481‘9 crores in 1945, there being a larger rise in exports than in
imports. The import trade of India, however, soon began to revive
and revert to the pre-war position. Even the imports of manu-
factured articles increased from 31*9 per cent in 1944 to 55*4 per
cent in 1946, but certain considerations led to the issue, in May
and July 1947, of import control orders intended to reduce imports.
The export trade of India was slow to regain its pre-war position,
owing mainly to the continuance of shortages of agricultural products
and the “rising levels of consumption On the cessation of hostilities
private trade with different countries, so long suspended, could be
resumed. Among the important changes in the direction of India’s
trade it may be noted that a favourable balance of trade was
maintained with the countries of the British Commonwealth from
the beginning of the war till 1945, but that there was an adverse
balance in 1946. The value of both export and import trade with
the U.S. A. rose. “ The leap in the imports of American merchandise
into this country from Rs.978 lakhs in 1938-39 to Rs.67,40 lakhs in
1945- 46 is very significant especially in comparison with the increase
in the imports from U.K. during the same period from Rs.88,56 lakhs
to Rs.101,83 lakhs.® There was an adverse balance of trade with the
U.S.A. in 1945, but this was altered in India’s favour in 1946.^ The
Indian Tariff' Board, constituted in 1 945, made some recommendations
regarding the claims of various industries for protection, but these
could not be implemented at once. One notable event of the year
1947 affecting the foreign trade of India was her participation in the
Geneva Trade Conference at which several important economic
agreements were concluded.®
^ Eastern Economist, June 2%, 194:Q, p. 1075,
^ Ibid., November 7, 1947.
® Ibid., January 5, 1947.
** Ibid., November 7, 1947.
® January 2, 1948.
9^8
AN ABVANOEt) HISTOHY OF IHMA
4 . Education and Social Progress
The reorganisation of the educational system is universally
recognised to be indispensable to the progress of the Indian nation.
The new-born democracy and sense of nationalism must be nourished
and developed by the spread of the right type of education amongst
all sections of the people. It should be remembered that the per-
centage of literacy between 1931 and 1941 rose from 8 to only about
12. In spite of the increase in the number of institutions, and the new
educational measures of recent years, illiteracy still remains an
appalling problem for the country.
At the request of the Government of India, the Central Advisory
Board of Education submitted at the beginning of 1944 a post-
war plan of educational reconstruction covering all the branches of
education. It not only prescribed universal compulsory and free
education for all boys and girls from sis to fourteen, but also con-
templated the provision of nursery schools and classes for ten lakhs
of children below the age of six. It further recommended the
provision of secondary schools with a view to fostering varied types
of technical and vocational education suited to the aptitudes of
pupils of different classes and capabilities. It also emphasised the
need for granting liberal financial assistance in the form of free
tuition, scholarships and maintenance grants, so that poverty might
be no obstacle to the education of students of proved ability. As a
corollary to this it stressed the need for adequate and improved
arrangements for higher education, both in Universities and in
professional and technical institutions of University level. The
Board emphasised the necessity of “enlarging and making more
practical the present provision for technical, commercial and art
instruction at all levels in order to provide India with the research
workers, executives and skilled craftsmen which the expansion of her
industrial, economic and agricultural resources will inevitably
demand’'. It also called for greater facilities for the cultural and
recreational side. of education to help the students “to fulfil them-
selves as individuals”. Feeling that “a curriculum devoid of an
ethical basis would prove barren in the end”, it attached high
importance to the training of character at all stages of education
through a properly articulated combination of physical, mental and
moral instruction. The Board made it clear that its object through-
out was not “to plan an ideal system of public instruction, but rather
to lay down the very minimum, necessary to place India on an
approximate level with other civilised communities”, and suggested
DURING AND AFTER SECOND WORLD WAR 979
that the various authorities in charge of education might work out
detailed schemes to suit the particular needs of their respective areas.
The Central and Provincial Governments -were not slow in
formulating plans and schemes for the development of Primary,
Secondary and University education, physical education, education
of the handicapped, and vocational (technical, agricultural and
commercial) education. The Wardha system of Basic Education,
which combines training in handicrafts with literary education, was
gradually introduced in different areas by the new Provincial
Governments. The question of replacing English as the medium of
University education was also mooted and w^as discussed at a meeting
of the Vice-Chancellors of the different Universities and the Minister m
charge of Education of the Central Government. The consensus of
opinion in the matter is that at this transitional stage the medium
should continue to be English for a certain period, to be gradually
replaced by the regional or the State language at the end of that period.
The Central Advisory Board in 1944 was emphatic as to the
necessity for increasing educational facilities for women, even to
the extent of making the same provision for girls as for boys.
Recognising the special role of women in children’s education, the
Board recommended that “apart from the Pre-Primary schools,
where all the teachers must be women, at least three-fifths of the
teachers in junior Basic Schools and one-half of those in senior Basic
Schools, ought to be women”. Indian women felt entitled to
greater opportunities for working on a basis of equality with men,
and many of them W'ere already prominent in various spheres of life.
Mrs. Radhabai Subbarayan became the first woman member of the
Council of State in 1938, and in 1943 Mrs, Renuka Ray was the first
woman to sit in the Central Legislative Assembly. It is a matter of
pride for India that women leaders like Vijayalakshmi Pandit and
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur came to be actively associated as re-
presentatives of their country with international bodies like the
United Nations and the United Nations Educational Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The All-India Women’s Confer-
ence forwarded to the Constituent Assembly the Charter of Women’s
Rights, its most important features being the demand for the
introduction of universal suffrage in Lidia’s new constitution and for
the formation of a Social Service Ministry both at the Centre and in
the Provinces.
Independent India honoured its womanhood by appointing
Sarojini Naidu Governor of the United Provinces, Vijayalakshmi
Pandit as Ambassador in Moscow and Washington, and Amrit Kaur
as a Minister in the Central Government.
'CHAPTER IX
THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
I. Progress of Nationalism (1905-1916)
The progress of the nationalist movement forms the most im-
portant feature in Indian history during the first half of the present
century. The first phase of this movement has been discussed in
Chapter IV., 3. The second phase begins in 1905. Daring the
first twenty years of its existence, the Congress passed a series of
resolutions to which the Government paid but little heed, and the
only notable result of its efforts was the Indian Councils Act of 1892.
This failure to achieve any conspicuous success strengthened the
radical section of the Congress, which assumed a more militant
attitude and demanded bolder action against British Imperialism.
The new spirit, which received a fillip from Japan’s great victory
over Russia in 1904-5, was brought to a head by an unpopular
measure of Lord Curzon, viz. the Partition of Bengal, referred to
above (p. 875). The destruction of the bond that united the Ben-
galis, under colour of providing for administrative efficiency,
considerably weakened the politically advanced Bengali intelli-
gentsia. It split them into two separate Provinces, in both of which
they would be outnumbered by other elements of the population
(p. 928), and kindled religious animosities, thus interfering with the
growth of a true national spirit transcending creed and community.
The Partition of Bengal, carried out despite the strongest opposition
from Nationalists, whose leaders included both Hindus and Muslims,
roused a fierce spirit of resistance among them, and gave a new turn
to the political movement.
Under the guidance of leaders like Surendranath Banerjea, Bepin
Chandra Pal, A. Rasul, Aswini Kumar Datta and Arabinda Ghosh,
the agitation spread like wild-fire ail over Bengal and even far out-
side it. Mr. Gokhale, who presided over the Congress in 1905,
correctly gauged the situation when he said :
“The tremendous upheaval of popular feeling which has taken
place in Bengal in consequence of the Partition will constitute a
THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM 981
iandmark in the history of our National progress. ... A wave of
true national consciousness has swept over the province, , . .
Bengal’s heroic stand against the oppression of a harsh and un-
controlled bureaucracy has astonished and gratified all India, and
her sufferings have not been endured in vain, when they have helped
to draw closer all parts of the country in sympathy and aspiration.”
The Bengalis openly defied the Government and sought to exert
pressure upon it by the adoption of such political weapons as the
boycott of British goods, Swadeshi (use of indigenous goods), and
the spread of National Education. The Congress, held in 1906, not
only endorsed these plans, but, for the first time in its history, laid
down as its goal ‘‘the system of government obtaining in the self-
governing British colonies ” which the President summed up in one
word, “Swaraj”. The new spirit reflected in these changes was
sponsored by Tilak, Bepin Chandra Pal, Lajpat Rai and other
“extremist” leaders. But the “moderate” leaders lilce Suren-
dranath Banerjea, Pheroze Shah Mehta, and Gokhale did not keep
pace with it, and there was an open split between the two parties in
the Surat session of the Congress in 1907. For nine years the
Extremist section kept out of the Congress.
Much happened during these eventful years. Lord Curzon’s
policy of disintegrating Bengal and of brushing aside the claims of
the Indian educated classes to be the prophets of what they them-
selves spoke of as the “New Nationalism” bore fruit. In 1906
Nawab Salimulla of Dacca set up a permanent political organization
of the Muslims, known as the Muslim League, which supported the
Partition of Bengal and opposed the boycott of British goods. The
Government launched a campaign of repression. Large numbers of
the people of Bengal, and also their sympathisers outside, including
Tilak, were tried and imprisoned and, under an old regulation of
1818, some of the leaders were deported without trial. Peaceful
pickets were beaten and sent to jail, meetings were broken up by the
police with lathi charges, and popular outbreaks were suppressed
with severity. These measures failed to check the nationalist
movement. On the contrary, they gave rise to an underground
conspiracy to terrorise the Government by killing officials. Bombs
were secretly prepared in the outskirts of Calcutta, and the
“anarchist movement”, as it came to be called, became a new factor
in Indian politics.
As the repressive policy failed in its objective, the Government
sought to “rally the Moderates” by granting the Morley-Minto
Reforms in 1909 (p. 913) and modifying the Partition of Bengal two
years later (p. 928). The Moderates were at first jubilant, but some
982
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OP INDIA
of the regulations under the 1909 Reforms, especially the creation of
separate electorates for Muslims, were strongly disapproved by most
of them. In fact, this policy, which was regarded as one of ‘‘divide
and rule”, alienated the Moderates from the Government and paved
he way for their union with the Radical section of the Congress at
the Lucknow session in 1916.
The introduction of the separate electorate has an interesting
history. It was a device adopted by the new Viceroy, Lord Minted
to win over the Muslims and set them against the Congress movement.
A deputation of the Muslims, encouraged by the British officials, if
not by the Government itself, was induced to ask for representation as
a separate community, and further pray “that their position should
he estimated not merely on their numerical strength but in respect to
the political importance of their community and the service it has
rendered to the Empire”. Lord Minto conceded both, and we know
from an entry in Lady Minto’s diary of 1st October, 1906, that this act
was jubilantly hailed by British officialdom as “nothing less than the
pulling back of 62 millions of people from j oming the ranks of seditious
opposition’ ’ . Even the great Liberal statesman Lord Morley supported
this ingenious device of “separate electorate” and “weightage”
which was virtually a stab in the back at Indian Nationalism.
Ramsay MacDonald, who later became the Prime Minister of
Britain, correctly diagnosed the situation when he observed that
“the Mahomedan leaders are inspired by certam Anglo-Indian
officials, and these officials have pulled wires at Simla and in London,
and of malice aforethought sowed discord between Hindu and
Mahomedan communities by showing the Muslims special favour”.
The Muslim League, founded in 1906 (p. 981), was originally
mainly an organization of some Muslims who emphasized the bond
of religion in place of the “New Nationalism”. Its attitude was at
* According to th© Conntess of Minto {India, Minto and Morley, p. 20 n),
separate electorates were proposed by Mr. Gokhale. She does not, however,
quote any authority in support of her statement. The following summary of
a speech by Mr. Gokhale probably represents his real views :
“Mr. Gokhale stated his own position in the matter quite frankly. He had
all along been in favour of special separate electorates for important minorities,
but he wanted such electorates to provide not the whole of the representation
to which the communities were entitled, but only so much of it as was necessary
to redress the deficiencies and inequalities of general elections ; and he wanted
the same treatment to be extended to other important minorities than
Mahomedans where necessary. Mr. Gokhale held strongly that in the best
interest of their public life and for the future of their land they must first have
elections on a territorial basis in which all communities without distinction of
race or creed should participate, and then special separate supplementary
elections should be held to secure the fair and adequate representation of such
important minorities as had received less than their full share in the general
elections.” Speeches of Oopal Krishna Gokhale (Natesan & Co.), p. 1138.
THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM 983
first exclusive, but as its numbers grew, it imbibed the nationalistic
spirit which animated the country. In 1913 it adopted “self-
government within the Empire” as its goal. The war between
Turkey and Britain aroused strong anti-British feelings among
powerful sections of Muslims and paved the way for co-operation
between them and the Congress. Both the Congress and the League
held their sessions at Lucknow in 1916, and concluded the famous
“Lucknow Pact” by w^hich the Congress agreed to separate elector-
ates and the two organizations jointly framed a constitutional
scheme on the basis of Dominion Status.
The year 1916 which saw the union of the Moderate and Radical
sections of the Congress, and the friendly co-operation between it
and the Muslim League for the common cause of India, is also
memorable for the inauguration of two Home Rule Leagues, one
founded by Lokamanya Tilak in April of that year, and another by
Annie Besant five months later. These two bodies co-operated in
carrying on an intensive propaganda in favour of the “Congress-
League Scheme” of political reforms,
2. The Non-Co-operation and Civil Disobedience Movement
(19 17-1934)
The War of 1914-18 which brought about the rapprochement
between the Congress and the Muslim League also furthered the
Indian cause in other ways. Indian soldiers rendered splendid
service to the Empire at critical moments of the war. In acknow-
ledging it Lord Birkenhead truly remarked*. “Without India the
war would have been immensely prolonged, if indeed without her
help it could have been brought to a victorious conclusion.” England
felt bound to recompense this service by political reforms in India,
particularly as one of the avowed objects of the war was to secure
self-determination for subject peoples and to make the world
safe for democracy. Besides, the lessons of the Russian Revolution
and the collapse of the Tsarist regime probably had some effect on
a section of British politicians. All these factors led to the famous
announcement of 1917 (p. 915) and the constitution of 1919 to
which reference has been made earlier (p. 916).
The publication of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report created a split
in the ranks of the Congress. It was considered in a special session
of the Congress and condemned as inadequate, disappointing and
unsatisfactory. Thereupon most of the leaders of the Moderate
Party left the Congress, and later founded the Indian Liberal
Federation. Mahatma Gandhi was at first inclined to try to make
984
ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
the reforms work, and the Congress decided in favour of this in
December 1919. But he changed his views before a year was over.
Under his inspiration the Congress adopted, in a special session held
in Calcutta in 1920, the famous resolution on Non-co-operation which
recommended the renunciation of Government titles and the
boycotting of the Legislatures, law-courts and Government educa-
tional institutions, leading up at a later date to the non-payment
of taxes. Further, the object of the Indian National Congress was
now defined as the attainment of Swarajya (self-rule) by all
legitimate and peaceful means. This last phrase replaced the words
“constitutional means”, and Swardjya was taken to imply “self-rule
within the Empire, if possible, without, if necessary”.
The new policy was acclaimed with enthusiasm, and received
overwhelming support from the masses. As a British writer has
observed, Gandhiji “not only converted the nationalist movement
into a revolutionary movement, but also made it popular”. The
Congress gave up its old methods of constitutional agitation, and it
was now broad-based on the willing support of the masses. This
great change was helped by some contemporary events, two of which
deserve special mention, viz. the atrocities in the Punjab and the
Khilafat agitation.
In 1919 the Government passed a set of new coercive measures,
known as the Rowlatt Acts from the name of the President of the
Committee on whose report they were based. These sought to
perpetuate the extraordinary repressive powers conferred on the
Government during the war, for doing away with ordinary legal
procedure and for authorising imprisonment without trial. Gandhiji
organised a passive resistance movement in protest, and “a mighty
wave of mass demonstrations, strikes, unrest and rioting spread over
many parts of India”. The Government put down the movement
with a heavy hand, the blackest stain on its record being in con-
nection with a prohibited meeting of citizens at an enclosed place
called Jalianwalla Bagh at Amritsar. Troops under General Dyer
fired 1,600 rounds of ammunition into the unarmed crowd who had
no means of exit. Even according to official estimates 379 persons
were killed, and 1,200 wounded were left untended. Martial law was
proclaimed in the Punjab; and the subsequent inquiries revealed
a gruesome picture of shootings, hangings, bombing from the air and
extremely severe sentences passed by the tribunals during the reign
of terror.
The part played by Britaiu in the defeat of Turkey and the
dismemberment of the Turkish empire in the First World War
offended the religious and historical sentiment of the Muslims, and
THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
986
caused them to adopt an aggressive anti-British attitude. The two
brothers, Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, and Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad organized a mass movement of the Muslims known as
the Khilafat movement.
There was already widespread unrest among the industrial workers.
The Bombay Mill strike affected more than 125,000 workers at the
beginning of 1919 and there were no fewer than 200 strikes involving
15 lakhs of workers during the first six months of 1920. The atrocities
in the Punjab stirred the whole country, and in the Khilafat move-
ment Gandhi] i saw “an opportunity of uniting Hindus and
Mahomedans as would not arise in a hundred years”. He whole-
heartedly espoused the Khilafat cause, and there was, as an official
publication recorded, “unprecedented fraternisation between the
Hmdus and the Muslims”.
Gandhi ji conceived the idea of canalising the powerful currents
of this united mass movement so as to give the utmost impetus to
the national struggle for independence. This took shape in the
non-violent non-co-operation movement mentioned above. It was
first adopted, though not without opposition, in the special session
of the Congress held in Calcutta in September 1920, and was re-
affirmed, almost unanimously, at the annual session at Nagpur
in December, 1920.
The movement evoked a hearty response throughout the country.
Nearly two-thirds of the voters abstained from taking part in the
election to the Councils held in November, 1920, and a large
number of students came out of schools and colleges. The lawyers
who gave up their practices included such distinguished persons
as Desabandhu C. R. Das and Pandit Motilal Nehru. An important
feature of the movement was the burning of English cloths on bon-
fires, and a spirit of civil disobedience and passive resistance against
the Government was visible everywhere. As there were nearly
30,000 political prisoners, the jail lost its terror, and imprisonment
became a badge of honour. The British Government brought the
Prince of Wales to India in the vain hope of rousing the traditional
feeling of loyalty among the masses. But a hartal was observed all
over India on the day the Prince landed in Bombay, and he had
to pass for the most part through deserted streets when he visited
the provincial capitals of India.
The year 1921 was thus a memorable landmark in the history of
India’s struggle for freedom. The Congress, in its annual session at
Ahmadabad (December, 1921), not only expressed its determination
to continue the programme of non-violent non-co-operation with
greater vigour but took steps to organize civil disobedience.
986
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Mahatma Gandhi was appointed by the Congress the sole executive
authority to lead the national movement. The popular enthusiasm
rose to fever heat and there was an eager expectation of a mass
movement on a big scale. Gandhiji, however, decided to confine
it at first to Bardoli, a small district of 87,000 people. But even this
was suspended on account of an outbreak of mob violence at Chauri
Chaura (a small village near Gorakhpur in the U.P.) in the course of
which a police station was burnt and twenty-two policemen killed.
Gandhiji’s decision was received with feelings of dismay all over the
country, but was endorsed by the Congress Working Committee on
12th February, 1922. In consequence some activities of the national
movement had to be suspended for several years.
A new policy was adopted by a section of the Congress under the
leadership of 0. R. Das and Motilal Nehru. They organized the
Swaraj ya party and contested the next elections to the Council with
a view to wrecking the reforms from within by “uniform, consistent
and continuous obstruction”. But in spite of some success the policy
failed in its main objective.
The spirit of frustration caused by the suspension of the mass
movement adversely affected the relations between Hindus and
Muslims. There was no common programme to bring them together,
and the transformation of Turkey into a secularist State under
Kemal Pasha pnt an end to the Khilafat movement. Other causes
were also at work, and designing persons were not wanting to sow
discord between the two communities. A series of communal riots
broke out in 1923, and with occasional intervals continued to be
almost regular features of Indian political life. The failure of the
Swaraj ya Party was largely due to this communal discord. The
Muslim League grew in power and revived the old ideas of Sir Syed
Ahmad. The Congress, however, was obsessed by an uncom-
promising nationalist outlook, took no real measure of the magnitude
and character of the communal problem, and underestimated the
power and position of the Muslim League, reinforced by some
Khilafat leaders who no longer took their inspiration from the
Mahatma. The Congress wanted to rally the Muslim Nationalists
as a counterpoise to the League, very much in the same way as the
British Government wanted to rally the Moderates against the
Extremists. The result was the same, for in the long run both proved
equally incapable of stemming the tide of their opponents’ sweeping
success.
The boycott of the Simon Commission (p. 920), provided a great
opportunity for the restoration of amity between the different
communities and political parties. The Congress, the Muslim League,
THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM 987
and the Liberal Federation, the organization of the Moderates who
seceded from the Congress after 1920, all combined to frame a con-
stitution for India. But the All-Parties Convention which met to-
wards the end of 1928 would not concede the claims made by Mr.
Jinnah on behalf of the Muslims. He therefore joined the Muslim
leaders who did not see eye to eye with the Congress, and on January
1, 1929, held an All-India Muslim Conference which issued a mani-
festo of Muslim claims. This formed the basis of the famous fourteen
demands formulated by Mr. Jinnah later in the same year.
In the Madras session held in 1927 the Congress had declared
complete national independence as its goal. Nevertheless the All-
Parties Convention, and later the Congress, agreed to accept
Dominion Status if granted on or before 31st December, 1929. Failing
this the Congress resolved to pursue its goal of complete independence
and organize non-violent non-co-operation including non-payment
of taxes.
In reply to the Congress demands the Viceroy, Lord Irwin,
declared on 31st October, 1929, that “the natural issue of India’s
constitutional progress” was the attainment of Dominion Status,
and further announced that a Round Table Conference of all parties
would be held in London to discuss the recommendations of the
Simon Commission. As this fell far short of its demands, the
Congress, in its Lahore session, held in December, 1929, declared
complete independence as its goal, resolved to boycott the Legis-
latures and the Round Table Conference, and took steps to launch a
programme of civil disobedience. As the clock struck midnight on
31st December, 1929, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the President of the
Congress, hoisted the National Flag of India. Independence Day was
celebrated all over India on 26th January, 1930. This day, on which
the solemn ceremony was repeated year after year, became a
landmark in the history of India’s struggle for freedom.
Gandhiji started the Civil Disobedience campaign on April 6,
by his famous march to Dandi in Western India to make salt on
the sea-shore in defiance of the salt-law regulations. This was the
signal for a mass movement on a large scale, involving mass strikes,
the boycott of British goods, grave cases of terrorism such as the
armoury raid in Chittagong, and the setting up of “parallel”
governments in several places. The Government adopted stern
measures of repression. According to official figures there were
29 cases of firing resulting in 103 killed and 420 injured, and 60,000
people were imprisoned in less than a year. Indiscriminate and
merciless beating of men and women formed a feature of the re-
pressive campaign undertaken by the Government,
988 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
The strike and the boycott hit the British community hard,
and the Government, unable to suppress the mwement by force,
adopted conciUatory measures. The Round Table Conference
which met in November 1930, without any representative of the
Congress, was adjourned on 2nd January, 1931, and on 4th March
the famous Gandhi-Irwin agreement was signed.
aereed to give up Civil Disobedience and jom the Round Table
cf4rencewhile{he Government withdrewtherepressiveordmances
aS released poUtical prisoners excepting those guilty of violence
Gandhiji wL chosen as the sole representative of the Confess at
the Lend session of the Round Table Conference {7th September
to 1st December, 1931). But the communal question proved a
Lfflirg problem, and as no agreement was poMble between Indian
Lders® tbe Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald had to make
the famous Communal Award. On his return to Inia on 2&th
December, 1931, G5ndhiji found Government repression m full swing.
TOs request for an interview with the Viceroy was refund, and
1st January, 1932, the Working Committee of the Confess
^dopSd a”tion for the renewal of Civil Disobedience and the
boycott of British goods. On 4th January, GandhiJi was araest^
The Government declared the Congress to be an illegal ^ody and
issued a number of repressive ordinances. They were openly defied,
and the Government took severe measures agamst the reastan^
movement. According to Congress estimates more than 120,000
perils were arrested by the end of March, 1933, and a dismal record
of “wholesale violence, physical outrages, shooting and beatmg up
punitive expeditions, collective fines on villages and seizure of lands
Ld proper^ of villagers” is found in the India League Delegation
iTlftSs^uSapPy juncture that the British Go™®*
announced its constitutional proposals (p. 922). The estabtahment
of a separate electorate for tbe Depressed Classes, which formed a
part of theCommunalAwardgivonbyBamsay MacDonald, provoked
Gandhiji, then in jaU, to undertake a fast. The result was the Poona
Pact which nearly doubled, the number of seats reserved for the
Depressed Oasses, to be fiUed by a common joint electorate out of a
panel of names originally chosen by them alone.
3. The Final Phase (i935-i947)
The Civil Disobedience campaign dragged on till May, 1934, when
it was virtuaUy abandoned by the Congress. Once more the Congress
decided, as in 1922, to work the reforms introduced by the Act ot
989
THE STRUGGLE EOR IREEDOM
1936 to which reference has been made abore (p. 922). It swept the
polls in elections held at the beginning of 1937 so far as the General
or predominantly Hindu seats were concerned. The Muslims desired
to form a Coalition Ministry with the Congress in each Province,
but the CongTess refused to admit into the Ministry any one who did
not subscribe to its creed. This decision widened the cleavage be-
tween the Congress and the Muslim League, and Mr. Jinnah, who had
hitherto been favourably disposed towards the Congress, and had
once vehemently protested against the view that India was not a
nation,^ publicly declared that the “Muslims can expect neither
Justice nor fair play under Congress Government.” This sentiment
was now shared by the majority of Muslims. Mr. Jinnah became the
unquestioned leader of the Muslim community, and was elected each
year as President of the League, which soon rallied round it the great
bulk of Muslims all over India.
The Congress formed Ministries in seven^ out of eleven provinces.
As their administration was highly successful, the Congress rapidly
grew in popularity, its membership increasing from less than half
a million at the beginnuig of 1936 to five million by the end of 1939.
But soon a “left wing” developed in the Congress, and^its great
strength became manifest when its leader Subhas Chandra Bose
defeated even Gandhiji’s nominee for the Presidency. When the
moderate section ultimately forced Subhas Bose to resign, he formed
a new party, the “Porward Bloc”, and this open split considerably
weakened the power and prestige of the Congress.
Nevertheless the Congress Mnistries successfully worked the
reforms, and the political situation was fairly tranquil until the
outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, when the Congress
took exception to the fact that India was dragged into the war
without her consent. A strong declaration was issued by the Working
Committee of the Congress refusing “co-operation in a war which is
conducted on imperialist lines”. The Committee also asked the
British Government to state whether their war aims included the
elimination of imperialism and the treatment of India as a free
nation. As no satisfactory reply was forthcoming, all the Congress
Ministries resigned in October-November, 1939. When the Germans
were carrying everything before them, the Congress offered more
than once to co-operate in the war effort, if at least a Provisional
National Government were set up at the Centre. The utmost
concession on the side of the Government was contamed in the
Oct., 1926, p. 462.
2 This does not include Sind, which had also become a Congress Province
as the Ministers and the majority of members o£ its Legislative Assembly had
identified themselves with the Congress poKcy.
990
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
Viceroy’s statement of August 8, 1940. He refused to concede the
National Government as “its authority is denied by large and power-
ful elements in India’s national life,” which obviously referred to
the Muslims. But he offered (1) to set up, after the war, a re-
presentative body to devise a new constitution for India, (2) to
enlarge the Viceroy’s Executive Council by nominating additional
Indian members; and (3) to appoint a “War Advisory Council”
consisting of representatives of British India and Indian States.
The Congress regarded this “August offer” as quite unsatis-
factory, and inaugurated, in October, 1940, an individual Civil
Disobedience campaign imder the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
This deadlock continued for a year and a half. At last when the
Japanese, after overrunning Malaya, were rapidly advancing in
Burma, the British made a conciliatory gesture. On 8th March, 1942,
Rangoon fell, and three days later it was annomiced that Sir Stafford
Cripps, a member of the British Cabinet, would be sent out to India,
Cripps virtually repeated the August offer. He promised Dominion
Status and a constitution-making body after the war was over, but
held out no hope of any immediate change in the government of
India. The Congress as well as the Muslim League refused his offer,
and the Cripps Mission (March-April, 1942} ended in complete
failure.
Throughout these negotiations the Congress could not count on
the support of the Muslim League. IMr. Jimiah now repudiated the
“ democratic system of Parliamentary government on the conception
of a homogeneous nation and the method of counting heads” as
impossible in India, and publicly expressed the view that neither
minority safeguards nor separate electorates could save the Muslims
from the Congress raj at the centre. When the Congress Ministries
in the Provinces resigned, the Muslim League observed a day of
deliverance and thanksgiving throughout India,
In January, 1940, Mr. Jinnah declared that the Hindus and
Muslims formed two separate nations “who both must share the
governance of their common motherland”. Three months later, in
the Lahore Session of the Muslim League (March, 1940), he declared
that the Muslim nation must have a separate independent state. In
other words, he now advocated the establishment of Pakistan or a
federation of the Punjab, North-West Erontier or Afghan Province.
Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan^ in a sovereign state. The idea had
been first brought into prominence by a group of young Muslims at
^ The name Pakistan (originally Pakstan), which means “sacred land”,
is derived by taldng the initial letters of the first four and the end of the last
name (R* Ooupland, The Constitutional Problem in India, Part II, p. 199).
991
THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
the time of the Round Table Conference, but had found no support,
and was characterised by Muslim leaders as “a student’s scheme”,
“chimerical and impracticable”. Even the modified proposal of Sir
Muhammad Iqbal for a loose federation of Pakistan, comprising one
or two Muslim states, with the rest of India, first made in 1930, and
repeated in 1939, had not been widely accepted.^ The idea of
Pakistan as a sovereign state was revived by Mr, Jinnah, and w'as
formally endorsed by the Muslim League in 1940. From that date
all attempts at reconciliation between the Congress and the League
foundered on this issue of Pakistan. The Government could also now
plausibly refuse the Congress demand for a national government on
the ground that the Muslims were opposed to it.
On August 8, 1942, the All-India Congress Committee adopted a
resolution in favour of starting a mass struggle on the widest possible
scale. Although the Congress had not made any actual preparations,
the Government decided to strike immediately. In the early hours
of the morning of August 9, all the Congress leaders were arrested
and the Congress was declared an illegal body. As there was no
definite organization and a complete lack of leadership, violent
riots and assaiilta and sporadic disorders, such as the cutting of
telegraph and telephone lines, damaging railway tracks, stations,
etc., occurred on a large scale in different parts of India. The
Government again adopted strong measures of repression including
firing from aeroplanes. According to official estimates more
than 60,000 people were arrested, 18,000 detained without trial,
940 killed, and 1,630 injured through police or military firing during
the last five months of 1942,
The outward manifestation of unrest in India was considerably
reduced by these repressive measures, but the British Government
was soon faced by another serious danger. Subhas Chandra Bose,
who had escaped jfrom India in 1941, made contacts with Germany
and Japan. When the Japanese conquered the Malay Peninsula, a
large number of Indian soldiers fell prisoners into their hands. Under
an agreement with the Japanese Government, Bose, now called
Netaji (Leader), organised them into an Azad Hind Fouz or Indian
National Army. He inaugurated the Government of Free India at
Singapore, and in 1943 his soldiers advanced with the Japanese army
up to the very frontier of India.
On 6th May, 1944, Gandhi ji was released from prison on grounds
of health. He held a series of discussions with Mr. Jinnah but no
^ It is, however, to be noted that some time before April, 1925, Lala Lajpat
Rai had suggested the creation of Muslim Provinces in the north-east and north-
west of India to set at rest the ceaseless Hindu-Muslim bickerings and
jealousies in some provinces {Mod. April, 1926, p. 489).
992
AK ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
agreement was reached. Lord Wavell, wlio succeeded Lord
Linlithgow as GoTernor-General in October, 1943, flew to London
in March, 1945, and came back with the proposal that the Members
of his Council, with the exception of the Viceroy and Commander-in-
Chief, should be Indians selected from amongst the leaders of Indian
political parties, on a basis of parity between Muslims and the
so-called caste Hindus. He summoned a conference at Simla on
25th June, 1945, to select the personnel, but it broke down as the
Congress and the League could not come to an agreement.
Not long after this, the Labour Party came into pownr in Britain,
The new British Government made an earnest efibrt to end the
political deadlock in India. They decided to hold fresh elections of
Indian Councils, both Central and Provincial, to reconstitute the
Viceroy’s Executive Council, immediately after the elections, with
Indian members as proposed in March, and to summon a con-
stitution-making body as soon as possible. The elections held at the
beginning of 1946 resulted in a sweeping victory for the Congress in
respect of the General seats and for the Muslim League in respect
of Muslim seats.
The Indian National Army organised by Bose surrendered to the
British after the collapse of Japan, and a number of its officers were
tried in India for treason. This was a highly impolitic step on the part
of the Government, as it gave the Indian people a complete picture
of an organization of which they had hitherto known very little. A
wave of enthusiasm swept the country, and demonstrations were
held in a number of cities. On 18th February, 1946, the ratings of
the Royal Indian Navy rose in open mutiny which, for a few days,
assumed serious proportions.
On 19th February, the British Prime Minister announced that
three members of the Cabinet would visit India “to promote, in
conjunction with the leaders of Indian opinion, the early realisation
of full self-government in India”. Later, on 15th March, he referred
to complete independence as a possible goal of Indian constitutional
development, if Indians so chose. The Cabinet Mission arrived at
Delhi in March, 1946, and held a series of conferences with the
leaders of the Congress and the League. As no agreement was possible
between them, the Mission issued a statement on 16th May, 1946,
giving in broad outline their idea of the future government of India
and laying down the procedure for framing a detailed constitution.
The Cabinet Mission recommended a federal type of government for
the whole of India including the States. The Federal Government
would deal with Foreign Affairs, Defence and Communication, and
the other powers would he vested in the Provinces and States.
THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM 993
British India was to be divided into three groups of Provinces ; one
comprisiag the Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province, Sind
and Baluchistan ; a second comprising Bengal and Assam ; and the
third the rest. The Union Constitution was to be framed by a
Constituent Assembly of 296 members elected on a communal basis
by the Provincial Legislative Assemblies, and the representatives of
States which joined the Union, while the representatives of the three
groups of Provinces were to meet separately to draw up the con-
stitution of the Provinces in each group. Each Province was given
the right to opt out of the Federal Union after the first election of its
I^egislative Council under the new Constitution. The Cabinet
Mission further recommended the establishment of an interim
National Government by the reconstitution of the Viceroy’s
Executive Council from among the leaders of the different parties.
On 6th June, the Muslim League accepted the Cabinet Mission’s
proposals, reiterating that the attainment of the goal of a complete
sovereign Pakistan still remained the unalterable objective of the
Muslims m India. The Congress rejected the Viceroy’s proposal for
an interim Government, but agreed to participate in the Constituent
Assembly in order to frame the Constitution. The Cabinet Mission
left India on 29th Jtme.
The Muslim League demanded that the Viceroy should proceed
with his scheme for an interim Government even though the Congress
would not take part in it. This the Viceroy refused to do, for he had
already declared that it was to be a Government of all the parties
who had accepted the Cabinet Mission’s plan. There were also sharp
differences between the Muslim League and the Congress over the
interpretation of the Cabinet Mission’s plan.
After a somewhat acrimonious controversy the Muslim League
formally withdrew its acceptance of the Cabinet Mission’s plan. The
Viceroy thereupon, in accordance with his previous declaration,
reconstituted his Executive Council without any representative of
the League. This complete triumph of the Congress provoked a
violent reaction among separatist Muslims, and the Muslim League
fixed upon 16th August, 1946, astheday of “Direct Action”. On that
da3% while some of the supporters of the League contented themselves
with demonstrations of a peaceful type, a rowdy section in Calcutta
got completely out of control. A number of Hindus were killed and
their houses and shops were looted and burnt. Soon the Hindus
retaliated and for a number of days the streets of Calcutta were the
scene of communal riots of the worst type. Neither the League
Ministry, nor the Governor and the Viceroy, who were ultimately
responsible for law and order, took adequate steps to stop the
KK
994 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
hideous violence that disgraced the name of the first city of modern
India.
On 2nd September, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his colleagues
were sworn in as members of the Viceroy’s Executive Council. Soon
after this, the Hindus of a number of villages in the district of
Noakhali and the adjoining part of Comilla suffered terribly from
raids organised by bands of armed men belonging to the other
community. This provoked reprisals in Bihar, where large numbers
of Muslims received the same treatment at the hands of the Hindus.
Pandit Nehru flew to Bihar, and the Congress Ministry there took
vigorous steps to suppress the disturbances.
The Executive Council of the Viceroy, imder the guidance of
Nehru, worked like a Cabinet and changed the whole spirit and out-
look of Indian government. Lord Wavell, whose power thus became
almost non-existent, now sought to bruag in the League members
as a counterpoise in the name of communal parity. He told Pandit
Nehru that the League had agreed to Join the Constituent Assembly,
and reconstituted the Executive Council by inoludmg members of
that organisation. The introduction of this new element destroyed
the team spirit of the Council, as the League members openly
repudiated the idea of collective responsibility. What was worse, the
League did not join the Constituent Assembly, and Mr. Jinnah
made the startling disclosure that it had never agreed to do so. It
was an awkward situation for the Viceroy, and the British Govern-
ment did nothing to improve it when it declared, on December 6,
that if the Muslim League did not join the Constituent Assembly,
the decision of this body could not be implemented by the British
Government, so far at least as it affected the Provinces with a
Muslim majority. Nevertheless, the Constituent Assembly met on
9th December, 1946, without the members of the League. Babu
Rajendra Prasad was elected President, and various committees
were appointed to draft the different parts of the Constitution.
The tense atmosphere continued till 20th February, 1947, when
the British Government made an important announcement of policy.
It declared its intention to quit India by June, 1948, and appointed
Lord Mountbatten Viceroy of India to arrange for the transfer of
authority from British to Indian hands.
This momentous proclamation evoked hearty enthusiasm all over
India, save in the ranks of the Mushm League, which once more
resorted to “Direct Action.” Riots broke out all over the Punjab and
soon extended to the North-West Frontier Province, and lootings,
arson, murder and violence occurred on a large scale over a wide area.
These successive communal outbreaks had a very unfortunate
THE STRUGGLE EOR FREEDOM 995
consequence. The Hindus and the Sikhs, who had hitherto been
strongly in favour of a United India, now gradually came to realise
its impracticability, and demanded partition of the Punjab and
Bengal if the Muslims refused to join the Constituent Assembly.
Lord Mountbatten assumed office as Viceroy on 24th March,
1947, and on 3rd June broadcast the famous declaration laying down
“the method by which power will be transferred from British to
Indian hands”. The main points of this new procedure or policy
may be summed up as follows:
1. If the areas with a majority of Muslim population so desired,
they should be allowed to form a separate Dominion, and a new
Constituent Assembly would be set up for that purpose. But in that
case there would be a partition of Bengal and the Punjab if the
representatives of the Hindu majority districts in the Legislatures
of those Provinces so desired.
2. A referendum would be taken in the North-West Frontier
Province to ascertain whether it should join Pakistan or not.
3. The district of Sylhet would be joined to the Muslim area in
Bengal after the views of the people had been ascertained by a
referendum.
4. Boundary Commissions would be set up to define the bound-
aries of the Hindu and Muslim Provinces in Bengal and the Punjab.
5. Legislation would be introduced in the current session of
Parliament for immediately conferring Dominion Status on India
(or the two Dominions if partition is decided upon), without any
prejudice to the final decision of the Constituent Assembly (or
Assemblies) in this respect.
This historic pronouncement was received with mixed feelings by
the public. The Hindus and nationalists of all persuasions deplored
the vivisection of India, while the Muslims of the League were not
fully satisfied with the “truncated and moth-eaten Pakistan”, as
Mr. Jinnah once described it.
It was, however, generally agreed that the new scheme offered the
best practicable solution of the Indian problem, so far as it could be
envisaged at the moment. Accordingly both the Congress and the
League accepted it, and the partition of the Punjab and Bengal was
efi:ected by two Commissions appointed by the British Government,
with Sir Cyril Radcliffe as Chairman of both. The India Independence
Bill, passed by the British Parliament on the 1st July, 1947, without
any dissent, fixed upon 15th August, 1947, as the date of the transfer
of authority. Accordingly, at midnight on 14th-15th August, a
special session of the Constituent Assembly was held in Delhi. It
solenmly declared the independence of India as a part of the British
096 AN ADVANCEa) HISTOEY OE INDIA
Commonwealth and appointed Lord Monntbatten the first Gowemor-
which soon took steps lono-drawu National
16th August, 19«. which saw the end
St^rdrw1llter^:«^^^^ in the hern-ts of
millions of her people.
APPENDIX I
THE INDIAN STATES IN NEW INDIA
I. General Policy
The position of the Indian States in Independent India was fore-
shadowed by the Cabinet Mission, which used the following words
in its statement of 16th May, 1946 ; “It is quite clear that with the
attainment of independence by British India, whether inside or
outside the Commonwealth, the relationship which has hitherto
existed between the Rulers of the States and the British Crown,
will no longer be possible. Paramountcy can neither be retained by
the British Crown nor transferred to the new Government. . . ,
At the same time the States are ready and willing to co-operate in
the new development of India. The precise form which their
co-operation will take must be a matter for negotiations during the
buil^ng-up of the new constitutional structure, and it by no means
follows that it will be identical for all the States.” The Cabinet
Mission recommended that: “(1) There should be a Union of
India, embracing both British India and the States, which should
deal with the following subjects: Foreign Affairs, Defence, and
Communications; and should have the powers necessary to raise
the finances required for the above subjects. (2) The States
should retain all subjects and powers other than those ceded to
the Union.”
The position was further elucidated as follows by the Cabinet
Mission in its Memorandum on Stales’ Treaties and Paramountcy
presented to the Chancellor of the Chamber of Princes on the 22nd
May, 1946: “When a new fully self-governing or independent
Government or Governments come into being . . . His Majesty’s
Government will cease to exercise the powers of Paramountcy. This
means that the rights of the States which flow from their relationship
to the Crown will no longer exist and that aU the rights surrendered
by States to the Paramount power will return to the States. Political
arrangements between the States on the one side and the British
Crown and British India on the other hand, will thus be brought to
an end. The void will have to be fiflled either by the States entering
997
998 AH ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
Ct Jsten|.glo^tttee of
January, 1947.^ .t T/^^^ntiation and the final decision will
on no other be taken after consideration
rest With each State ... All the rights siii*"
of the complete picture «f *e consbtutj^ W
rendered by the *°; ® f will, ^therefore, exercise only
States. The ?„ ^es in regard to Union Subjects
such functions inreU^-t^th;S«esmr^
as are assigned or deleg ^ j ^ and all rights and powers
shall continue to retain its ^ it There can be
£ SZ'SliS.SSSl.S-i - >. »■»“* '*■'
““SiStaS£f^s.=S
that they ®,, , of entering into treaty relations as between one
a^d o^r p— ^tg^^
nf India ” Pandit Nehru said that “any recognition of any sue
999
THE INDIAN STATES IN NEW INDIA
be sovereign States to the extent they are, but they cannot be
independent States so long as they remain under the suzerainty, as
they must be, either of the Crown, if India remains a Dominion, or
of the successor State, if India becomes independent”.
Sardar Patel took charge of the Indian States Department created
by the Government of India, on the 5th July, 1947, “to deal with
matters arising between the Central Government and the Indian
States”. Following his advice as well as that of Lord Mountbatten,
all the States, with a few exceptions, decided, on 26th July, to accede
to the Indian Union in accordance with an Instrument of Accession
which provided that, pending the promulgation of a constitution by
the Constituent Assembly, in which the States would be adequately
represented, the Dominion Parliament would legislate for the
acceding States in matters relating to Defence, External Affairs,
Communications and other ancillary subjects.
The policy of the Government of the Indian Dominion regarding
the States proved successful in most cases. Their relations were
regulated by two processes. One was the merger of the smaller
States either into a unit administered by the Central Government,
or into the neighbouring Provincial administrations, as for example
the merger of the Eastern States into the Provinces of Orissa and
the Central Provinces, and of the Deccan States and the Gujarat
States into the Bombay administration. The other process was that
of the integration of a number of States into bigger administrative
combinations, as for example the United State of Matsya (ISth
March, 1948), the United State of Kathiawar (Saurashtra) (15th
February, 1948), the United State of Rajasthan {25th March, 1948
and 18th April, 1948), the United State of Vindhya Pradesh (4th
April, 1948), the United States of Gwalior, Indore and Malwa
(Madhya Bharat Union, 28th May, 1948), and the Patiala and East
Punj ab States Union (15th J uly, 1948) . The administration of a Union
of 21 States, known as Himachal Ikadesh, and of Outch, together
having a total area of 19,061 square miles, passed imder the control
of the Centre.
There still remained some small States and also a few major
States unaffected by the processes mentioned above. Regarding
such major States the policy of the Government of the Indian
Union was stated in the Dominion Parliament on the 16th March,
1948, by Mr. N. V. Gadgil (Indian Minister of Works) speaking on
behalf of Sardar Patel : “There is no desire on our part, in any way,
to compel or coerce them into merger or integration. If they wish to
remain as separate autonomous units, we would have no objection,
but if the Rulers and the people of any of these States desire to merge
1000 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Witt tte neighbouring Province or form a of
bouring States on a voluntary basis, obviously tte “
® Tt iq clear, however, that in mese
India cannot say No . . • • i^^ould be continuous
“2r;^iu^: rSLt of full — ib'e g°ve— I
cessionsbatter than futile resistance *° o's
policy in regard to tte people desire otherwise."
existence unless both the Kulers ana r p p structure
Along with the modifications m the pattern o
there took place a considerable S the
of tte States and a ^ ttey introduce various
Rulers towards their peoples. No ^ y „ their resneotive
‘*'Ue‘‘sSte' of Junagadh and a few adjoining Stttes join^ the
“ Zl. olabout 10 crotos of -pees. Xhe^- ^ate of
Baroda merged into the Bombay Provmce on 1st my. m», an
Bhonal Cooch Behar, Tripura, and Mampur passed under the Centra
Tbu;befLtheendofNovember.
tion of Indian States was completed with the exception of Hy
and Kashmir.
2 . Hyderabad
A settlement with Hyderabad, which has a special position as the
big^ett State t Ma ^d having a Muslim ruler over a very large
THE INDIAN STATES IN NEW INDIA 1001
Hindu population, raised higMy intricate issues. On the 29th
November, 1947, Hyderabad entered into one year’s Standstill
Agreement with the Indian Union to maintain the status quo which
had existed before 15th August, 1947.
In the opinion of Syed Kasim Razvi, President of the Majlis
lUehad-ul-MusUmin, the Standstill Agreement in no way interfered
with the status of Hyderabad as an independent sovereign State,
while Paramountcy was “buried deep once for all”. But the Govern-
ment of India felt that from considerations of defence, internal
security, and economy, India would remain exposed to grave dangers
with an independent Hyderabad. “An independent State completely
landlocked within the heart of another is,” they noted in their White
Paper on Hyderabad, “an unheard-of proposition.”
Besides this fundamental point of divergence between India and
Hyderabad, some newly arisen internal and external factors further
complicated the situation. The activities within the State of the
Majlis Ittehad-ul-MusUmin and of the Razakars under the leadership
of Kazim Razvi, and incidents on the borders of the Indian provinces
of Madras, Central Provinces and Bombay, were a standing menace
to peace and harmony,. and caused much anxiety in the minds of
responsible people in different quarters.
All negotiations between Hyderabad and the Indian Union from
January, 1948, proved abortive. The Nizam’s Government refused
to accept the suggestion made by the Governor-General on behalf of
the Government of India for Hyderabad’s accession to the Indian
Dominion, and also another suggestion of the Government of India
for the introduction of responsible government in the State. During
the final phase of the negotiations in Jime, 1948, a Draft Agreement
was drawn up. On the 18th June, .1948, three days before his
departure from India, Lord Mountbatten appealed to the Nizam to
accept the Draft Agreement, but to no effect.
On the Hyderabad Government’s rejection of the Draft Agreement,
the Government of India put some economic pressure on the former.
But this did not improve matters. The forces that worked against
accession to the Indian Dominion held a position of vantage in that
State and made warlike preparations, such as an increase in the
State Army, the formation of irregular armies, and the smuggling
of arms and ammunition from abroad with the help of foreign
adventurers. Further, the growing violence of the Razakars inside
Hyderabad State and in the border tracts of the Indian Union
seriously menaced law and order. So the Government of India
reiterated their demand for immediate disbandment of the Razakars,
and also asked the Nizam to facilitate the return of the Indian troops
1002 AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OE INDIA
to SecuadetAb&d, where
drawal early that year aocor g XJnited Nations against
Nizam, who had already “Pf the Go^mment
India, would not P‘ *^^.„ient in a imal letter on
of India informed the j^iered themselves free to take
nth September tot “"o ^lore law and order
whatever action they J Hyderabad State on 13th
The Indian troops “^'^Xed that it was not an
September. The Govemmen intended “to restore peace
‘.actofwar-bntamere >toactmn mtod ^
and tranqailUty ■“‘'1? ? SO pm. on 18th September,
adjoining Inton ‘ CoiLiander, Forces of the
1948, Major-General El the NizSm to Major-
Hyderabad State, surrendered Armoured
General J. N. ts -^ested and the
Division of the Into Ali Ministry, which
Bazakar organisation was broke p. Security Council,
kad filed complaint agamst lndia^b^^^^^^^^ 22nd
resigned on 17th ^eptembe d^^ withdrawn the Hyderabad
September to the effect delegation sent there by
rx£ss“ri£« » 4™.. «. » "■
.a
Government the first an ore ^ j of Major-General J. N.
of Hyderabad were placed bv a staff of Civil
Chatiihury. as MiHtary 0°™ ,i Jt^^^ and offered
Officers. The NW r^toy “-P*^ ,,,, gradually ostab-
his full co-operation. ^ _ measures On 26th January, 1950,
lished by effective admmistrat ^
Hyderabad to which reference will be made
STdlih I^derabad, as a separate State, has now ceased to
exist.
3. Kashmir
While the
:^i"rrsi“ If
THE INDIAN STATES IN NEW INDIA 1003
and to tlie south, it touches Pakistan and the Dominion of India.
The census of 1941 recorded that the total population of the State
was 4,021,615, of whom 77-11 per cent were Muslims, 20*12 per cent
Hindus, and 2*77 per cent Sikhs and Buddhists, In view of geo-
graphical contiguity and the greater numerical strength of the
Muslims in this State, Pakistan was naturally anxious to bring it
under her influence.
The State of Jammu and Kashmir was subjected to repeated
tribal raids from across and within the Pakistan area soon after the
partition. On the rapid advance of the raiders up the Jhelum VaUey
Road, threatening even Srinagar, the Government of Jammu and
Kashmir sought assistance of the Government of the Indian Dominion.
On 26th October the Maharaja of Kashmir formally acceded
to the Indian Union, and this step was fully approved by Sheikh
Muhammad Abdullah, leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir
National Conference, an organisation enjoying a large measure of
popular confidence and support in the State. The Government of
In^a, while accepting this accession as a provisional step, expressed
the view that the future of Kashmir should be decided in accordance
with the popular will ascertained by means of plebiscite or referen-
dum.
The first contingent of Indian troops reached Kashmir by air on
the morning of 27th October, 1947. On 31st October, an interim
Emergency Administration was formed with Sheikh Muhammad
Abdullah as its head, which, with the help of Indian forces, success-
fully resisted tribal raids, believed to be encouraged and supported
by Pakistan, whose sympathies were for the Azad Kashmir Govern-
ment, an organization opposed to the new Government in Kashmir.
On 31st December, the Indian Union sent a memorandum to the
Security Coimcil of the United Nations urging the latter “to call
upon Pakistan (a member State), to put an end immediately to
the giving of such assistance, which is an act of aggression against
India.” After fruitless efforts at mediation for about five months
the United Nations sent a Commission to study things on the
spot. This Commission reached India in July, 1948 and on 13th
August, 1948, suggested a “Cease Fire” agreement between India
and Pakistan. The Indian Union agreed, but the Pakistan Govern-
ment was not prepared to accept the “ Cease Fire ” resolution without
attaching certain conditions which were unacceptable to the Com-
mission. The presence of Pakistan troops in Kashmir territory was
now admitted by the Pakistan Government, and the relations be-
tween the two Dominions grew extremely strained. Happily good
sense ultimately prevailed, and one minute before midnight on
1004 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Ist January, 1949, a mutual “Cease Eire” agreement was concluded
between the Governments of the Indian Union and
Hostilities ceased and Admiral Nimitz was appomted U.JN. Ad-
ministrator for the plebiscite. It is hoped that the future of the
State of Jammu and Kashmir will be determined by a plebiscite
held under satisfactory conditions.
APPENDIX II
THE COITSTITUTIOIT OF INDIA
The Constituent Assembly, whicli first met on December 9i}h,
1946 (p. 994), took three years to complete its work, and the new
Constitution was adopted and signed by the President, Dr. Rajendra
Prasad, on November 26th, 1949. It came into force on January
26th, 1950, the twentieth anniversary of Independence Day (p. 987),
It is a bulky document covering about 270 pages, and its main
provisions, as given below, were : —
A. INDIAN UNION
1. India, that is Bharat, is a Sovereign Democratic Republic^ and
a Union of States, These States are divided into four categories,
viz. :
(A) Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh (Central Provinces
and Berar), Madras, Orissa, Punjab (E. Punjab), the United
Provinces, 2 and West Bengal.
(B) Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat (p. 999) ,
Mysore, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan,
Saurashtra, Travancore-Coohui, and Vindhya Pradesh.
(C) Ajmer, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Coorg, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh,
Kutch, Manipur, and Tripura,
(D) The Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The first category consists of the former provinces of British
India, while the second and third comprise the old Indian States,
either single or integrated into unions, together with three Chief
Commissionerships (centrally administered territories) of old, viz.
Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg, and Delhi.
^ But it is still a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The present
status of India is regulated by the “India (Consequential Provision) Bill”
passed by the British Parliament, which received the Eoyal Assent on
December 16th, 1949. This Act, while recognising India as a Republican
State, preserves for her the rights and privileges at present enjoyed by the
Indians under British law,
® The name of this Province was altered to XTttar Pradesh in January
1960.
1006
1006
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
B. FtTNDAMEHTAL RIGHTS
2. The Constitution guarantees to all citizens freedom of speech
and expression, the right to assemble peaceably, and freedom of
conscience and worship, subject to general considerations of public
security and morality.
3. All citizens, irrespective of religion, race, caste, sex, and place
of birth, shall enjoy equality before the law and no disability shall
be imposed on them in any respect.
“Untouchability” is abolished and its practice in any form is
forbidden.
4. No person shall be deprived of his life, property or personal
liberty except according to procedure established by law. The law
may provide for preventive detention of a person for three months
and even for a longer period, either on the recommendation of an
Advisory Board, or in accordance with a law passed by Parliament.
The law authorising compulsory acquisition of property should
provide for compensation.
0. THE TJNIOH GOVERNMENT
6. The executive power of the Union is vested in the President
of India, who is elected for five years by the members of an electoral
college consisting of (a) the elected members of both Houses of
Parliament and (6) the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies
of the States.
6. There is also a Vice-President of India elected for five years
by the members of both Houses of Parliament, assembled at a
joint meeting.
7. There is a Council of Mmisters with the Prime Minister at the
head to aid and advise the President. The Prime Minister is
appointed by the President, and the other Ministers are appointed
by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Council
of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People.
8. There is a Parliament for the Union consisting of the President
and two Houses known respectively as the Comicil of States and
the House of the People.
9. The Council of States consists of (1) not more than 238 repre-
sentatives of States, elected by the elected members of the Legisla-
tive Assembly of each State, and (2) 12 members nominated by
the President on the ground of their having special knowledge or
practical experience in literature, science, art, and social service.
10. The House of the People consists of not more than 600
members directly elected by the voters in the States. For this
THE CONSTITUTION OE INDIA 1007
purpose territorial constituencies have been specially created in
such a manner that there is not less than one member for every
760.000 of the population and not more than one member for every
500.000 of the population.
11. The Council of States is not subject to dissolution, but one-
third of its members retire on the expiration of every second year.
The House of the People, unless sooner dissolved, continues for
five years. Both the Houses must meet at least twice in every year.
12. The Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the
Council of States, which elects a Deputy Chairman. The House of
the People elects its own Speaker and Deputy Speaker. These
officers and members of the two Houses receive salaries and allow-
ances as fixed by Parliament.
13. A Money BiU may originate only in the House of the People
and is passed even if the Council of States does not agree to it. All
other Bills may originate in either House of Parliament, and are
deemed to have been passed only when agreed to by both Houses,
or, in case of difference, passed in a joint sitting of the two Houses by
a majority of the total number of members of both Houses present
and voting.
14. The President’s assent is necessary before a Bill becomes law,
and he may withhold his assent and return the Bill with his
suggestions ; but if the Bill is passed again by the Houses he cannot
withhold his assent.
15. There is a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief
Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger
number, not more than seven other judges. It has original juris-
diction in any dispute between two or more States and between the
Government of India and one or more States. An appeal lies to the
Supreme Court from the judgment of any High Court in a State.
A judge of the Supreme Court (or of the High Court of a State)
shall not be removed from his office except after an address by each
House of Parliament passed by a majority of not less than two-
thirds of the members present and voting.
D. THE STATES (OATEGOBY A)
16. There is a Governor for each State appointed by the President
for a term of five years and holding office during his pleasure.
17. There is a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the
hea d to aid and advise the Governor. The Chief Minister is appointed
by the Governor, and the other Ministers by the Governor on the
advice of the Chief Minister. The Council of Ministers is collectively
responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.
1008 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
18. There is a Legislature in every State which consists of the
Governor and the Legislative Assemiblj’-, but there is an additional
House, Imown as the Legislative Council, in Bihar, Bombay, Madras,
Pimjab, the United Provinces, and West Bengal.
19. The members of the Legislative Assembly are chosen by
direct election, on a scale of not more than one member for every
75,000 of the population.
20. The total number of members in the Legislative Council is
not to exceed one-fourth of the total number of members in the
Legislative Assembly. Of these one-third are elected by the Muni-
cipalities, District Boards and other local authorities ; one-twelfth
by graduates of three years’ standing; one-twelfth by teachers of
three years’ standing ; and one-third by the members of the Legis-
lative Assembly. The remainder are nominated by the Governor and
consist of persons having special Imowledge or practical experience
in literature, science, art, the co-operative movement, and social
service.
21. The duration of the Legislative Council and the Legislative
Assembly is the same as laid down respectively for the Council of
States and the House of the People in para. 11.
22. Every Legislative Assembly chooses two of its members
respectively as Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof. Every
Legislative Council chooses two of its members respectively as
Chairman and Deputy Chairman thereof. These officers as well as
the members of the two Houses receive such salaries and allowances
as may be fixed by the Legislature of the State.
23. A Money Bill may originate only in the Legislative Assembly,
and is passed even if the Legislative Council does not agree to it. All
other Bills maj originate in either House, and are deemed to have
been passed only when agreed to by both Houses. But in case of
difierence, if the Legislative Assembly passes the Bill a second time,
it becomes law without the approval of the Legislative Council.
24. The Governor has the same power of assenting to, or with-
drawing his assent from, a Bill passed by the Legislature as is
possessed by the President {vide para, 14). But the Governor may
also reserve such a Bill for the consideration of the President.
B. THE STATES (CATEGOBIES B, 0, D)
25. The main difference between the States belonging to
categories A and B is that while the executive head of the former
is a Governor, that of the latter is the Bajapramukh, usually the
ruler of the old State (or of one of them in the case of an integration of
States). The appointment of the Bajapramukh is regulated by the
THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA 1009
agreement entered into between each such State and the Government
of India. The third and fourth categories of States are administered
by the Head of the Indian Union, through a Chief Commissioner
appointed by him or through the government of a neighbouring
State.
F. THE EELATIOH BETWEEN THE UNION AND THE STATES
26. Generally speaking, the Parliament may make laws for the
whole or any part of India, and the Legislature of a State may
make laws for the whole or any part of the State. But the Con-
stitution specifically lays down three fists of subjects, with respect
to the first of which the Parliament, and with respect to the second,
the Legislature of the State, has exclusive power to make laws ; and
both have concurrent powers of legislation in regard to the third.
27. The Union List includes, among others, defence of India,
naval, military, and air forces, arms and ammunitions, foreign
affairs including diplomatic representation, war and peace, railways,
maritime shipping and navigation, airways, posts and telegraphs,
currency, trade and commerce with foreign countries, inter-State
trade and commerce, banking, insurance, and financial corporations,
regulation of mines and mineral development, regulation of labour,
manufacture of salt, High Courts, certain institutions of all-India
importance, certain taxes like income-tax, duties of customs, and
duties of excise.
28. The State List includes, among others, police, administration
of justice (except constitution of High Courts), prisons, local
government, education, communication (within the State), forests,
fisheries, and several taxes.
29. The Concurrent List includes, among others, criminal law,
civil and criminal procedure, preventive detention for the security
of the State, Trade Unions, ports, inland shipping and navigation,
trade, commerce and price-control.
30. The executive power of every State is to be so exercised as
to ensure compliance with the laws made by Parliament. It shall
not impede or prejudice the exercise of the executive power of the
Union which extends to the giving of such directions to a State
as may appear necessary to the Government of India.
31. Detailed regulations are laid down for the distribution of
revenues between the Union and the States, and provision is made
for the appointment of a Finance Commission from time to time
to revise such distribution.
1010
ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
G. SUFFRAGE AND QUALIFICATIONS FOB MEMBERSHIP OF
LEGISLATURE
32. Every citizen of India, of not less than twenty-one years of
age, is entitled to vote in the elections to the House of the People
and to the Legislative Assembly of the State to which he belongs.
33. No citizen of less than thirty years of age is qualified for the
membership of the Council of States or the Legislative Council;
the minimum age for the membership of the House of the People
and Legislative Assembly is twenty-five years.
34. For a period of ten years from the commencement of this
Constitution seats shall be reserved in the House of the People for
the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in proportion to their
population, and the President may nominate not more than two
members of the Anglo-Indian Community to that House.
H. EMERGENCY PROVISIONS
35. The President or the Governor of a State may, when the
Houses of Legislature are not in session, promulgate an Ordinance,
having the same force and effect as an Act of the Legislature, if he
thinks it necessary to take immediate action. Such Ordinances
shall cease to operate at the exj)iration of six weeks from the
reassembly of the Legislature, or earlier if the Legislature dis-
approves of them.
36. If the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists
whereby the security of India or any part of it is threatened, he
may issue a Proclamation to that effect. While such a Proclamation
of Emergency is in operation, the executive and legislative powers
of the Union practically supersede those of the States.
37. If the President is satisfied that a situation has arisen in
which the Government of a State cannot be carried on in accordance
with the provisions of this Constitution, he may, by Proclamation,
assume to himself or vest in the Parliament aU or any of the powers
and functions of the Government of the State.
38. The Proclamation, referred to in the two preceding paras.,
shall cease to operate at the expiration of two months unless
approved by both Houses of Parliament before that date, or in case
the House of the People was dissolved at the time, within thirty
days of its reconstitution.
. I. MISCELLANEOUS
39. Either House of Parliament may bring a charge of Impeach-
ment against the President for violation of the Constitution. If it
THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
1101
is passed by a majority of two-thirds, and is also sustained, after due
enquiry, by a similar majority of the other House, the President
shall be removed from office.
40. Subject to certain general restrictions which the law imposes,
trade, commerce, and intercourse throughout the territory of India
shall be free.
41. The Constitution provides for the appointment of a Public
Service Commission both for the Union and the States, an Attorney-
General for India, a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, as
well as Advocate -Generals and High Courts for States.
42. For a period of fifteen years the EngHsh language shall
continue to be the official language of the Union. Thereafter the
official language shah, be Hindi in Devanagari script.
43. The Legislature of a State may by law adopt any local
language as its official language provided that the official language
of the Union shall be used for communication between two States.
Since 1951 there have been several additions and amendments to
the Indian Constitution. The more important of these are noted
below :
1. Notwithstanding Article 5 of the Constitution the State is now
authorised to make “special provision for the advancement of any
socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes”.
2. The State is authorised to impose reasonable restrictions on the
exercise of the right conferred by Article 19, in the interests of the
security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public
order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of Court,
defamation or incitement to an offence.
3. Important modifications in the provision for compulsory ac-
quisition or requisitioning of property and State Monopolies.
4. The States and the Territories of the Indian Union have been
re-organised with effect from 1st November, 1956. There are now
fourteen States and six Union Territories. The six Union Territories
are (1) Delhi, (2) Himachal Pradesh, (3) Manipur, (4) Tripura,
(5) The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and (6) Minicoy and Amin-
divi Islands. The fourteen States are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Bombay, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Mysore, Orissa, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Of the former ten Part A States, Assam, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh
have not been territorially affected by this re-organisation. There
have been some boundary re-adjustments for West Bengal, Bihar
and Madras. The Andhra State, as created in 1953 out of the north-
ern part of Madras, is now designated Andhra Pradesh, and has been
1012 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
enlarged by the merger of the portion of Hyderabad known as Telen-
gana. Bombay has become the largest State in point of area by the
merger of Kutch and Saurashtra and the Marathi-speakmg districts
of Madhya Pradesh and Hyderabad. The new Madhya Pradesh m
spite of the loss of Vidarbha or the eight Marathi-speakmg (hstncts,
has emerged as the second largest State by the addition of Madhya
Bharat, Bhopal, and Vindhya Pradesh. The former state of Patiala
and East Punjab States Union has been added to the E^npb.
The Kanarese-speaking districts of Hyderabad have been added to
Mysore. Travancore-Cochin, with some territorial adjustments has
assumed the new name of Kerala. The outstandmg features of the
re-organisation are (1) the abolition of Rajpramuk is, (w) es a is
ment of zonal councils with advisory capacity in relation to inter-
state affairs or border disputes and (3) provision for linguistic
GENEALOGICAL TABLES TO PART III
THE NAWABS OFOXJDH
Mir M^lhammad Nasir
!
Mir Muhammad Amia Daughter = Jafar Beg lOian
SA’ADAT KHAN j
Burhan-ul-mulk |
( 1 722-1 73 9) Mirza Muhammad Muqim
I Abu-’l-Mansur Khan
Sadr-i-Jahan or = SAFDAB. JANG
Sadr-un-Nisa Begam j (1739-1754)
Jalal-ud-din Haidar
SHUJA-UD-DAULAH
(1764-1775)
Asaf-ud-daulah
(1776-1797)
Wazir ‘Ali (1797-1798)
deposed and
succeeded by Sa’adat ‘Ali
(1798-1814)
I
1
Ghazl-ud-(hn Haidar
(1814-1827)
, 1
‘Ali Shah
(1837-1842)
Amjad ‘Ali Shah
(1842-1847)
1
Nasir-ud-din Haidar
(1827-1837)
1
1
Muna Jan
r
Mustafa ‘Ali
Khan Haidar
i ,
Wazid ‘Ali
Shah
(1847-1856)
1
Suleiman
Qadr
Brijis Qadr
(1857)
AN ADVANCED HISTOBY OF INDIA
the gUkwAr family
Jhingoji
PUaji (1721-1732)
Damaji II (1732-1768)
Damaji I
Manaji Others
(1789-1793)
Fateh Sing
(1771-1789)
Govind Rao
Sayaii Rao II
(1818-1847)
Anand Rao
(1800-1819)
Malhar Rao
(1870-1876)
Khande Rao
(1856-1870)
Adopted Sayajl Rao III
(1876-1939)
Ganpat Rao
(1847-1866)
THE HOLKAR FAMILY
“ Cundajee”
Malhar Rao Holkar (1728-1764)
Khande Rao = Ahalya Ba
(kiUed 1754)
Mukta Bai
Malle Rao
(1764-1766)
Tukoji Holkar
(appointed commander
by Ahalya Bai in 1767)
(1795-1797)
Jaswant Rao I Vithoji
(1798-1811)
Malliar Rao Holkar (II)
(1811-1833)
Hari Rao Holkar
(1834-1843)
Tukoji Rao Holkar II
(1843-1886)
Sivaji Rao Holkar
(1886-1903)
Tukoji Rao Holkar III
(1903-1926)
Jaswant Rao II
(1926- )
Malhar Rao
GENEALOGICAL TABLES TO PART III
1015
THE BHONSLAS (Nagpur)
Mudhoji
i
Bapuji Parsoji
. I . I
Bimbaji Kanhoji
Kaghuji I (1738-1755)
Mudhoji Janoji Others
I
Raghuji II Vyankoji
adopted by J anoji ]
(1788-1816) 1
1 Mudhoji
Parsoji (Appa Saheb)
Raghuji III (1818-1853)
THE SINDHIA FAMILY
Mina Bai ™ Ranoji Sindhia
I (17 26-1750)
Jeypat Dattaji Jotiba
(Jayappa)
d, 1769
Jankoji (killed at
Panipat almost immedi-
ately after accession to
power).
a Rajput Lady of Malwa
I
I 1
Madhava Rao (MahSdaji) Tukoji
Sindhia (died on the
d. 1794 field of Panipat)
1 I
Kedarji Jyotaba
I
Anand Rao
Daulat Rao Sindhia
(1794-1827)
1
Jankoji Rao
(1827-1843,
Jayaji Rao
(1843-1886)
Madhava Rao 11
(1886-1926)
I
Jivaji Rao
(1926- )
MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH’S FASIILY
Budii Singh
(Founder of the Sukarchakia Confederacy)
(d. 1716)
1016
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Bakh Singh Partab Singh Dewa Singh Shah Deo Singh Narain Singh Thakur Singh Karam Singh
GENEALOGICAL TABLES TO PART III
1017
THE DIJRRAnI SHAHS
1
Humasmn
Alimad Shah, Durram
(1747-1773)
I
Timur Shah
(1773-1793)
Mahmud
Zaman Shah
Shuja
As^yub
(1800-1803,
(1793-18001
(1803-1809,
(1818-182
1809-1818)
1839-1842)
Kami-an
1
Timur
I
Jehangir
GENEALOGICAL TABLES TO PART III
1019
THE NAWABS of argot
1. Zulf‘iqar ‘Ali EZhan
Created Nawab of the Carnatic by the Emperor Aurangzeb
(c. A.D. 1690-1703)
2. Baud Kdian
(A.i>. 1703-1710)
1
Husam
AgibattI Muhammad Khan
I
3. Muhammad Sayyid Ghulam ‘Ali Khan
Sa‘adat-ullah Khan I 1
(1710-1732) 4. Dost ‘Ali Khan
(1732-1740)
1
5. Safdar ‘Ali Khan
(1740-1742)
6. Sa'adat-ullah Khan II
‘Muhammad Sayyid’
(1742-1744)
Dau. md. Ghulam
Murtaza ‘Ali
I
Sahib Jadda
(Zada)
Dau. md. Chanda
Sahib, alias
Husain Dost Khan
(1749)
Raja Sahib
(1769)
7. Anwar-ud-din Muhammad
Appointed Nawab by Nizam-ul-mulk
Rival Chanda Sahib. (1744-1749)
I
Mahfuz Khan 8. Wala Jah ‘Abdul ‘Abdul Najib-ullah
Muhanomad ‘Ali Rahim Wahab
(1749-1795)
9. Omdut-ul-Umara Amir-ul-ITmara
(1795-1801) I
I ‘Azim-ud-daulah
10. ‘Ali Hussain (1801-1819)
11. ‘Azam Jah 12. ‘Azim Jah Bahadur
(1819-1825) ‘Prince of Arcot’
(1867-1874)
1020
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
THE NAWABS of BENGAL SUBAH
MursMd QuK Jafar Khaa
(1703-1727)
Daughter = Shuja-ud-din
^ (1727-1739)
Sarfaraz Khan
(1739-1740)
(Mirza Muhammad, adventurer from Turkestan)
, * 1 _
‘Alivardi Edian
(1740-1756)
Daughter (Amina Begam)
Haji Alimad
= Zain-ud-dln
1
Sirai -ud-daulah
(1756-1757)
Mir Jafar
(First time 1757-1760)
(Second time 1763-1765)
Daughter
(Fatema Begam) = Mir Kasim
^ (1760-1763)
Najm-ud-daulah
(1765-1766)
Saif -ud-daulah
(1766-1770)
GENEALOGICAL TABLES TO PART III
1021
BARAKZll WAZIRS AJSTD AMIRS
Jamal Khaji, Barakzai
(1747-1773)
Payinda Elhan
(1773-1800)
!
Fateh Khan Other brothers Dost Muliatnmad Khan
{ 1 800-1 818) (Amir of Kabul)
(1826-1863)
!
Afzal Khan Sher ‘All
I (1863-1866;
I 1868-1879)
‘Abdur Rahman 1
(1880-1901) I ^1
I Yakub Khan Ayub Khan
(1879-1880)
Habibullah Nasrullah
(1901-1919)
^
Hayat Amanullah
(1919-1929)
Nadir’ Shah (1929-1933)
Muhammad Zahir Shah (1933- )
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART III
Gejneral:
1. Cambridge History of India, Vols. V and VI.
2. Dupleix and Clive — ^H. Dodwell.
3. History of British India — ^P. E. Roberts. (Second edition.)
4. History of India (British Period) — -Rushbrook Williams.
5. History of India under Queen Victoria — Trotter,
6. India under Wellesley — P. E. Roberts.
7. Last Days of the Company — ^Anderson and Subedar.
8. Making of British India — ^Ramsay Muir.
9. Oxford History of India — Y. A. Smith.
10. Rise and Expansion of the British Dominion in India — Sir
Alfred Lyall.
11. Sketch of the History of India from 1858-1918 — ^H. H.
DodweU. (1925.)
12. The Chronology of Modern India — Dr. James Burgess.
13. The First British Empire — ^A. Berriedale Keith,
14. The Navy in India — Richmond.
Special :
Booh I — Chapter I
1. Anglo-Portuguese Negotiations relating to Bombay,
1660-1677— Shaafat Ahmad Khan. (1922.)
2. Annals of the East India Company, 3 vols. — John Bruce.
(1810.)
3. Aurangzeb and His Times, Vol. V — Sir J. N. Sarkar.
4. British Beginnings in Western India — ^H. G. Rawlinson.
(Oxford, 1920.)
5. Calendar of Madras Records, 1740-1744 — ^H. H. Dodwell.
(Madras, 1917.)
6. Commercial Relations between India and England — Bal
Krishna. (1924.)
7. Dawn of British Trade to the East Indies — Sir George
Birdwood. (London, 1886.)
8. Diary of William Hedges, edited by Col. H. Yule, 3 vols.
(Hakluyt Society, 1877-1879.)
1023
1024
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
9. Early Annals of the English in Bengal, 3 vols. — C. R. Wilson.
(Calcutta, 1895-1917.)
10. Early Records of British India — J. T. Wheeler. (Calcutta,
1878.)
11. East India Trade in the Seventeenth Century — Shaafat
Ahmad Ehan. (1923.)
12. English Factories in India, 1618-1669, 13 vols. — W. Foster.
(Oxford, 1906-1927.)
13. From Akbar to Aurangzeb — ^W. H. Moreland. (1913.)
14. History of Bengal — Stewart.
15. History of British India, 2 vols. — Sir WiUiam Hunter.
(1899-1900.)
16. History of the European Commerce with India — D. Mac-
pherson. (1872.)
17. History of the French in India — Col. G. B. MaUeson.
18. History of the Portuguese in India, 2 vols. — ^F. G. Danvers.
(1894.)
19. India at the Death of Akbar — W. H. Moreland. (1920.)
20. Madras in the Olden Times, 3 vols. — J. T. Wheeler. (Madras,
1861-1862.)
21. Monumental Remains of the Dutch E.I. Coy. in the Presi-
dency of Madras — ^A. Rea. (Arch. Sur. of India, New
Imp. Ser., Vol. XXV. Madras, 1897.)
22. New Account of the East Indies, 2 vols. — Oapt. Alexander
Hamilton. (Edinburgh, 1927.)
23. Old Fort William in Bengal, 2 vols. — 0. R. Wilson. (1906.)
24. Oriental Commerce, 2 vols. — ^W. Milburn. (1813.)
25. Portuguese in Bengal — J. J. A. Campos. (Calcutta, 1919.)
26. Portuguese in India and Arabia between 1507 and 1517 —
E. D. Ross. (Printed in Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society, 1921, Part II.)
27. Publications of the Madras Record Of6.ce, edited by H. H.
Dodwell and ICrishnaswami Aiyanger.
28. Rise of Bombay— S. M. Edwardes. (Bombay, 1902.)
29. Rise of the Portuguese Power in India, 1497-1560 — ^R. S,
Whiteway. (1899.)
30. Selections from the Records of the Madras Govt. Dutch
Records, edited by the Rev. Fathers A. J. van der Burg,
P. Groot and J, Fruictier, and A. Galletti, I.O.S. 15 vols.
31. Vasco da Gama and his Successors — K. G. Jayne. (1910.)
32. Vestiges of Old Madras — Colonel H. D. Love. (1913.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART III
1025
Booh I — Chapter 11
1. Abstract of the Early Records of the Foreign Department,
1756-1762— S. G. Hill. (Calcutta, 1901.)
2. Bengal in 1756-1757, 3 vols.— S. C. HiU. (1905.)
3. Bengal: Past and Present, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1925.
4. Bengal and Madras Papers, 3 vols. — G. B. Forrest. (Calcutta.)
5. Bengal Government Records: Proceedings of the Select
Committee, 1758, edited by W. K. Firminger.
6. Calendar of the Madras Despatches, 1744-1755 — H. H.
Dodwell. (Madras, 1920.)
7. Calendar of Persian Correspondence, Vols. I-III. (Calcutta,
1911-1919.)
8. Catalogue of the Orme Manuscripts — S. C. Hill. (Oxford,
1916.)
9. Comprehensive History of India, 3 vols. — Henry Beveridge.
(1867.)
10. Considerations on Indian Affairs, 1772-1775 — William Bolts.
11. Dupleix — ^Prosper Cultru. (Paris, 1901.)
12. Dupleix and Clive — Dodwell.
13. Historical Sketches of the South of India, 3 vols. — M. Wilks.
(1810-1817.)
14. History of the British Empire in India, 6 vols. — Edward
Thornton. (1841.)
15. History of British India — James Mill. With notes and con-
tinuation by H. H. Wilson. 10 vols. (1858.)
16. History of the French in India — Col. G. B. MaUeson.
17. History of the Madras Army, 5 vols, — Col. W. J. Wilson,
(Madras.)
18. History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation
in Indostan, 3 vols, — Robert Orme. (1803 edition.)
19. India Tracts— J. Z. HolweU. (2nd edition, 1764.)
20. Life of Lord Clive — Col. G. B. MaUeson. (1907.)
21. Life of Lord Clive, 2 vols. — Sir G. W. Forrest. (1918.)
22. Life of Robert Lord Clive, 3 vols. — Sir John Malcolm. (1836.)
23. Life of Robert Lord CUve, 4 vols.— C. Carraccioli, (1777.)
24. Lord Clive’s Right-hand Man — Col. Lionel Forde, (1910.)
25. Memoir of M. Jean Law, edited by Prof. A. Martineau.
(Paris, 1913.)
26. Memoirs of the Revolution m Bengal in the year 1757 —
WUliam Watts. (1760.)
27. Memoires sur ITndoustan— Gehtil. (1822.)
LL . .
1026
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
28. Narrative of Anglo-Erench Conflicts — Lawrence.
29. Narrative of the Transactions in Bengal, 3 vols. — Henrj?^
Vansittart. (1760.)
30. Narrative of what happened in Bengal in the year 1760 —
John Caillaud.
31. Original Papers relating to the Disturbances in Bengal,
1759-1764 — ^Henry Vansittart. (1765.)
32. Private Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai, edited by Price and
Dodwell, 12 vols. (Madras, 1904-1928.) (The translation
published in the Journal of Indian History since 1928
may also be studied with profit.)
33. Reflections on the Government of Indostan — Luke Scrafton.
(1763.)
34. Rise and Progress of the Bengal Army — ^A. Broome, (Calcutta,
1850.)
35. Rise and Progress of the British Power in India, 2 vols. —
Peter Auber. (1837.)
36. Rise, Progress and Present State of the English Government
in Bengal — Harry Verelst. (1772.)
37. Riyaz-us-salatin — Ghulam Husain Sahm. (English Trans-
lation.)
38. Selections from the Unpublished Records of the Government
of Bengal, 1 748-1 767~Rev. J. Long. (Calcutta, 1869.)
39. Siyar-ul-mutakherin — Ghulam Husain. (English Translation.)
40. Three Frenchmen in Bengal — S. C. Hill. (1903.)
41. Voyage to India — ^E. Ives. (1773.)
42. Mir Jafar~I. A. C. Roy.
Book I — Chapter III
1. Calendar of Persian Correspondence, Vol. IV. (Calcutta, 1925.)
2. Collection of Treaties, Engagements, Sunnuds relating to
India, 9 vols. — Sir (1. Atchison. (1909.)
3. Correspondence of Cornwallis, 3 vols. — Charles Ross. (1859.)
4. Debates of the House of Lords on the evidence delivered in
the trial of Warren Hastings. (1797.)
5. Edward Thornton, op. cit.
6. Ghulam Husain, op. cit.
7. Hastings in Bengal, 1772-1774 — M. E. Monckton- Jones.
(Oxford, 1918.)
8. Hastings and the Rohilla War — Sir John Strachey. (1892.)
9. Historical Relation of the Origin, Progress, and Final Disso-
lution of the Government of the Rohilla Afghans — 0.
Hamilton. (1787.)
10. Historical Sketches of the South of India, 3 vols, — Mark
Wilks. (1810-1817.)
11. History of the Mahrattas — Grant Huff. (Edwardes’ edition.)
12. History of the Mahrattas — ^E. S. Warring. (1810.)
13. History of the Maratha People, 3 vols. — C. A. Kincaid and
D. B. Parsinis. (1918-1925.)
14. History of the Trial of Warren Hastings. (1796.)
15. Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan — ^M.L.D.T.
16. Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan — Bowring.
17. James Mill, op. cit.
18. Letters of Warren Hastings to Sir John Macpherson —
H. H. DodweU. (1927.)
19. Life of Hastings — Sir Alfred Lyall. (1908.)
20. Lord Clive’s Speech in the House of Commons, 30th March,
1772.
21. Main Currents of Maratha History — G. S. Sardesai. (1933
edition.)
22. Memoirs of Warren Hastings, 3 vols. — G. R. Gleig. (1841.)
23. Nuncomar and Impey, 2 vols. — Sir J. E. Stephen. (1885.)
24. Peter Auber, op. cit.
25. Selections from the Letters, Despatches, and other State
Papers preserved in the Foreign Department of the
Government of India, 1772-1785, . 3 vols. — Sir G. W.
Forrest. (Calcutta, 1890.)
26. Selections from the State Papers of the Governors- General
of India. Warren Hastings, 2 vols. — Sir G. W. Forrest.
(Oxford, 1910.)
27. Selections, etc. Cornwallis, 2 vols. — Sir G. W. Forrest.
28. Selections from the Letters, Despatches and State Papers
Preserved m the Bombay Secretariat — Sir G. W. Forrest.
(Bombay, 1885 and 1887.)
29. Speech on the Nabob of Arcot’s Debts, with an appendix
containing several documents — ^Edmund Burke. (1788.)
30. Transactions in India, 1756-1783 — John More. (1786.)
31. Trial of Nand Kumar^ — ^H. Beveridge. (1886.)
32. View of the English interests in India; and an account of
the military operations in the southern parts of the
peninsula, during the campaigns of 1782, 1783, and
1784 — ^WUliam Fullarton. (1787.)
33. Warren Hastings and his Accusers — P. F. Roberts. (Journal
of Indian History, March, 1924.)
34. Haider Ali— N. K. Sinha.
35. Hastings and Philip Francis — Sophia Weitzman.
1028
AN ADVANCE!) HISTORY OF INDIA
Booh I — Chapter IV
1. AccoTint of the Campaign in Mysore, 1799 — Capt. A. Allan.
Edited by N. C. Sinha. (Calcutta, 1918.)
2. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan — Tod. (Crooke’s
edition.)
3. Asiatic Amiual Register, 1800-1811.
4. Asiatic Journal, 1816-1829.
5. Despatches, Minutes and Correspondence of Marquess
Wellesley, 5 vols. — ^Montgomery Martin. (1836.)
6. Despatches of . . . the Duke of Wellington, 13 vols. —
Lt. Col. J. Gurwood. (1834-1939.)
7. European Military Adventurers of Hindustan, 1784-1803 —
Herbert Compton. (1892.)
8. Historical Records of Baroda — B. A. Gupta. (Calcutta.)
9. Historical Sketches of the South of India, 3 vols. — ^Mark
Wilks. (1810-1817.)
10. History of the Mahrattas — Grant Duff. (Edwardes’ edition.)
11. History of the Military and Political Transactions in India
during the administration of the Marquess of Hastings,
1813-1823, 2 vols. — ^Henry T. Prinsep. (1825.)
12. History of Persia, 2 vols. — Sir P. M. Sykes. (1922.)
13. History of the Reign of Shah Aulum — ^W. Erancklin. (1798.)
14. Journey from Bengal to England through the northern parts
of India, 2 vols. — George Forster. (1808.)
15. Life of Elphinstone, 2 vols. — Sir H. T. Colebrooke. (1884.)
16. Life of Sir Thomas Munro, 3 vols. — G. R. Gleig. (1830.)
17. Life and Correspondence of Charles Lord Metcalfe — J. W.
Kaye. (1855.)
18. Life of Sir John Malcolm, 2 vols. — J. W. Kaye. (1856.)
19. Lord Minto in India — Lady Minto. (1880.)
20. Mahratta and Pindari War, compiled from the General
Staff, India. (Simla, 1910.)
21. Marquess Wellesley — ^W. H. Hutton.
22. Marquess Wellesley — ^W. M. Torrens. (1850.)
23. Memoir of Central India, 2 vols. — Sir John Malcolm. (3rd
edition, 1832.)
24. Narrative of the Operations of Captain Little’s Detachment
— Edward Moore. (1794.)
25. Oriental Memoirs — J. Forbes, (2nd edition, 1834.)
26. Papers relating to the Napaul War.^ Printed by the East
India Company.
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART III 1029
27. Political History of India from 1784-1823 — Sic John
Malcolm. (1826.)
28. Select Letters of Tippo Sultan — Col. W. Elirkpatrick.
(London, 1811.)
29. Selections from the Asiatic Journal, 2 vols. (Madras, 1875.)
30. Selections from the Letters, Despatches, and other State Papers
preserved in the Bombay Secretariat — Sir G. W. Forrest,
31. Selections from the minutes . • . of Mountstuart Elphinstone
■ — Sir G. W. Forrest. (1884.)
32. Views in the Mysore Country — Capt. A. Allan, (1794.)
33. Wellesley Despatches— rO wen.
34. Wellesley Papers, 2 vols. — ^Montgomery Martin. (1914.)
35. Wellington Despatches — Owen.
36. Tipu Sultan — Mohibul Hasan Khan.
37. The French in India — S. P. Sen.
Book 1 — Chapter V
1. Banu or Our Afghan Frontier — S. S. Thorburn. (1876.)
2. Bengal: Past and Present, 1926.
3. British Burma Gazetteer, 2 vols. (Rangoon, 1880.)
4. Burma, Past and Present, 2 vols. — A Fytche. (London,
1878.)
5. Burma, Under British Rule and Before, 2 vols, — J. Nisbet.
(London, 1901.)
8. Calcutta Review, 1852.
7. Campaigns on North-West Frontier, 1849-1908^ — H. L.
NeviU. (1912.)
8. Conquest of Sind — Sir William Napier. (1845.)
9. Earl of Auckland — ^L. J. Trotter. (R.I., 1905.)
10. Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava — Michael Symes. (1800.
Reprinted in 1831.)
11. Essays on the External Policy of India — J. W. S. Wyllie,
(1875.)
12. First Afghan War and its Causes^ — Sir Henry Marion Durand.
(1879.)
13. Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States, 5 vols. —
J. G. Scott and J, P. Hardiman, (Rangoon, 1900.)
14. Hazara Gazetteer — H. D. Watson. (1907.)
15. History of Assam— Sir Ed. Gait*
16. History of the Afghans — J. P. Ferrier. (1858.)
17. History of British India — ^Murray. (1857.)
18. History of British India— Macfarlane. (1862.)
1030
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
19. History of Burma — Sir Arthur Phayre. (1883.)
20. History of Burma — G. E. Harvey. (London, 1925.)
21. History of Persia, Vol. II — Sykes.
22. History of the Punjab — Latiff. (1891.)
23. History of the Sikhs — Cunningham.
24. History of General Sir Charles Napier’s Administration of
Scinde — Sir William Napier. (1851.)
25. History of the Indian Administration of Lord Ellenborough
— Lord Colchester. (London, 1874.)
26. History of the War in Afghanistan, 3 vols. — Kaye. (4th
edition, 1878.)
27. India and Her Neighbours — W. P. Andrew. (1878.)
28. Indian Frontier Policy — J. M. Adye. (1897.)
29. Indian Historical Quarterly, June, 1933.
30. John Russell Colvin — Sir A. Colvin. (R.I,, 1911.)
31. Journal of Indian History, 1921-22.
32. Journal of Indian History, April-June, 1933.
33. Journal of the Department of Letters, Vol. X. (Calcutta
University.)
34. Life of the Marquis of DaUiousie, 2 vols. — Lee-Warner.
(1904.)
36. Life of Munro, Vol. II — Gleig.
36. Macfarlane, op. cit.
37. Modern Review, 1925.
38. Narrative of the Burmese War — Major Snodgrass. (London,
1827.)
39. Narrative of the War in Afghanistan, 2 vols. — H. Havelock.
(1840.)
40. Our Burmese Wars and Relations with Burma — Colonel
W. F. B. Laurie. (1880.)
41. Oxus and the Indus — Major Evans BeU, (1869.)
42. Proceedings of the Indian Historical Records Commission,
1927.
43. Ranjit Singh — Sir Lepel Griffin.
44. Ranjit Singh — ^Dr. N. K. Sinha.
45. Report showing the Relations of the British Government
with the Tribes on the North-West Frontier of the Punjab
— R. H. Davies. (1864.)
46. Report showing the Relations of the British Government
with the Tribes on the North-West Frontier — R. G.
Temple. (1856.)
47. Report of the North-West Frontier Committee (Bray Com-
mittee). (1921.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART III 1031
48. Report on Certain Frontier Tribes — R. Warburton. (1877.)
49. Rise of the Sikh Power — Dr. N. K. Sinha.
60. Russia, Central Asia and British India — J. Long. (1865.)
61. Scinde in the Forties — Colonel Keith Young. Edited by-
Arthur Scott.
52. Sikhs and the Sikh Wars — Sir Charles Gough and A. D.
Innes. (1897.)
63. Thornton, op. cit., Vols. V., VI.
64, Transformation of Sikkism — ^Narang.
55. Wellesley Despatches — Owen.
66. Wellington Despatches — Owen.
57. Annexation of Sind — Khera.
Booh I — Chapter VI
1. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, 3 vols. — ^Tod. (Crooke’s
edition.)
2. Constitutional History of India — ^A. B. Keith.
3. Evolution of British Policy towards Indian States, 1774-1858
— ^K. M. Pannikar. (The Calcutta University Readership
Lectures, 1929.)
4. History of the Mahrattas — Grant Duff. (Edwardes’ edition.)
5. Indian Constitutional Documents — P. Mukherjee.
6. Indian Statutory Commission’s Report, Vols. I, II.
7. Introduction to the Study of the Relations of Indian States
with the Government of India — ^K. M. Pannikar. (1927.)
8. Life of Dalhousie, Vol. II — ^Lee- Warner.
9. Lord Hastings and the Indian States — ^Mehta.
10. Memoir of Central India, Vols. I and II— Malcolm.
11. Montagu-Chelmsford Report,
12. Native States of India — ^Lee- Warner. (1910.)
13. Political and Military Transactions of the British in India,
2 vols. — Prinsep.
14. Proceedings of the Round Table Conferences.
15. Treaties, Engagements and Sunnuds, 9 vols.— Sir C. Atchison.
(1909.)
10. The Annexation of Assam — R. M. Lahiri.
Booh I — Chapter VII
1 . Causes of the Indian Revolt — Sayyid Ahmad Khan. (Benares
1873.)
2. Cawnpore — Sir G. 0. Trevelyan. (1865.)
1032
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
3. History of the Indian Mutiny, 2 vols, — Charles Ball.
4. History of the Indian Mutiny, 3 vols. — ^Forrest. (1904-1912.)
5. History of the Indian Mutiny — T. R. Holmes. (6th edition,
1904.)
6. History of the Sepoy War in India, 6 vols. — Kaye and
Malleson. (1864-1880.)
7. Indian Mutiny of 1857 — ^MaUeson. (1891.)
8. Indian Mutiny in Perspective — Sir George MacMunn. (1931.)
9. Life of John Nicholson — ^L. J. Trotter. (1904.)
10. Life of John RusseU Colvin — Sir Auckland Colvin. (1895.)
11. Punjab Government Records, Mutiny Correspondence, 2 vols.
(Lahore, 1911); The Mutiny Reports, 2 vols. (Lahore,
1911. )
12. Records of the Intelligence Department, North-Western
Provinces, 2 vols. — Sir William Muir. (1902.)
13. Selections from the Letters, Despatches, and other State
Papers in the Military Department of the Government
of India, 1757-1758, 4 vols— Forrest. (Calcutta, 1893-
1912. )
14. Sepoy Revolt — Innes. (1897.)
15. The Sepoy Mutiny and Revolt of 1867 — R. C. Majumdar.
16. Eighteen Fifty-Seven — S. N. Sen.
17. (a) Biography of Kunwar Singh, (b) History of Freedom
Movement in Bihar, Vols. 1, 2 and 3 — K. K. Datta.
Book 11— Chapter Vlll
1. Horace Alexander: India since Cripps.
2. A. C. Banerjee:
(1) Indian Constitutional Documents: Vols. I and II.
(2) Cabinet Mission in India, 1946.
(3) Constituent Assembly of India.
(4) The Making of the Indian Constitution.
3. Mritunjay Banerjee: The Constitution of Free India, Dec.,
1947.
4. R. Coupland :
(1) Report on the Constitutional Problem in India, Part. I,
(Reprinted 1945), Part II (Reprinted 1944).
(2) India, A Restatement. (1945.)
(3) The Cripps Mission, July, 1942.
5. R. Palme Dutt: India To-day. (1947.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART III 1033
6. Mahatma Gaudhi : My Experiments with Truth.
7. Sir Philip Hartog : Indian Education, Past and Present.
8. L. C. Jain : Indian Economy during the War. (1944.)
9. Jathar and Beri: Indian Economics, Vols. I and II, latest
edition.
10. B. N. Khanna : India in World Politics. (1939.)
11. Acharya Jugal Kishore:
(1) Congress Ministries at Work. (April, 1946-April, 1947.)
(2) Congress and the War Crisis.
(3) War and India’s Freedom.
12. Lakshmi N. Menon : The Position of Women (Oxford Pam-
phlet). (1945.)
13. S. Natarajan: Social Problems (Oxford Pamphlet). (3rd
edition, 1944.)
14. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru : Discovery of India.
15. Dr. Rajendra Prasad: India Divided.
16. C. Rajagopalachari : The Way Out,. (November, 1943.)
REPORTS, GOVERNMENT PAPERS AND JOURNALS,
ETC.
(1) Papers Relating to the Cabinet Mission to India, 1946. Pub-
lished by the Government of India in 1946.
(2) Statistics Relating to India’s War Effort. Government of India,
Department of Commerce, February, 1947.
(3) Recent Social and Economic Trends in India. Published by the
Government of India, October, 1945 (Revised edition).
(4) Post-War Educational Development in India (Report by the
Central Advisory Board of Education, January, 1944).
Pamphlet No. 27, Bureau of Education, India, Fifth edition,
1947.
(5) First Report on the Progress of Reconstruction Planning,
March, 1944. Published by the Government of India, 1945.
(6) Report of the Advisory Planning Board, June, 1947. Published
by the Government of India.
1034 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
(6a) Report of the Economic Programme Committee (A.J.C.C.).
(7) Review of the Trade in India year to year. Published by the
Government of India.
(8) The Indian Annual Register, year by year, Calcutta.
(9) The India Quarterly, Published by the India Council of World
Affairs, New Delhi,
(10) The Asiatic Review, incorporating Proceedings of the East
India Association, London.
(11) The Eastern Economist, Ne^v Delhi, 4th January, 1946 (Trade
in Industrial and Reconstructional policy).
28th June, 1946 (Our Export Trade).
15th November, 1946 (War and Agriculture).
1947 — (Special Number) Industry, Trade, Labour (3rd January).
(Independence Number) The Indian States and India’s
Foreign Policy (15th August).
Trade in 1946 (7th November).
1948 — India and the United Nations (Special number and
Industrial Reviews) (22nd January).
The Factories Bill (13th February).
The Indian States (26th March).
Industrial Policy (9th April).
Government of India’s Industrial Policy (16th April).
The Havana Charter (21st May).
Policy of Trade Unions (28th May).
Tariff Policy and Practice (11th June).
India’s Foreign Policy, and India and Sterling (2nd July).
(12) The Modern Review.
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO CHAPTERS OH CONSTITUTIONAL,
ADMINISTRATIVE AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
IN PART III
1. Administration of the East India Company — Sir J. W.
Kaye. (1853.)
2. Annals of Rural Bengal — ^Hunter.
3. Bengal Subah, 1740-1770— K. K. Datta. (1936.)
4. Bengal under the Lieutenant-Governors from 1854 to 1898
— C. F. Buckland. (1901.)
5. Constitutional History of India — ^A. B. Keith. (1937.)
6. Constitutional System of India — ^N. C. Roy. (1938.)
7. Cornwallis in Bengal — ^Aspinall. (1931.)
8. District Gazetteers and Settlement Reports.
9. Early Revenue History of Bengal and the Fifth Report —
F. D. Ascoli.
10. Economic Annals of Bengal — J. C. Sinha. (1927.)
11. Economic Consequences of the Great War — Panandikar.
(1921.)
12. Economic Development of India — ^Vera Anstey. (1929.)
13. Economic Development of the Overseas Empire — ^Blrs.
H. C. A. Knowles. (1920.)
14. Evolution of British Policy towards Indian States, 1774-1858
— K. M. Pannikar. (1929.)
15. Famines and Land Assessments in India — R. C. Dutta.
(1900.)
16. Fifth Report from the Select Committee of the House of
Commons, edited by W. K. Firminger. (Calcutta, 1917.)
17. Finances and PubUo Works of India, 1869-1881 — Sir John
and Sic Richard Strachey. (1882.)
18. Government of India — J. Ramsay MacDonald. (1920.)
19. Government of India— Sir Courtenay Ilbert. (1922.)
20. Government of India Act, 1935.
21. History and Constitution of the Legislative Authorities of
British India — ^Herbert Cowell. (Calcutta, 1905.)
22. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. Ill (Economic), Vol. IV
(Administrative).
1035
103«
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
I
23. India: Its Administration and Rrogress — Sir John Strachey.
(1903.)
24. India in 1917-1918 to India in 1933-1934.
25. India as I Knew It, 1886-1925— Sir Mchaei O’Dwyer. (1925.)
26. India in the Victorian Age — R. 0. Dutta. (1906, second
edition.)
27. India under Early British Rule — R. 0. Dutta. (1908, 5th
edition.)
28. India’s Foreign Trade since 1870 — Dr. P. Ray.
29. Indian Administration — G. N. Joshi, (1937.)
30. Indian Civil Service. 1601-1930— L. S. S. O’Malley. (1931.)
31. Indian Constitutional Documents, 2 vols. — ^P. Mukherjee.
(1918.)
32. Indian Constitutional History — W. A. J. Archbold. (1926.)
33. Indian Constitutional Problems — Sir P. C. Sivaswami Ayer.
34. Indian Economics, 2 vols, — Jathar and Beri.
35. Indian Polity — George Chesney. (1868.)
36. Indian Railways — N. B. Mehta.
37. Indian Year Book, from year to year, till 1940.
38. Industrial Evolution in India — Gadgil. (1924.)
39. Introduction to the Study of the Relations of Indian States
with the Government of India — ^K. M. Pannikar.
40. Land Revenue Administration in India — S. C. Ray.
41. Life of the Marquis of Dalhousie, 2 vols. — Sir William Lee-
Wamer. (1904.)
42. Lord Curzon in India — Sir J. Raleigh. (1906.)
43. Lord Hastings and the Indian States — M. S. Mehta.
44. Montagu-Chelmsford Report, 1918.
45. Native States of India — Lee-Warner. (1910.)
46. New Constitution of India — G. N. Joshi. (1937.)
47. Notes on Indian Affairs, 2 vols. — ^F. J. Shore. (1837.)
48. Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official, 2 vols. —
Sir W. H. Sleeman. (1893.)
49. Report of the Butler Committee.
50. Report of the Indian Statutory Commission, Vols. I and II.
51. Report of the Indian Central Committee.
52. Report of the Industrial Commission.
53. Report of the Reforms Enquiry Committee.
54. Reports of the Roxmd Table Conferences.
55. Report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture.
56. Report of the Royal Commission on Labour.
57. Ruin of Indian Tkade and Industry — Vamandas Basu.
58. Sketch of the History of India from 1868-1918— Dodwell.
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART III 1037
09. The Development of Self-Government in India, 1858-1914—
Cecil Marne Putnam Cross.
60. The India of the Queen — W. W. Hunter.
61. Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnuds, 9 vols. — Sir C.
Atchison. (1909.)
62. Village Government in India — ^John Matthai. (1915.)
63. Warren Hastings in Bengal — ^M. E. Monckton- Jones. (1918.)
64. White Paper, The. (1933.)
65. John Company At Work — Holden Furber,
66. Economic History of Bengal — Dr. N. K. Sinha.
67. Trade and Finance in the Bengal Presidency (1793-1833) —
Dr. A. Tripathi.
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PORTIONS DEALING WITH
INDIAN NATIONALISM IN PART III
1. Allan Octavian Hume — Sir William Wedderburn. (1913.)
2. Autobiography of Jawaharlal Nehru.
3. Congress in Evolution — ^D. Ohakrabarty and C. Bhattaoharyya.
4. Constitutional Problem in India — ^Sir Reginald Goupland.
5. History of Political Thought in India: Ram Mohan to
Dayanand — B. B. Mazumdar. (Published by the University
of Calcutta.)
6. History of the Indian Nationalist Movement — Sir Verney
Lovett. (1919.)
7. How India Wrought Her Freedom — Annie Besant. (1915.)
8. India — Sir Valentine Chirol. (1925.)
9. India a Nation — ^Annie Besant. (1915.)
10. India Divided — Rajendra Prasad.
11. India in Transition — ^The Aga Khan. (1918.)
12. India in Transition — Graham Pole.
13. India Struggles for Freedom — Hirendranath Mukerjee.
14. India To-day — ^R. Palme Dutt.
15. India under Experiment — G. M. Chesney. (1918.)
16. India under Ripon — W. S. Blunt. (1909.)
17. Indian Diary — B. S. Montagu. (1930.)
18. Indian National Evolution — ^A. C. Mazumdar.
19. Indian Unrest — Sir Valentine Chirol. (1910.)
20. Life of Lord Curzon — ^Lord Ronaldshay. (1928.)
21. Making of Modern India — ^MacNicol. (1924.)
22. Memories of My Life and Time — B. 0. Pal. (1932.)
23. Nation in Making — ^Sir Surendranath Banerjea. (1925.)
24. Pakistan or The Partition of India — B. R. Ambedkar.
25. Political India, edited by Sir John Gumming. (1932.)
26. Present State of Indian Politics — Sayyid Ahmad Khan.
(Allahabad, 1888.)
27. Recollections, 2 vols. — ^Morley. (1917.)
28. Renascent India — H. C, E. Zacharias. (1933.)
29. Some Recent Speeches and Writings of Mr. Jinnah— -collected
and edited by J. Ahmad.
30. Speeches— G. K. Gokhale. (Madras, 1909.)
31. Speeches on Indian Affairs — ^Morley. (190ff)
32. Truth about the KMafat — Sayyid Ahmad Khan. (1916.)
33. Writings and Speeches — B. G. Tilak. (1922.)
loss
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO CHAPTERS ON SOCIETY,
RELIGION AND CULTURE IN PART III
1. Administration of the East India Company — Sii’ John Kaye.
(1853.)
2. Ahmadiya Movement — ^H. A. Watter.
3. Brahmo Samaj — ^Manilal C. Parkeh, (1929.)
4. Carey, Marshman and Ward — J. Q, Marshman. (1864.)
5. Christianity in India — Sir John Kaye. (1859.)
6. Christianity and the Government of India — ^A. Mayhew,
(1929.)
7. Confessions of a Thug — ^Meadows Taylor.
8. Education in India, prior to 1854 and 1870-1871 — A. Howell.
(Calcutta, 1872.)
9. Education of India — ^Arthur Mayhew. (1926.)
10. English Works of Raja Rammohan Ray, edited by J. C.
Ghosh, 2 vols. (Calcutta, 1887.)
11. Essays on Indian Idealism — ^A. K. Coomarswamy.
12. History of Bengah Language and Literature — D. 0. Sen.
13. History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century —
S. K. De. (1919.)
14. History of the Brahmo Samaj, 2 vols. — Sivanath Sastri.
(Calcutta, 1911.)
15. History of Hindi Literature — ^F. E. Keay. (1920.)
16. History of the Hindoos — ^Ward. (1818.)
17. History of Indian Literature, Vol. I — ^M. Winternitz. (Pub-
lished by the C.U., 1927.)
18. History and Prospects of British Education in India —
E. W. Thomas. (1891.)
19. History of Protestant Missions in India — ^M. A. Sherring.
(1875.)
20. History of Urdu Literature — Babu Ram Saksena. (1927.)
21. India: Its Administration and Progress — Sir John Strachey.
22. India and Indian Missions — Alexander Duff. (1839.)
23. India under Curzon and After — ^Lovat Eraser.
24. India — -Forty Years of Progress and Reform — R. P. Karkaria.
(1896.)
25. In^an Renaissance — C. E. Andrews.
26. Social Policy and Social Change in Western India, 1817-
1830 — Kemieth, Ballhatchet.
1039
1040
26.
27.
28.
29,
30.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
46.
46.
47.
48.
49.
60.
61.
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
India’s Past— A. A. Macdonell. (1927.)
India Year by Year, from 1917 to 1934.
Indian Islam — Titus. (1930.)
Indian Sculpture and Painting — E. B. Haven.
Indian Social Reformer, containing Proceedings ot the
National Social Conferences. , , ^ t -d u/r
Infant Marriage and Enforced Widowhood in India B. M.
Malabari. (Bombay, 1877.)
Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art.
Last Days in England of Eammohan Eay-Mary Carpenter.
(London, 1866, .Eeprinted by the Eammohan Library,
Calcutta, 1915.) . nr. 1 r
Lecture on the Life and Labours of Eaja Eammohan Eay
(delivered in Boston, TJ.S.A., 1846) by Wffliam Adam;
edited by Eahhaldas Haidar. (Calcutta, 1879.)
. Lifo of Henry Thomas Colebrooke-Sir T. E. Colebrooke.
Life*and Letters of Lord Macaulay— Sir G. 0. Trevelyan.
Life of iLmmohan Eay (in Bengali)— Nagendranath Chatter-
lee. (Calcutta, 1881.) , . -n
Life and Letters of Raja Rammohan Ray— Sophia Dobson
Collet. (London, 1900.) Edited by Hemchandra Sarkar
with an Introduction. (Calcutta, 1913.) _
Life of Vidyasagar (in BengaH)-Chandicharan Bandopadhya.
(1909.)
Literature of Bengal — ^R. 0. Dutta. (1896.)
Lord Curzon in India — Sir T. Raleigh. (1906 J
Memorials of Indian Government- Sir John Kaye. (1853.)
Modem India and the Indians— Monier-Williams.
Modem Vernacular Literature of Hindustan— Grierson.
, Moral and Material Progress Reports. . , ,
Mrs. Besant— A Psychological Study— Bipin Chandra Pal.
(Madras, 1913.)
, My Twenty Years in the Cause of Indian Women— Dhondo
Keshava Karve, (2nd edition, Poona, 1915.)
. On the Education of the People of India-C. F. Trevelyan.
Ri^o^n Ray, the Bengali Rehgious Reformer— Rev.
K. S. MacDonald. (Calcutta, 1879.)
Rammohan Ray and Modern India — ^Ramanand Chatter] ee.
(Calcutta, 1918.) lonoi
Religious and Social Reform— M. G. Ranade. (Bombay, 1902.)
1041
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART III
52. RevieAv of the Growth of Education in British India by the
Auxiliary Committee of the Indian Statutory Commission.
53. Samvad Patre Sekaler Katha (A History of Old Days from
Bengali Newspapers), compiled and edited in Bengali by
Brajendra Nath Banerji and published by the Bangiya
Sahitya Parishad. (1933.)
54. Social Reform in Bengal — Sitanath Tattvabhusan.
55. Speeches and Writings of Sir N. G. Chanda varkar. (Bombay,
1911.)
56. Speeches of Swami Vivekananda,
57. State of Indigenous Education in Bengal and Bihar —
Alexander Duff. (Published in Calcutta Review, 1844.)
58. “Suttee”, in Calcutta Review, 1867.
59. Theory and Practice of Social Service in India — K. M.
Munshi.
60. Typical Selections from Oriya Literature, 3 vols. — Edited by
B. C. Mazumdar and published by C.U. in 1925.
61. Victoria Yuge Bangala Sahitya — ^Haranchandra Rakshit.
62. Works of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
63. Works of Dr. Rabindranath Tagore.
64. Modem Oriya Literature — ^Priyaranjan Sen. (Calcutta, 1947.)
65. Kanarese Literature — E. P. Rice.
66. Telugu Literature — ^P. Chenchiah and Raja M. B. Rao.
66, Studies in Tamil Literature and History — V. R. R. Dikshitar.
(1930.)
67, Assamese, its Formation and Development — B. Kakati.
68, Assamese Literature — B. K. Barua. (1941.)
GOVERNORS-GENERAL
I. Govebnoes-Geneeal of Eoet WnxiAM m Bengal
{Regulating Act of 1773)
{Temporary and officiating in italics)
1774 (October)
1785 (February)
1786 (September)
1793
1798 (March)
1798 (May)
1805 (30th July)
1805 (October)
1807 (July)
1813 (4th October)
1823 (January)
1823 (1st August)
1828 (March)
1828 (4th July)
Warren Hastings
Sir John Macpherson
Earl (Marquess) Cornwallis
Sir John Shore (Lord Teignmouth)
Sir A. Clarice
Earl of Mornington (Marquess Wellesley)
Marquess Cornwallis (for the second time)
Sir George Barlow
Baron (Earl of) Minto I
Earl of Moira (Marquess of Hastings)
John Adam
Baron (Earl) Amherst
William Butterworth Bayley
Lord William Cavendish-Bentinck
n. Goveenoes-Geneeal of India
{Charter Act of 1833)
1833
1835 (20th March)
1836 (March)
1842 (February)
1844 (June)
1844 (July)
1848 (January)
1856 (February)
Lord William Cavendish-Bentinck
Sir Charles {Lord) Metcalfe
Baron (Earl of) Auckland
Baron (Earl of) EUenborough
William Wilberforce Bird
Sir Henry (Viscount) Hardinge
Earl (Marquess) of Dalhousie
Viscount (Earl) Canning
III. Goveenoes-Geneeal and Viceeoys
1858 (1st November)
1862 (March)
1863
1863
1864 (January)
1869 (January)
Viscount (Earl) Canning
Earl of Elgin and Kincardine I
Sir Robert Napier {Baron Napier of Magdala)
Sir William T. Denison
Sir John (Lord) LavTence
Earl of Mayo
1042
1043
LIST OF GOVERNOBS-GENERAL
1872
Sir John Strachey
1872
Lord Napier of Merchistoun
1872 (May)
Baron (Earl of) Northbrook
1876 (April)
Baron (Earl of) Lytton I
1880 (June)
Marquess of Ripon
1884 (December)
Earl of DufFerin (Marquess of Dufferin and
Ava)
1888 (December)
Marquess of Lansdowne
1894 (January)
Earl of Elgin and Kincardine II
1899 (6th January)
Baron (Marquess) Curzon of Kedleston
1904 (April)
Lord Ampthill
1904 (December)
Baron (Marquess) Curzon of Kedleston
(re-appointed)
1905 (November)
Earl of Minto II
1910 (November)
Baron Hardinge of Penshurst
1916 (April)
Baron Chelmsford
1921 (April)
Earl of Reading
1925
Lord Lytton II
1926 (April)
Lord Irwin
1929
Lord Qoschen (during the absence of Lord
Irwin on leave)
1931 (April)
Earl of Willingdon
1934 (May- August)
Sir George Stanley (Offg.)
1936 (18th April)
Marquess of Linlithgow
IV. Goveenors-General and Crown Representatives
(Act of 1935)
1937 (31st March)
Marquess of Linlithgow
1938 (June-October)
Baron Brabourne (Offg.)
1938
Marquess of Linlithgow
1943
Viscount (Earl) Wavell
1945
Sir John Colville (Offg.)
1947 (March-August)
Viscoimt (Earl) Mountbatten (last Viceroy
of United India, First Governor-General
of the Indian Dominion, 1947-48).
V
. Governors-Generad
(Indian Independence Act)
Indian Union
1947
Earl Mountbatten
(November)
Sri Chakravarti Rdjagopdldchdri (Offg.)
1948 (June)
^ri Chakravarti Bajagopaiachari
1044
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1947
1948 (September)
Pakistan
Qaid-i-Azam M. A. Jinnah
TCh wajeb Nazimuddin
1947
1947
PRBIE MINISTERS
Indian Union
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
Pakistan
Liaquat ‘Ali Khan
1950
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA
6ri Rajendra Prasad
CHRONOLOGY
B.C.
3102. Epoch of the Kali Yuga Era and of the Bharata
War according to one school of astronomers,
c. 2700. Date of Indus Valley Seals foimd at Kish.
2449. Date of heroes of the Bharata War according to a
second group of astronomers and chronologists.
c. 1435. Aryan Kings in Western Asia,
c. 1414. Date of the Bharata War according to certain
Puranas.
c. 1375. Worship of Aryan deities in the land of the Mitanni.
817. Traditional date of the birth of Parsvanatha.
558. Accession of Cyrus the Great, conqueror of Kapisi.
544. Traditional Epoch of the Ceylonese Era of Buddha’s
Nirvapa.
527. Traditional Epoch of the Era of Mahavira’s Nirvana.
522. Accession of Darius I, conqueror of the “Indian”
satrapy of the Persian Empire.
c. 518-517. Naval Expedition of Skylax and conquest of the
Indian satrapy.
486. Cantonese date of Buddha’s Nirvapa.
327-326. Invasion of India by Alexander.
325. Alexander leaves India,
c. 324. Rise of the Maurya Dynasty.
813. Jaina date of the year of Chandragupta’s accession,
probably as ruler of Avanti.
c. 305. Indian Expedition of Seleukos Nikator.
c. 273-232. The reign of Aioka.
c. 206. Indian Expedition of Antiochos III, King of Syria,
c. 187. Rise of the Dynasty of Pushyamitra.
165. Plato, King of Bactria.
162. Latest possible date for the assumption of the title
“Great” by Eukratides, King of Bactria and the
Indian borderland.
c. 145-101. Elara Chola, King of Ceylon.
138- 88. Conflict of the kings of Parthia with Sakas in Eastern
■ Tran.
1046
1048 AN ADVANCED mSTOBY OF INDIA
c. 126. The Chinese ambassador Chsng-Kien viaits the
Yueh-cM in the Oxus region.
58. Epoch of the Krita-Malava-Vikrama Era.
57-38. Squared letters appear on Parthian corns.
e 44-29. Tamil kings in Ceylon.
■ c. 30. End of g4ga-Kanva rule in Eastern Malwa. Sata-
vahana supremacy in the Deccan.
r 20 Indian embassies to Augustus.
2. A Chinese official instructed in Buddhism by a
Yueh-chi King.
A.n.
c. 1.
c. 47.
c. 64.
77.
78.
89-105.
c. 100.
119-124.
130-150.
148-170.
c. 152.
c. 200.
230.
248.
276-293.
320.
c. 360.
c. 380.
388.
405-411.
c. 415.
436.
Isidore of Charax.
Takht-i-Bahi record of Gondophernes.
The Chinese Emperor Ming-ti sends for Buddhist
texts.
Pliny’s Natural History.
Enoch of the Saka Era.
Decline of the Parthian and the consolidation of the
Kushan power in the Indus valley.
Kushan King repulsed by the Chmese General Pan
Chao. ^ m •
Indian embassy to the Koman Emperor Trajan.
m wwi’ overthrown by Gautamiputra gatakarpi.
Budradaman I, contemporary of Vasishthiputra Sri
^atakarni. . , , , i,
An-Shih-Kao translates a work by Kamshka s chap-
lain.
China loses Khotan.
Palmyra created a Homan colony.
The Yueh chi King Po-tiao (Vasudeva?) sends an
embassy to China.
Epoch of the Traikutaka-Kalachuri Era.
Sassanian conquest of parts of North-West India.
(Eeb. 26) Gupta Era begins.
Ceylonese Embassy to Samudra Gupta.
Accession of Chandra Gupte II. t j*
Latest known date of the Sakas of Western India.
Travels of Ea-Hien in the Gupta Empire.
Accession of Kumara Gupta I.
Simhavarman, the Pallava King of Kanchi, men-
tioned in the Lokavibhaga.
c. 448.
455.
458.
467.
473.
476.
c. 477-495.
507-508.
510-511.
533.
543-544.
547.
554.
566-567.
606.
609.
619-620.
622.
634.
637.
639.
641.
c. 642.
c. 642-668.
643.
646.
c. 646-647.
c. 647-648.
657.
661.
667.
672-673.
674.
CHRONOLOGY 1047
Huns in the Oxus valley.
Accession of Skanda Gupta.
Date of the Lokavibhaga.
Latest known date of Skanda Gupta,
Kumara Gupta II.
Birth of the astronomer Aryabhata.
Reign of Budha Gupta.
Vainya Gupta.
Gopachandra, a contemporary of Vainya Gupta.
Bhanu Gupta.
Yasodharman, conqueror of Mihirakula the Hun
King.
Continuance of Gupta rule in North Bengal.
Rise of the Chalukyas of Vatapi.
Kosmas Indikopleustes.
Ranavarman Maukhari.
Accession of Kirtivarman I, Chalukya.
Accession of Harshavardhana.
Coronation of Pulake^in II, Chalukya.
Supremacy of ^a^ahka in Eastern India.
Era of the Hijra.
Reference to the fame of Kalidasa and Bharavi in
the Aihole inscription.
Arab raid against Thana.
Foundation of Lhasa by Srong-tsan-Gampo.
Harsha’s embassy to China.
Death of PulakeSin II.
Probable date of the death of Am^uvarman of
Nepal.
Narasimhavarman I, the Great PaUava.
Harsha’s meeting with Hiuen-Tsang.
First mission of Wang-Hiuen-T’se.
Second mission of Wang-Hiuen-T’se.
Siladitya (of Mewar?)
Death of Harsha.
Bhaskaravarman or Kumararaja, King of Kamariipa,
helped Wang-Hiuen-T’se.
Third mission of Wang-Hiuen-T’se.
Guhila Aparajita.
Five Indies ” send ambassadors to Chinai
Adityasena.
Vikramaditya I, Chalukya.
Parame^varavafmah I, PaUava.
1048
675-685.
711.
712.
713.
720.
724-743.
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
Itsing at Nalanda. , , .
Invasion of Sind by Muhammad b. Qasim.
Arab conquest of Nirun and Aror.
Defeat and death of Dahir.
Capture of Multan by the Muslims,
grf Narasimha Potavarman’s diplomatic relations
with Cluna.
Khalif Hisham.
Junaid, Governor of Sind.
7^1 Ya^ovarman’s embassy to China. _
733’. Lalitaditya MuktapSda receives investiture as kmg
from the Emperor of Chma.
742. Dantidurga a feudatory of ^haluk^s.
743-789. Santarakshita and Padmasambhava invited to Tibet.
Rise of Lamaism.
753. Rise of the Rashtrakuta Empire.
783. Indrayudha (Kanauj).
Vatsaraja (Pratihara.)
793-815. Govinda III, Rashtrakuta.
815. Nagabhata (Pratihara).
815-877. Amoghavarsha I, Rashtrakuta.
829. Harjara, King of Kamarupa.
c. 836. Accession of Bhoja I, King of Kanauj.
c. 850. LaUiya Shahi. r -rr- -
855. Accession of Avantivarman of Kashmir.
c. 871-907. Aditya I, Chola.
879. New Nepalese Era. -1 i
892. Coronation of Bhima I, _ Eastern Chalukya.
893. Mahendrapala I (Pratihara).
907. Accession of Parantaka I, Chola.
914. Mahipala I (Pratihara).
Continuance of Pratihara rule m Surashtra.
939. Ya^askara, King of Kashmir.
942-943. Guhila Bhatripatta II.
945. Coronation of Amma II (Vijayaditya VI), Eastern
Chalukya.
c. 950-1003. Queen Didda of Kashmir,
c. 954-1002. Dhahga ChandeUa.
c. 962. Foundation of the Kmgdom of Ghazni.
973. Foundation of the later Chalukya Empire (of
Kalyana).
c. 974-995. Munja.
977. Accession of Sabuktigin.
CHRONOLOGY
1049
985. Accession of Rajaraja the Great, Chola.
986-987. First invasion of Sabuktigin.
c. 995. Accession of Sindhuraja Navasahasahka.
997. Death of Sabuktigin.
998. Accession of Sultan Mahmud.
1001. Great defeat of Jaipal by Sultan Mahmud.
1008. Battle near Und.
1012-1044. Rajendra Chola I.
1013. Mahmud captures Nandana.
1018. Rajyapala (Pratihara).
Kanauj seized by Mahmud of Ghazni.
c. 1018-1055. Bhoja of Dhara.
1026. Samath inscription of the time of Mahipala I of
Bengal.
Fall of Nidar Bhim (Shahi).
Sack of Somnath (during the reign of Bhimdeva I).
1030. Death of Sultan Mahmud.
1032. Vimala Sha.
1039. Death of Gangeyadeva Kalachuri.
c. 1040. Coronation of Lakshmi-kariia of the Kalachuri
Dynasty.
1052. Red Fort at Delhi.
1070-1122. Rajendra Chola, Kulottuhga I.
1076-1127. Vikramaditya VI of Kalyana.
c. 1076-1148. Anantavarman Choda Gahga.
1089-1101. Harsha of Kashmir.
1090. Rise of the Gahadavalas.
c. 1098. Kirtivarman Chandella.
c. 1106-1141. Vish^iuvardhana Hoysala,
1113- 1114. Foundation of an Era by Siddharaja Jayasimha of
Gujarat.
1114- 1154. Govinda Chandra, the Great Gahadavala King,
1119. Epoch of the Lakshmana Sena Era.
c. 1143-1172, Kumarapala of Gujarat.
1153-1164. Vigraharaja IV (Visaladeva).
1158. BaUala Sena,
c. 1167-1202. Paramardi Chandella.
1170-1194. Jayachchandra.
1175. Muhammad bin Sam invades India and captures
Multan.
1178. Muhammad defeated in Gujarat.
1179-1242. Bhimdev II of Gujarat,
c. 1185-1205. Lakshmapa Sena of Bengal.
1192-1193.
1194.
1197-1247.
c. 1200.
1206.
1210-1211.
1221.
1228.
1231.
1231-1232.
1236
1241.
c. 1244-1262.
1246,
1261-1270
1260-1291
1266
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
36. Fall of the Yamini Dynasty.
91. First battle of Tarain.
92. Second battle of Tarain. ^
Fall of Prithviraja III Chahamana (Chauhan).
93. Qutb-ud-din Aibak takes Delhi.
94. Battle of Chandwar. FaU of the Gahadavalas.
147. Singhana the Great, Yadava Fling.
!00. Ikhtiyar-ud-din conquers parts of Eastern India.
>06. Death of Muhammad bin Sam and accession ot
Qutb-ud-din in India.
JIO. Death of Qutb-ud-dln.
Accession of Aram Shah.
HI. Accession of Iltutmish. ^ -
221. Invasion of the Mongols under Chmgiz Khan.
228. Ahoms in Assam.
231. Tejahpala.
232. Foundation of the Qutb Minar.
236. Death of Iltutmish. ^ _
Accession and deposition of Firuz.
Accession of Raziyya.
,240. Deposition and murder of Raziyya.
Accession of Mu‘iz-ud-din Bahram.
,241. Capture of Lahore by the Mongols.
262. Visaladeva, King of Gujarat.^ ^
.246. Deposition and death of Ma‘sud^
Accession of Nasir-ud-din Mahmud.
[270. Jatavarman Sundara Papdya I.
L291. Rudramma, the Great Kakatiya Queen.
L266. Death of Nasir-ud-din Mahmud.
Accession of Ghiyas-ud-din Balkan.
1279. Latest known date of Rajendra IV Chola.
* Rebellion of Tughril in Bengal.
1280. Bughra Khan appointed to the Government of Bengal .
1287. Death of Balkan.
Accession of Mu‘iz-ud-dm Kaiqubad.
Mongol invasion repelled.
1288. Marco Polo at Kayal.
1290. Death of Kaiqubad.
Accession of Jalal-ud-din Firuz Khalji.
1292. ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji captures Bhilsa.
Mongol invasion.
1294. Devagiri pillaged by ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji.
1296. Accession of ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji.
CHRONOLOGY
1051
1297. Conquest of Gujarat (from Karnadeva II).
1301. Capture of Ranthambhor by ‘Ala-ud-diu Khalji.
1302-1303. Capture of Cbitor.
Mongol invasion.
1305. Conquest of Malwa, Ujjain, Mandii, Dliar and
Chanderi by tbe Edialjis.
1306-1307. Kafur’s expedition to Devagiri.
1308. Expedition to Warangal,
1310. Malik Naib’s expedition into tbe South Indian
Penuisula.
1316. Death of ‘Ala-ud-din.
Accession of Bbihab-ud-dln ‘Umar.
Death of Mabk Naib.
Deposition of ‘Umar and accession of Qutb-ud-din
Mubarak.
1317-1318. Extinction of the Yadava Dynasty.
1320. Usurpation of Nasir-ud-din Khusrav.
His overthrow by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq.
1321. Expedition to Warangal under Muhammad Jauna
(Ulugh Khan).
Rebellion of Muhammad.
1323. Second expedition to Warangal under Muhammad.
Mongol invasion.
1325. Accession of Muhammad bin Tughluq.
1326-7. Rebellion of Gurshasp.
1327. Destruction of Kampili.
Transference of the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad.
1328- The Mongols invade India.
1329. Qarachil expedition. Issue of forced currency of
brass and copper for silver.
1333-4. Arrival of Ibn Batutah.
1334. RebeUion in Madura.
Capture of Anegundi by Muhammad bin Tughluq,
1336. Traditional date of the foundation of Vijayanagar.
1337- 1338. Expedition to Nagarkot.
1338- 1339. Independent Sultanate in Bengal.
1339. Shah Mir, King of Kashmir.
1342. Ibn Batutah leaves Delhi on his mission to China.
1345. Accession of Shams-ud-din Iliyas in Bengal.
1347. ‘Ala-ud-din Bahman Shah proclaimed King of tbe
Deccan.
1351. Death of Muhammad bin Tughluq.
Accession of Firuz, son of Rajab.
1052
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1353.
1359.
1360.
1361.
1363.
1374.
1377.
1382.
1388.
1389.
1392.
1393.
1398.
1414.
1417-1418.
1420.
1424.
1429.
c. 1430-1469.
1434—1435.
1443.
1451.
1458-1511.
1459.
1469.
1470.
1472.
1481.
1484.
1486.
1486-1487.
1489,
1489-1490
1490
1493
1494
1497-1498
Firuz’s first expedition to Bengal.
Firuz’s second expedition to Bengal.
Firuz’s expedition to Orissa.
Capture of Nagarkot or Kangra by Firuz.
Firuz’s first expedition to Sind.
Bukka sends an embassy to the Emperor of Chma.
Extinction of the Sultanate of Madura.
Rebellion of Raja Ahmad or Malik Ra]a m Khandesh.
Death of Firuz, son of Rajab.
Accession of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq II.
Death of Tughluq II.
Dilawar Khan, Governor of Malwa.
Independent Sultanate of Jaunpur.
Invasion of Timur.
TCTnVr Khan occupied Delhi.
Raja Ganesh in Bengal.
Coins of Danujamardana.
Nicolo Conti visits Vijayanagar.
Capture of Warangal by Ahmad Shah Bahmani.
Transfer of the Bahmani capital from Gulbarga to
Bidar.
Rana Kumbha.
Kapilendra, King of Orissa.
‘Abdur Razzak comes to India.
* Bahlul Lodi ascends the throne of Delhi.
, Mahmud Begarha.
Foundation of Jodhpur.
Birth of Guru Nanak.
Death of Zain-ul-‘Abidin.
Birth of Farid (Sher Khan).
Murder of Mahmud Gawan.
Independence of Berar.
Abyssinian rule in Bengal.
Fall of the Sangama Dynasty of Vijayanagar.
Beginning of the rule of the Saluva Dynasty.
Accession of Sikandar Lodi.
, Foundation of the ‘Add Shahi Dynasty of
Bijapur. ^
Establishment of the independent
Dynasty of Ahmadnagar.
. Husain Shah elected King of_Bengal.
Accession of Babur in Farghana.
First voyage of Vasco da Gama.
Nizam Shahi
1504.
1505.
1509.
1509 1527.
1510.
1511.
1512-1518.
1513.
1517.
1526.
1527.
1529.
1529-1530.
1530.
1533.
1534.
1535.
1537.
1538.
1539.
1540.
1542.
1544.
1545.
1552.
1554.
1555.
1556.
1558.
1560.
1561.
CHRONOLOGY 1053
Babur occupies Kabul.
Beginning of the rule of the Tuluva Dynasty in
Vijayanagar.
Albuquerque, Portuguese Governor of India.
Accession of Krishnadeva Raya.
Rana Sanga.
The Portuguese capture Goa.
Babur captures Samarqand again.
Independence of the Kutb Shahi Dynasty of
Golkunda.
Death of Albuquerque.
Death of Sikandar Lodi.
Accession of Ibrahim Lodi.
First battle of Panipat.
Battle of Kjhanua.
Battle of Gogra.
Death of Krishpadeva Raya.
Death of Babur and accession of Humayun.
Bahadur of Gujarat captures Chitor.
Humayun marches to Malwa.
Defeat of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and his flight to
Mandu.
Death of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat.
Sher Edian defeats Mahmud Shah of Bengal.
Humayun enters Gaur.
Death of Guru Nanak.
Sher Khan defeats Humayun at Chaunsa and
assumes sovereignty.
Humayun ’s defeat near Kanauj.
Birth of Akbar.
Humayun arrives in Persia.
Death of Sher Shah.
Accession of Islam Shah.
Death of Guru Angad.
Death of Islam Shah.
Accession of Muhammad ‘Adil Shah.
Sikandar Sur in the Punjab.
Humayun recovers the throne of Delhi.
Death of Humayun and accession of Akbar.
Second battle of Panipat.
Death of Ibrahim Sur. End of the Sur Dynasty.
Fall of Bairam Khan.
Muglml invasion of Malwa.
1054 &S ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1602. Akbai marries a princess of Amber.
End of Petticoat Government.
1564. Abolition of the Jizya. -yv, a
Death of Rai?i Durgavati and annexation of the
Gond kingdom.
1565. Battle of Tahkota.
1668. Kararani’s conquest of Orissa.
' EaU of Chitor. .
1569. Capture of Ranthambhor and E:alm]ai.
Birth of Salim.
1571. Eoundation of Fathpur Sikri.
1572. Akbar annexes Gujarat.
1573. Surat surrenders to Akbar.
Understanding with the Portuguese.
1574. Death of Guru Amardas.
1575. Battle of Tukaroi.
1576. Subjugation of BengaL _
Death of Daud near Rajmahal.
The battle of Gogunda or Haldighat.
1677. Akbar’s troops invade Khandesh.
l(k79 “Infallibility Decree” promulgated.
ISo. Accession of Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah II m Bijapur.
First Jesuit mission at Agra.
Rebellion in Bihar and Bengal. , _ , . ,
1B81. Akbar’s march against Muhammad Hakim and
reconciliation with him.
Death of Guru Ramdas.
1582. Divine Faith promulgated.
1585. Fitch at Agra.
1580. Annexation of Kashmir. _
1589. Death of Todar Mai and Bhagwan Das.
1591. Mughul conquest of Sind.
1692. Annexation of Orissa.
1595. Siege of Ahmadnagar. _
Acquisition of Qandahar.
Annexation of Baluchistan.
Death of Faizi.
1597. Death of Rana Pra-tap.
1600. Charter to the London East India Company.
Ahmadnagar stormed.
1601. Capture of Asirgarh. ^ , i. tt u r n’ocf
1602. Death of Abul Fazl. Formation of the United East
India Company of the N^etherlands.
CHRONOLOGY
1065
1605. Death of Akbar and accession of Jahangir.
1606. Rebellion of Khusrav.
Qandahar invested by the Persians.
Execution of the Fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan.
1607. Qandahar relieved by the Mughuls.
Sher Afghan, first husband of Nur Jahan, killed.
1607. Second revolt of Khusrav.
1608. Malik 'Atnbar takes Ahmadnagar.
1609. Hawkins arrives at Agra.
The Dutch open a factory at Pulicat.
1611. Jahangir marries Nur Jahan.
Hawkins leaves Agra. The English establish a
factory at Masulipatani.
1612. KRurram marries Mumtaz Mahal.
First English factory at Surat.
The Mughul Governor of Bengal defeats the rebellious
Afghans.
Mughuls annex Kuch Hajo.
1613. Jahangir’s firman to the English Company.
1615. Submission of Mewar to the Mughuls.
Arrival of Sir Thomas Roe m India.
1616. Roe received by Jahangir.
The Dutch establish a factory at Surat.
1618. Roe, after ohisiamg firryians for English trade, leaves
the Imperial Court.
1619. Roe leaves India.
1620. Capture of the Kangra fort.
Shahryar betrothed to Nur Jahan’s daughter (by
Sher Afghan).
Malik ‘Ambar revolts m the Deccan.
1622. Death of Khusrav. Shah ‘Abbas of Persia besieges
and takes Qandahar. Shah Jahan ordered to
recover Qandahar but rebels. Malik ‘Ambar takes
Bidar.
1624. Suppression of Shah Jahan’s rebellion.
1626. Dutch Factory at Chinsura.
1626. Death of Malik ‘Ambar.
Rebellion of Mahabat Khan.
1627. Death of Jahangir.
Birth of Shivaji (or 1630 according to some).
1628. Shah Jahan proclaimed Emperor.
1629. Rebellion of Khan Jahan Lodi.
1631. Death of Mumtaz Mahal.
by
1056 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1631. Defeat and death of Sian Jahan Lodi.
1632. Mughul invasion of Bijapur.
Grant of the “Golden Firman’' to the English
Company by the Sultan of Golkunda.
1633. End of Ahmadnagar D^masty.
1634. Finnan permitting Enghsh trade in Benga .
1636. Treaties mth Bijapur and Golkunda.
Shahji enters the service of Bijapur.
Aurangzeb appointed Viceroy of the Deccan.
1638. Peace between the Mughuls and the Ahoms.
Qandahar recovered by the Mughuls.
1639. Foundation of Fort St. George at Madras.
1646. Shivaj! captures Torna.
1649. Persians recover Qandahar.
1651. English factory started at
Firman granted to the Enghsh Company
1653. AumnS’eb reappointed Viceroy of tlie_ Deccan.
The Dutch start a factory at Chinsura.
1656. The Mughuls attack Hyder&had and Gotoda.
Peace with Golkunda. Annexation of Javh hy
Shivaii. Death of Muhammad Add Shah of
Bijapur. Another firman granted to the Enghsh
by Shuja. t x •
1657. Shivaji raids Ahmadnagar and Junnar but is
pardoned.
Invasion of Bijapur hy Aurangzeb. _
Aurangzeb captures Bidar and Kalyani.
Illness of Shah Jahan.
The war of succession begins.
1658. Battles of Dharmat and Samugarh.
Coronation of Aurangzeb.
1659. Battles of Khajwah and Deorai.
Execution of Dara. Captivity of Murad and Shah
Jahan.
Second coronation of Aurangzeb.
Murder of Afzal Khan. t i
1660. Shuja chased from Bengal to Arakan. Mir Jumla
appointed Governor of Bengal.
1661. Cession of Bombay to the English. , -d-v -
Execution of Murad. Mughul capture of Cooch Bihar.
1662. Peace with Ahoms.
CHRONOLOGY
1057
1662. Death of Sulaiman Shukoh.
1663. Death of Mir Jumla. Shaista Khan appointed
Governor of Bengal.
1664. Shivaj! sacks Snrat.
Colbert, the French Minister, founds an India
Company.
1664. Shivaji assumes royal title.
1666. Death of Shah Jahan.
Capture of Chittagong.
Shivaji’s visit to Agra and escape.
1667. The Yusufzais rebel.
1668. New religious ordinances.
Cession of Bombay to the East India Company.
First French factory started at Surat.
1669. Jat rebellion under Gokla.
1670. Second sack of Surat.
1671. Rise of Chhatrasal Bundela.
1672. Satnami outbreak.
Revolt of the Afridis.
Shaista Khan’s firman to the English Company,
1674. Frangois Martin founds Pondicherry.
Shivaji assumes the title of Chhatrapati.
1675. Execution of Teg Bahadur, Guru of the Sikhs.
1677. Shivaji’s conquests in the Carnatic.
1678. Marwar occupied by the Mughuls.
Death of Jaswant Singh.
1679. Re-imposition of the Jizya,
Mughui attack on Marwar.
1680. Death of Shivaji.
Rebellion of Prince Akbar.
Aurangzeb’s firman to the English Company.
1681. Loss of Kamarupa by the Mughuls.
Aurangzeb goes to the Deccan.
1686. English war with the Mughuls.
Fall of Bijapur.
1687. Fall of Golkunda,
1689. Execution of Sambhuji. Rajaram succeeds but
retires to Jinji.
1690. Peace between the Mughuls and the English.
Calcutta founded,
1691. Defeat of the Jats. Aurangzeb at the zenith of his
power.
Grant of a firman by Ibrahim Khan to the English,
MM
1068
AN ADVANCED HISTOEY OF INDIA
1692. Renewed Maratha activity in Deccan.
1698. The new English Company Trading o e
English obtain zamindari of Sutanati, Calcutta
and Govindapur.
1699. First Maratha raid on Malwa.
1700. Death of Eajaram and regency of his widow
1702. A^K.^tion of the EngUsh and the London East
India Companies.
1703. The Marathas enter Berar. i tj ^
1706. The Marathas raid Gujarat and sack Barod .
1707. Death of Aurangzeb.
Battle of Jajau.
Accession of Bahadur Shah.
1708. Shahu, King of the Marathas.
Death of Guru Govind Singh.
1712. Death of Bahadur Shah.
Accession of Jahandar Shah.
1713. Farrukhsiyar becomes Emperor.
' Jahandar Shah murdered.
1714. Balaji Viswanath Peshwa. Husam Ah appomted
Viceroy of the Deccan.
The treaty of the Marathas with Husain .Mi.
1716. Mo/of Banda, the Sikh leader. The Surman
Embassy. ^
1717. Farrukhsiyar’s firman to the Enghsh Company.
Re-imposition of Jizya.
1719. Husain ‘Ali returns to Delhi with the Marathas.
Farrukhsiyar put to death.
Death of Rafi-ud-Darajat.
Accession of Muhammad Shah.
1720. Accession of Baji Rao Peshwa.
Fall of the Sayyid brothers.
1724. Sa'adat Khan appointed Governor of Oudh.
Nizam virtually independent in the Deccan.
Qamar-ud-din becomes wazir.
1725-1739. Shuia-ud-dm, Governor of Bengal.
1735: Baji Rao recogmsed by the Imperial Government
as ruler of Malwa.
1739 Nadir Shah takes Delhi. r a r -r.
Death of Shuja-ud-din and accession of Sarfaraz m
Bengal.
1739.
1740.
1742.
1744-1748.
1745.
1746.
1747.
1748.
1749.
1760.
1750-IJ54.
f751.
1754.
1756.
1756-1763.
1756.
1757.
1758.
1759.
1760.
CHRONOLOGY 1069
The Marathas capture Salsette and Bassein.
‘Alivardi Khan becomes Governor of Bengal,
Accession of Balaji Rao Peshwa.
The Marathas invade Arcot.
Dost ‘All killed.
Maratha invasion of Bengal.
Dupleis Governor of Pondicherry.
Murder of Safdar ‘Ali, Nawab of the Carnatic.
First Anglo-French War.
Rise of the Rohillas.
La Bourdonnais takes Madras.
Invasion of Ahmad Shah Abdali.
Death of Nizam-ul-mulk,
Death of Muhammad Shah of Delhi and accession
of Ahmad Shah,
Death of Shahu.
Madras restored to the British.
Defeat and death of Nasir Jang.
War of the Deccan and Carnatic succession.
Clive’s defence of Arcot.
Death of Muzaffar Jang and accession of Salabat
Jang.
Treaty of ‘Alivardi with the Marathas.
Recall of Dupleix. Godeheu’s treaty with the English.
Accession of ‘Alamgir II.
Death of ‘Alivardi Khan.
Accession of Sira j-ud-daulah.
Seven Years’ War.
Siraj-ud-daulah captures Calcutta.
Sack of Delhi and Mathura by Ahmad Shah
Abdab.
The English capture Chandemagore.
Battle of Plassey.
Mir Jafar made Nawab of Bengal.
Lally in India. The Marathas in the Punjab.
Capture of Masulipatam by Forde.
Forde defeats the Dutch at Bedara.
‘All Gauhar invades Bihar.
Murder of ‘Alamgir II by Ghazi-ud-din.
Battle of Wandiwasb.
Battle of Udgir.
Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal.
Vansittart, Company’s Governor in Bengal.
MM*
1060
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1761. Third battle of Panipat.
Fall of Pondicherry.
Shah ‘llam II becomes Emperor.
Shuia-ud-daulah becomes wazlr.
Accession of Madhava Rao Peshwa.
Rise of Hyder ‘Hi.
1763. Expulsion of Mir Kasim.
1764. Battle of Buxar.
Sft of ^ni of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
to the British.
Treaty of Allahabad.
Clive, Company’s Governor in Bengal.
1766 Grant of the Northern Sarkars to the Enghsh.
1707. Departure of CUve. Verelst, Company’s Governor
in Bengal.
1767-1769. The First Mysore War._
1770. The Great Bengal Famine.
1772. Warren Hastings’ appointment _as Governor.
Death of Madliava Rao Peshwa.
1773. The Regulating Act.
1774. The RohiUa (Ruhela) War.
Warren Hastings becomes Governor-General.
EstabHshment of Supreme Court, Calcutta.
1775. Trial and execution of Nanda Kumar.
1776-1782. The First Anglo-Maratha War.
1776. The Treaty of Purandhar.
1779. Convention of Wadgaon.
1780. Popham’s capture of Gwalior.
1780-1784. Second Mysore War.
1781. Deposition of Chait Singh.
Act passed to amend the Regulating Act.
1782. Affair of the Begams of Oudh.
The Treaty of Salbai.
Death of Hyder ‘Ali.
1783. Death of Coote.
Fox’s India Bills.
1784. Treaty of Mangalore.
Pitt’s India Act.
1785. * Resignation of Warren Hastings.
1786. Lord ComwaUia becomes Governor-General.
1790-1792. Third Mysore War.
1792. Treaty of Seringapatam.
1792.
1793.
1794.
1795.
1797.
1798.
1799.
1800.
1801.
1802.
1803-1806.
1805.
1806.
1808.
1809.
1813.
1814-1816.
1817-1818.
1817-1819.
1819.
1820.
1824-1826.
1826.
1827.
1828.
1829.
1829-1837.
CHRONOLOGY 1061
Raiijit Singh succeeds his father as leader of a Sikh
Misl.
The Permanent Settlement of Bengal.
Renewal of the Company’s Charter.
Death of Mahadaji Sindhia.
The Battle of Elharda.
Death of Ahalya Bai.
Zaman Shah at Lahore.
Death of Asaf-ud-daulah of Oudh.
Wazir ‘All deposed and succeeded by Sa‘adat ‘Ali,
Lord Mornington (Wellesley) becomes Governor-
General,
Subsidiary Treaty with the Nizam.
Fourth Mysore War.
Death of Tipu. Partition of Mysore.
Ranjit Singh’s appointment to the Governorship of
Lahore.
Malcolm’s mission to Persia.
WiUiam Carey opens Baptist Mission at Serampore.
Death of Nana Fadnavis.
Establishment of the College of Fort William.
Annexation of the Carnatic.
Treaty of Bassein.
The Second Anglo-Maratha War.
Siege of Bharatpur fails. Recall of Wellesley.
Vellore Mutiny.
Mission of Malcolm to Persia and of Elphinstone to
Kabul.
Treaty of Amritsar.
Renewal of the Company’s Charter.
The Anglo-Gurkha War.
The Pindari War.
The Last Anglo-Maratha War.
Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay.
Munro, Governor of Madras.
The Samachar Darpan started.
The First Burmese War.
Fall of Bharatpur.
Death of Sir Thomas Munro.
Malcolm, Governor of Bombay. ■
Lord William Bentinck becomes Governor-General.
Prohibition of Sati.
Suppression of Thuggee.
1002 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OE INDIA
1830. Rammohan Roy visits England.
1831. Raja of Mysore deposed and its administration taken
over by tbe Company.
Burnes’ journey up the Indus.
1831. Meeting ofRanjit and the Governor-General at Rupar .
1832. Annexation of Jaintia.
1833. Renewal of the Company’s Charter. ^ _
Abolition of the Company’s tradmg rights.
Legislative power centralised.
1834. Annexation of Coorg.
Macaulay Law Member.
Formation of the Agra Province.
1835. Education Resolution.
Metcalfe and abolition of Press restrictions.
1838. Tripartite Treaty between Shah Shuja, Ran]it Singh
and the English.
1839. Death of Ranjit Singh. _
New treaty forced on the Amirs oi bmd.
1839-1842. The First Afghan War.
1843. Conquest of Sind.
Gwalior War.
Suppression of slavery.
1845-1846. The First Anglo-Sikh War.
1848. Lord Dalhousie becomes Governor-General.
1848-1849. The Second Anglo-Sikh War. ^ bv
1849. Opening of a Hindu girls school m Calcutta by
Drinkwater Bethune.
1852. The Second Anglo-Burmese War.
1853. Railway opened from Bombay to_Thana.
Telegraph line from Calcutta to Agra.
Annexation of Nagpur.
Cession of Berar.
Renewal of the Company’s charter.
1854. Sir Charles Wood’s Education Despatch.
1855. The Santal insurrection.
1856. Annexation of Oudh,
University Act.
1857-1858. The Sepoy Mutiny.
1858, British India placed under the direct government
of the Crown.
Queen Victoria’s Proclamation.
1859. Indigo disputes in Bengal.
1861. Indian Councils Act.
CHRONOLOGY 1063
1,861. The Indian High Courts Act.
Introduction of the Penal Code.
1862. Amalgamation of the Sxipreme and Sadar courts into
High Courts.
1863. Death of Dost Muhammad. Ambala Campaign.
1864. Bhutan War.
1865. The Orissa Famine. Opening of telegraphic com-
munication with Europe.
1868. Punjab Tenancy Act. Railway opened from Ambala
to Delhi.
Sher ‘All, Amir of Afghanistan, receives an annual
grant of six lacs of rupees.
1869. Ambala Conference with Sher ‘Ali.
Yakub’s rebellion in Afghanistan.
1870. Mayo’s Provincial Settlement.
1872. Seistan Boundary Report.
1873. Russians reduce IChiva. The Simla Conference.
1874. The Bihar famine. Disraeli becomes Prime Minister
in England.
1875. Gaikwar of Baroda’s case. Visit of the Prince of
Wales.
1876. The Royal Titles Act.
1876-1877. Delhi Durbar.
The Queen of England proclaimed Empress of India.
1878. Outbreak of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
Vernacular Press Act.
1880. ‘Abdur Rahman recognised as Amir of Afghanistan.
Famine Commission.
1881. Factory Act.
Rendition of Mysore.
1882. Hunter Commission.
1883. The Ilbert Bill.
1885. First Meeting of the Indian National Congress.
Bengal Tenancy Act.
Bengal Local Self-Government Act.
Third Anglo-Burmese War.
1886. Annexation of Upper Burma.
Delimitation of Afghan northern boundary.
1889. Abdication of Maharaja of Kashmir.
Second visit of Prince of Wales.
1891. Factory Act.
Age of Consent Act.
Manipur Rebellion.
1064
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1892. Indian Councils Act.
1893. Durand’s mission to Kabul.
1896. The Chitral Expedition.
1897. Frontier risings.
Plague at Bombay.
1897. Famine Commission.
1899. Lord Curzon becomes Governor-Greneral.
1900. Famine Commission.
1904. British Expedition to Tibet.
Universities Act.
Co-operative Societies Act.
1905. The First Partition of Bengal.
Lord Minto becomes Governor-General.
Morley Secretary of State for India,
1906. Foundation of the Muslim League. ^
Congress declaration regarding Swaraj).
1907. The'^Anglo-Russian Convention.
1908. ' The Newspapers Act.
1909 The Morley-Minto Reforms.
Appointment of S. P. Sinha to the Governor-General s
Council. _
1910. Lord Crewe Secretary of State lor India.
1911. The Delhi Durbar.
Partition of Bengal modified.
Census of India, ^ iv.
1912. Removal of the Imperial capital to Delhi.
1913. Educational Resolution of the Government of
India.
1914-1918. The First World War.
1916. Defence of India Act.
1916. Sadler Commission.
The Lucknow Pact of the Indian National Congress
and the All-India Muslim League.
The Home Rule League founded.
Foundation of the Women’s University at Poona.
1917. Mr. Montagu’s declaration in the House of Commons.
His visit to India.
1917-1918. Indians made eligible for the King’s Commission.
The Indian National Liberal Federation.
Report of the Industrial Commission.
1919. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms.
Punjab Disturbances.
Royal Proclamation.
CHRONOLOGY
1065
1920. The KhOafat Movement. The Non-Co-operation
Movement.
Lord Sinha, Governor of Bihar and Orissa.
Mahatma Gandhi leads the Congress.
1921. Chamber of Princes.
Moplah Rebellion.
The Prince of Wales visits India.
Census of India.
1922. Resignation of Mr. Montagu.
1923. Swarajists in Indian Councils.
Certification of Salt tax.
Question of Indianising the command of certain
regiments — the eight-unit plan.
1925. All-India Depressed Class Association.
Reforms Enquiry Committee Report.
Death of C. R. Das.
Formation of Inter-University Board.
1926. Report of the Skeen Committee.
Lord Reading’s letter to the Nizam.
Royal Commission on Agriculture.
Factories Act.
1927. Indian Navy Act.
Appointment of the Simon Commission.
Capetown Agreement.
1928. Deposition of AmanuUah, King of Afghanistan.
All Parties Conference.
The Nehru Report.
Report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture.
1928-1933. Nadir Shah, King of Afghanistan.
1929. Lord Irwin’s Announcement of 31st October.
Trade Union split.
Establishment of the Imperial Council of Agri-
cultural Research.
Lahore Congress.
Appointment of the Royal Commission on Indian
Labour.
1930. Civil Disobedience Movement.
Report of the Statutory Commission.
Rebellion in Burma.
Round Table Conference (First Session).
1931. Irwin-Gandhi Pact.
Census of India.
Round Table Conference (Second Session).
an advanced history of INDIA
1931. PubUoationof the EoyalLabour Com^sion’s Report
1932. SuppresBion of the Congress. Ronnd Table Conference
(Third Session).
The Commnnal Award. The Poona Pa^t.
The Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun.
1933. Publication of the White Paper.
Joint Select Committee.
1934. Civil Disobedience Movement called oil.
The Indian Pactories Act, 1934.
The Bihar Earthquake. , t> r
Joint Committee on Indian Constitutional Reform.
Royal Indian Navy.
New Government of India Act.
193^ Death of King-Emperor
Accession and abdication of Edward Vlli.
Accession of George VI. . . i a
1937. 1st April-Inauguration of Provmoial Autonomy.
Interim Ministries.
Viceroy’s statement in June.
tongri Ministries in the majority of Provinces
(since July).
Federal Court. , „ . •. x
1939 Second World War begins (3rd Septeinber).
Relation of Congress Ministries and the beginnmg
of political deadlock in India.
1940 Lord Linlithgow’s offer of 8th August.
Iml enters the war (7th December). Pearl Harbom
incident.
1942. Fall of Singapore (15th February).
Evacuation of Rangoon (7th March).
Cripps Mission (22nd March-1 2th April).
Evacuation of Burma (29th April).
August Revolution and arrest of Indian Leaders.
1943. Lord Wavell Governor-General. r o
Lord Mountbatten Supreme Commander of South-
East Asia. , A - ry--
1944. Gandhi-Jinnah talks opened in Bombay on Sn Raja-
gopalachari’s proposals for solution of constitu-
tional deadlock (9th September).
Talks break down on Pakistan issue (27th September).
1945. Lord Wavell’s broadcast announcing British Go^jn-
ment’s determination to go ahead with the task oi
fitting India for self-government (19th September).
CHRONOLOGY 1067
1945. First trial of Indian National Army men opened
(5tli November).
1946. Mutiny in Royal Indian Navy (18th February).
Announcement in House of Commons of special
mission of Cabinet Ministers to India (19th
February).
Conference in Simla (2nd May).
Cabinet IMission’s plan announced (16th May).
Muslim League’s acceptance of plan (6th June).
Sikhs reject the plan (9th June).
Princes announce provisional acceptance of Cabinet
Mission’s proposals (10th June).
British Cabinet’s plan for Interim Government
announced (16th June).
Muslim League decides to participate in the Interim
Government; Congress amiounces acceptance of
the long-term part of 16th May plan, but refuses
invitation to participate in Interim Government
(25th June).
Caretaker Government of officials formed (29th June).
Communal disorders in Bombay Presidency (1st
July).
Muslim League withdraws its acceptance of Cabinet
Mission’s proposals and decides on a policy of direct
action (29th July).
Pandit Nehru invited to discuss proposals for forma-
tion of Interim Government (12th August).
Muslim League’s “ Direct Action Day ” leads to
outbreak of mob violence in Calcutta (i6th August).
Communal disturbances in Dacca (20th August).
Interim Government formed (2nd September).
Muslim League’s willingness to enter Interim Govern-
ment announced (12th October).
Serious disorders in Noakhali and Tippera districts
of Eastern Bengal (14th October).
Grave communal rioting in Bihar (26th October).
Muslim League members of Interim Government
sworn in (26th October).
Announcement that League’s refusal to join Con-
stituent Assembly would continue (14th November) .
1946. Indian leaders leave with Lord Wavell for London
for discussions with British Government (30 th
November).
1068
AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA
1946. Constituent Assembly’s first meeting (Oth December).
1947. British Government’s historic announcement of
transfer of power to ‘‘ responsible Indian hands ”
not later than June, 1948. Lord Mountbatten’s
appointment as Viceroy of India in succession to
Lord Wavell (20th February).
Communal rioting in Punjab continues (3rd March).
Disturbances in North-West Frontier Province.
Announcement of Lord Mountbatten’s plan for
Partition of India (3rd June).
Indian Independence Act (15th August).
1948. Death of Mahatma Gandlii (30th January).
^ri Chakra varti Raj agopalachari appointed Governor-
General (21st June).
Death of Qaid-i-Azam Jinnah (11th September).
Troops of Government of India enter Hyderabad
State (September).
1949. New Constitution of India adopted and signed (26th
November). <
1950. New Constitution comes into force (26th January).
1951. Beginning of Bhoodan Movement (voluntary offer of
land for distribution among the poor) .
Inauguration of First Five Year Plan.
1952. First General Election.
Accession of Queen Elizabeth II.
Chandernagore incorj^orated with India,
1953. New State of Andhra inaugurated.
Chandigarh inaugurated as capital of Punjab.
1954. Announcement of Panchsila as basis of India’s
foreign policy.
Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe, Yanaon incorporated
with India.
Pakistan to be a federation of two units, West
Pakistan and East Pakistan.
1955. Hindu Marriage Act (18th May).
1956. Nationalisation of insurance companies (19th January) .
Pakistan proclaimed an Islamic Republic (23rd March) .
Hindu Succession Act (17th June).
Atomic reactor in operation (4th August) .
Reorganisation of States (Noveml)or).
Inauguration of Second Five Year Plan,
Celebration of 2500th anniversaiy of death of
Gautama Buddha.
INDEX
A’azz-ud-din Khalid KhanI, 329
‘Abbas Mirza, 751
‘Abbas Shah, 468, 632
‘Abbas Shah II, 473
‘Abbasid Khalifahs, the, 326
Abdalls, the, 735
‘Abdul ‘Aziz, 464
‘Abdul ‘Aziz Kufi Fakhr-ud-din, 278
‘Abdul Baqi, 680
‘Abdul Hamid Lahori, 321, 472,
474. 477, 672, 581
‘Abdul Haqq Dihlawi, 581
‘Abdul Huq, 332
‘Abdul Khair, Shailih, 488
‘Abdul Latif, 458
‘Abdul Muzaffar ‘Ala-ud-din Bah-
man Shah, 326, 356, 357
‘Abdul Qadir Nasir-ud-din, 350
‘Abdullah (governor of Allahabad),
528, 629
‘Abdullah Jan (son of Shor ‘All), 833
‘Abdullah Khan (Sayyid), 569
‘Abdullah Khan Uzbeg, 454, 456
‘Abdullah, Muhammad, 1003
‘Abdullah Pani, 606
‘Abdullah Qutub Shah, 479
‘Abdullah Shah (of Golkunda), 476
‘Abdur-Nabi, 497
‘ Abdur Bahaman (son of Abul
Fazl), 464
‘Abdur Bahaman Chaghatai, 966
‘Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, 432,
455, 467, 468, 530, 580, 681
‘Abdur Rahim, Sir, 931
‘Abdur Rahman, Amir, 835, 837,
904
‘Abdur Razzaq, 368, 374, 375, 380
‘ Abdur Razzaq Lari, 506
Abhiras, the, 116, 119, 147
Abhisara, 65, 68
Abhyavartin, 25-26
Abolition of Slavery Bills, see Slavery,
Abolition of. Bills
Abors, the, 910
Abu, 185, 202, 245, 439
Abu Baqr, 335
Abu Ma’shar, 275
Abuhar, 325
Abul Fath, 514
Abul Fath Khan (Mahmud Bsgarha),
351, 352, 355, 360
Abul Fazl, 282, 317, 447, 450, 454,
457, 458, 460, 464, 469, 664, 566,
570, 573, 574, 578, 580, 586, 589
601
Abul Hasan (of Golkunda), 506
Abul Hasan (of Herat), 599
Abul-Muzaffar ‘Ala-ud-dIn Bahman
Shah (‘Ala-ud-din Hasan), 326,
356, 357
Ahwabs, the, 319, 393
Abyssinians, the, 375, 395, 495, 521
(slaves), 286, 345, 346, 467
Aehdryas, the, 205
Ache, Admiral d’, 666, 667, 668
Achjnita, 146
Achyuta Raya, 371, 377
Acworth, Sir William, 942
Adam, John, 730, 814
Adam, William, 819
Adam Khan, 447, 448, 460
Adams, Major Thomas, 672
AdbhiUasagara, the, 187
Aden, 924
AdhiJcdrin, the, 195
Adi Brahma Samaj, the, 879
Adi Qranth, the, 499
‘Adil Khan I (of Khandesh), 355
‘Adil Khan 11, 355
‘Add Khan III, 355
‘Adil Shah Sur, 403, 445, 446, 513
‘Adil Shahi dynasty, 363, 601
Adina, 344
Adina Beg Khan, 535, 548, 549
AdiSura, 167
Aditi, 38, 39
Aditya, 38
Aditya Chola, 174, 180
Adityadeva, 160
Adityasena, 152, 162
Adityavamsa, 216
Advaiia, 203
Advisory Planning Board, 973
Adyar (Madras), 886
Aelian, 134
Abu Sa‘id, 323, 349
INDEX
1070
Afghan Wars, 761-8, 761, 762, 763,
763, 766, 829, 831, 835, 904,
905
Afghanistan, 101, 104, 117, 118,
748-60, 829-38, 840, 903-5, 1002.
See also Afghans, the
Afghanpur, 316
Afghans, the, 181, 187. 228, 234, 276,
281, 289, 296, 336, 340, 341, 342,
343, 350, 386, 395, 397, 403, 425,
427, 428, 429, 425-47, 466, 471,
482, 483, 494, 495, 604, 531-36
passim, 539, 649, 550, 691, 692,
729, 736, 739, 746, 747, 831, 838.
See also Afghanistan
Afghans, Brihela, the, 629, 549. 691-4
Africa, 968
Africans, the, 212, 369, 412, 425,
517, 806
Afridis, the, 494, 495, 837, 903
Afzal Khan, 613, 514
Aga Boza, 599
Age of Consent Act, 887
Agnew, Vans, 745
Agni, the Pire-god, 24, 27, 35, 39,
41, 46
i|?r^296,’ 341, 342, 427, 428, 430,
436, 437, 441, 444, 446, 446, 449,
450, 463, 467, 468, 470, 472, 473,
477, 482, 483, 484, 485, 488, 491,
493, 607, 616, 616, 527, 529, 640,
542, 543, 566, 670, 671, 673, 578,
582, 584, 688, 591, 593, 636, 637,
702, 705, 760, 779
Canal, 873
Agriculture: early Vedic, 34; Aryan,
47;Magadhan, 79; Mauryan, 135;
Modem, 944-6, 976
Ahalya Bai, 679, 680
Ahavamalla, 189 iko
Ahichchhatra (Bohilkhand), 146, 158
AMmsd, doctrine of, 83, 84, 86, 89,
102 , 201 _
Ahmad (son of Ayaz), 316
Ahmad Chap Malik, 297, 298, 299
Ahmad Khan (of Mewat), 340
Ahmad Nizam Shah, 355
Ahmad Shah (of Delhi), 529
Ahmad Shah I (of Gujarat), 349,
351, 365, 358, 418
Ahmad Shah Abdali, 533, 63^6,
542, 648-53 passim, 735, 736, 748
Ahmad Shah Bahmanl, 358, 359
Ahmad Shah Durrani, 750, 760
Ahmad Shahi dynasty, the, 419
Ahmad Thanesvari, 410
Ahmad Ullah, 773
Ahmad Yadgar, 445
Ahmadahad, 351, 418, 434, 452, 482,
570, 574, 591, 637, 678, 810, 900,
Ahmadnagar, 179, 364, 372, 410, 422,
445, 456, 467. 471. 476, 476, 505,
508, 511, 513, 526, 565, 598, 702, 704
Ahoms, the, 847, 388, 389, 492, 493
Ahsan Shah, Jalal-ud-din, 325
Ahsanabad (Gulbarga), 356
Aihole inscription, 169 _
Aimal (son of Khan Jahan Lodi), 471
Aln-i-Akbarl, the, 461, 557, 668, 659,
580, 583
‘ Ain-ul-mulk, 303, 312, 313, 325
Aitamar Kachlan, 294
Aitamar Surliha, 294
Aitareya Brdhmana, the, 55, 56
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 648
Aiyangar, S. Srinivas, 383
Aianta caves, 242, 243, 253
hills, 704 _
Ajatafetru, 59-60, 61, 73, 86, 96
Ajit Singh, 501, 502, 504, 540, 541
Ajivikas, 86, 107, 110, 111, 139,
140 , 201
Aimer, 186, 277, 282, 428, 439, 447,
471, 486, 502, 603, 606, 640, 591,
1005
Akat Khan, 302, 807
Akbar. 363, 364, 356, 386, 402, 422,
425, 431, 432, 434, 436, 442, 444,
445, 446, 447-62, 466, 476, 490,
497, 499, 502-6 passim, 510, 631,
664, 556-64 passim, 669, 672-91
passim, 698, 699, 600, 601, 823
Akbar 11, 630. 728
Akbar Khan (son of Dost Muham-
mad), 756, 757
Akbar, Prince, 556
Ahbarndmdh, the, 680
Alimal Khan, 494
Ahshapatalddhihrita, the, 193
Al-Bailaman (Vallamandala), 182
Al-Biruni, 8, 121, 183, 196
Al-Hajjaj, 182
Al-Jurz (Gurjjara), 182
Al-Kikan, 181
Al-Masudi, 170
Al-Mu‘tasim, 290
‘Ala-ud-din (of Kashmir), 353
‘Ala-ud-din (brother-in-law of Nusrat
Shah), 347
‘Am-ud-din, Sultan (‘Ali Mardan
Khalji), 283
‘Ala-ud-din Ahmad Bahraani, 3o5
‘Ala-ud-din ‘Ali Shah, 343-4 _
‘Ala-ud-din II Bahrnani, 359, 360,
510
‘ Ala-ud-din Fxi'uz Shah, 345, 347
INDEX
‘Ala-ud-din Hasan Bahman SMh
(Abul Muzaffar), 326, 366, 357
‘ Ala-ud-dln Husain (the Ja/idn.'mz),277
‘ Ala-ud-din Husain Shah (of Bengal),
341, 346, 347, 388, 389, 401, 402-8,
418
‘Ala-ud-din Jani, 284
‘Ala-ud-din Khalji, 185, 189, 190,
297-311, 314, 315, 317, 320, 323,
330, 348, 351, 355, 392, 393, 394,
398, 399, 402, 409, 410, 414, 442
‘Ala-ud-din Ma'sud, 287
‘ Aldl Darwaza, the, 414
‘Alais, the, 313
‘Alam Khan, 342, 426, 427
‘Alam Shah, 517
‘Alam Shah I (Bahadur Shah of
Delhi), 503, 504
‘Alam Shah 11 (‘All Gauhar), 630,
635, 553, 670, 672, 673, 676, 680,
691, 704, 728
‘ Alam Shah Sayjdd, 339, 340, 344
‘Alamchand, 639
‘Alamglr II, 629, 630, 535
‘ Alamglrnamdh, the, 581
Alawal, 569
Albuquerque, 370, 630
Alexander of Epirus, 106
Alexander the Great, 65-8, 69, 81, 82,
83, 97, 98, 100, 212, 300, 301, 460, 669
Alexandria, 142, 212, 375, 717
‘All ‘Adil Shah I, 364
‘All Ambar Jaini, Shaikh, 444
‘All Beg, 300
‘All Gauhar, see ‘Alam Shah 11
‘All Husain (of the Carnatic), 719
‘All Jah, 717
‘All Mardan Khalji, 283
‘All Mardan Bdian (governor of
Qandahar), 473, 474, 478, 671
‘Ali Masjid, 494, 834
‘Ali, Muhammad, 985
‘All Muhammad Ruhela, 692
‘Ali Naql, 484
‘ Ali Quli Beg Istajhi, 465
‘All Shah (of Kashmir), 354
‘Ali, Shaukat, 985
‘Aligarh, 543, 550
Movement, 957
— ; — University, 896-7, 961
‘Alim ‘Ali Sayyid, 637
‘Alinagar, Treaty of, 660, 661
‘Alivardi Klian, 639, 683, 655, 656,
_659, 662, 665, 682, 806, 807
‘ Aliwal, 743
Allahabad, 145, 146, 158, 169, 162,
186, 191, 193, 404, 457, 516, 528,
538, 589, 692, 772, 774, 774, 776,
777, 782, 803, 804, 821, 931
1071
Allahabad, Pillar Inscription, 145, 146
, Treaty of, 673, 790
All-India Women’s Conference, 979
All Parties Convention (1928), 987
Almora, 722, 723
Alompra (Burman), 730
Alor, 182
Alp Khan (governor of Gujarat), 304
Alp Khan (of Malwa), see Hushang
Shah
Alphabets, Indian, 214, 230
Alptigin (of Ghazni), 182
Alptigln, General (Amir lOian), 291,
_ 292
Alvars, the, 205
Alwar, 433, 846
Ainalguzar, the, 562
‘ Amal-i-Sdlih, the, 681
Amanullah, King of Afghanistan,
904-5
Amar Singh (of Mewar), 461, 466
Amar Singh Thapa, 722
Amaravati, 115, 230, 236
sculpture, 237
Amardas, Guru, 499
Amarkot, 444, 569, 763
Amatya, the, 193, 618
Amba, 96
Ambala, 742, 777, 832
Ambashthas, the, 65
Ambedkar, Dr., 921, 998
Amber, 428, 640
Ambhi, 66, 68, 81, 100
Amboyna, 631, 633
Ambur, 650, 687
America, 653, 684, 716, 808, 885, 886,
949, 960, 967, 969, 971, 977, 979
Amherst, Lord, 730, 731, 733, 817
Amiens, Peace of, 717
Amils, the, 395, 795
AmHn, the, 440-1
Amin Khan (governor of Afghanis-
tan), 494
Amin Khan Wazir, 537
Aminai Qazwini, 581
Amir ‘Ali Barid, 362, 365
Amir Habibullah, 904-5
Amir Husain (governor of Jedda),
352
Amlr-i-Akhur, the, 279
Amlr-i-'Behr, the, 393
Amir Khan (Alptigin), 291, 292
Amir Khan (of Tonk), 707, 708,
709, 725, 726, 727
ArnTr Khusrav, 276, 292, 302, 303,
305, 306, 307, 310, 314, 315, 317,
391, 396, 397, 399, 402, 409, 410
Amir Timur, see Timur
Amir Turghay, 336
1072
INDEX
Amlr-ul-XJmara, see Iltutmish
‘Amxr ‘Umar, 307
Amitraghdta, 102
Amitroehates (Bindusara), 133
Amoghavarsha I, 179, 192, 202
Ampthill, Lord, 904
Amrakarddava, 149
Amritsar, 499, 706, 735, 738, 744,
957, 984
Amroha, 300
Smuldmndlyadd, the, 377, 379
Anandamayl (of Bengal), 584
Anandapala, 183
Anandpur, 500
Anantavarman Choda Ganga, 190,
383
Anarkarll, 466
Andaman Islands, 11, 1005
Anderson, Lieut., 745
Andhi'as, the, 42, 56, 104, 115, 165,
172, 178, 196, 385
Andkhui, 280
Andrews, C. F., 881, 882
Anegundl, 366
Anga, 41, 66, 59. 72, 87
Angad, Guru, 499
Angirases, the, 36
Angkor Thom (Va^o-dharapura),
217
Angkor "Vat, 217, 221
Anglo-Afghan Wars, 751-8, 761, 762,
763, 766, 829, 831, 835, 904, 905
Anglo-Burmese Wars, 730-5, 748,
774, 865
Anglo-Indian community, 892, 919,
1010
Anglo-Maratha Wars, 676-9, 698-
705, 706-9, 785
Anglo-Mysore Wars, 682-8, 711-14
Anglo- Oriental College, 896-7
Anglo-Oudh Treaty, 691
Anglo-Sikh Wars, 741-8
Angrias, the, 520, 548, 640
Annam, 215, 216, 240, 248
Antialkidas, 117, 141
Antigonos, 106
Antiochos I Soter, 103, 133
Antiochos II Theos, 104, 106, 111
Antiochos III, the Great, 114
Anuruddha, 61
Anus, the, 26, 27
Anwar-ud-dln, 646, 647, 648, 649, 650
Aornos, 65-6, 68
Apdchyas, the, 55
Apala, SI
Aparajita Pallava, 174, 180
Aparanta, Buddhism in, 140
Apararka, 192
Appa Saheb, 708, 709
Appar, 203
Ara inscription, 122
Arabia, 194, 338, 354, 375, 712, 805
Arabian Sea, 212
Arabic, 354, 401, 580, 816, 817, 818
Arabs, the, 170, 171, 178, 181, 212,
213, 219, 275, 369, 395, 410, 631,
632
in Sind, 275
Arakan, 485, 493, 564, 730, 731, 732,
Aram Baksh, 282-3
Aranyakas, the, 52-3
Arasani, 332
Aravidus, the, 373, 378, 610
Archaeological Survey, 237, 419, 966
Architecture, see Art
Arcot, 648, 646, 650, 651, 652, 679,
684, 690 ; Nawabs of, genealogical
table 1019
Argaon, 702
Arhats, 46, 140
Arif, the slave, 477
Arikera, 687
Aristotle, 301
Ariz, the, 290
Arjan Mai, Guru, 464, 465, 499, 600
Arjuna (in the Emndyana), 92-5
Arjuna (ArunaSva), 161-2
Arjuna (of Gujarat), 185
Arkali Khan, 299
Armagaon, 637
Armenians, the, 806
Armies: Ajyan, 30; Magadhan, 73;
Mauryan, 128; Gupta, 194;Khalji,
308; Tughluq, 333; Vijayanagar,
382; Turko- Afghan, 395, 442;
Maratha, 520, 647; Afghan, 560;
Mughul, 656, 664-5; British In-
dian, 782, 815, 873-4, 930, 936-9,
968, 969-70; Indian State Forces,
938, 970
Arms Act, 891, 893
Amo, 969
Arnold, Sir E., 769
Arras, 677
Arrian, 124, 133
Arsakos, the, 118
Art and Architecture : Ancient, 36,
224-43 ; Deccan (Upper) 250 ;
Medieval, 244, 253; Modern, 975;
Mughul, 684-96; Mysore, 251-2;
North and South India, 244-60;
Turko- Afghan, 410-22; Vijaya-
nagar, 377; see also Artists, Monu-
ments and Music
Artists: in the Mughul court, 596-
601;. Modern Indian, 966-7
Aruna^va (Arjuna), 162
INDEX
1073
Aruni, 42
Arya Samaj, the, 883-5, 955, 959,
_ 963
Aryabhata, 149, 207
Aryadeva, 142
Aryans, the, 4, 13, 14, 22, 23, 24-40,
133, 211
Aryavarta, 5, 114, 146, 148, 164
Asad, 463
Asad Khan (of Bijapnr), 372,
403
Asad Khan (Irani), 531
Asadullah (of Birbhum), 583
Asaf Jah, see Nizam-ul-mulk Asaf
Jah
Asaf Khan (governor of Kara), 448,
_ 450
Asaf Edian (brother of Nur Jahan),
_ 466, 469, 470, 471
Asaf-ud-daulah, 695, 696, 697
Asandivat, 42
Asahga, 201
Asawal (Ahmadabad), 351
Ashtapradhan, the, 618
Ashti, 709
Asia, 186, 212, 223, 234, 237, 276,
357, 397, 412, 421, 431, 454, 468,
474, 484, 492, 557, 572, 675,
729, 730, 761, 836, 868
Asian Relations Conference (1947),
971
Asiatic Review, 969
Asiatic Society of Bengal, the, 816,
964
Asirgarh, 351, 355, 448, 456, 476,
606, 702, 725
‘Askarl, 432, 433, 434, 444
A4maka, 56
Afioka, 37, 68, 68, 87, 88, 90, 99,
100, 101, 102, 103-10, 111, 112,
124, 126, 126, 127, 128, 129.
130, 131, 133, 134, 139, 140, 141,
148, 178, 212, 224, 226, 228, 230,
231, 237, 238, 332, 440
Airamaa, the, 33, 132
Assam, 166, 187, 347, 388, 400, 438,
492, 493, 600, 729, 731, 732, 801,
842, 876, 910, 918, 924, 928, 963,
967, 993, 1005
Assaye, 702
Astadiggajm (Telegu), the, 377
Astronomy, College of, 189, 198
Aivaghosha, 122, 142
ASvakas, the, 64
A^valayana, 92
Asvamediia, rite of, see Horse-Sacri-
fice
Aivamedka Parva, the, 408
A^vapati, 166
A^vatthama, 216
Alvins, the, 39
Atdla Masjid, the, 348
Atchison, Sir O., 775
Atharva Veda, the, 29, 42, 44, 50,
52, 74, 481, 580
Athavane, the, 381
Athenaios, 133
Athens, 142
Atisa Dlpankara, 168, 214
Atman, 63
Atnara, 67
Atri, 36
Attack, 494, 536, 548, 735, 739
Attlee, C. R., 992
Auchinleck, Gen., 969
Auckland, Lord, 750-8 passim, 761,
762, 766, 770, 821
Augustus, 116, 212
Aungier, Gerald, 638
Aurangabad, 478, 479, 702
Aurangzeb, 364, 366, 465, 467, 468,
473, 474, 477-87, 491-610, 527,
529, 531, 637, 538, 540, 542. 543,
548, 655-67 passim, 569, 572,
676, 676, 679, 681, 683, 684, 596,
600, 601, 639, 641
Austen, Admiral, 734
Australia, gold in, 866
Australian India Association, 972
Austrian Succession, War of, 646,
648, 654
Austrians, 903
Ava, 73h 732, 733
Avamukta, 147
Avanti, 56, 57, 60, 61, 101, 169
Avantivarman (Maukhari), 155,
163
Avatdras, the, 60
Axis, 969
AyodJiya, 67, 92, 93, 175
A 3 nib Khan, 835
Azad, Maulana Abul Kalam, 985
Azad Hind Fouz, 991, 992
Azadpur, see Ikdala
‘ A‘ zam-i-Humayun Lodi, 340
‘A‘zam Shah (son of Aurangzeb),
602, 603, 607, 627, 643
Azari, Shaikh, 368
Azes I, 118
Azes II, 118, 119
Aziiises, 118
‘Azim-ud-daulah, 719
* Azim us-Shan, 527, 635
‘Azimullah Khan, 773
‘Aziz (son of Khan Jahan Lodi),
, 471 . ■ • • . .
* Aziz-ud-din (* Alamgir II), 629,
630, 636
1074 INDEX
Babur, 281, 342, 362, 399, 403, 422,
425-32, 434, 436, 436, 438, 444,
449, 531, 554, 564, 580, 584,
598
, Memoirs of, 431, 432, 569, 584
Babylon, 47, 67, 68, 81, 97, 99, 101,
211, 282
Bachai-i-Saqqao, 905
Bactria, 117, 234
Badakshan, 474, 477, 531
Badal (Rajput), 302
BadamI, 176, 205, 250, 261, 681
Badan Singh (Jat), 542
Badarayana, 203
Badaun, 279, 283, 285, 307, 309, 340
Badauni, 284, 315, 318, 319, 320,
323, 326, 327, 447, 448, 458, 459,
460, 671, 580
Baden-Powell, Lord, 956
Badli Sari, 777
Badr-i-Chach, 318
Badrinath, 203
B§^h, 243, 253
Baghat, 768
Baghdad, 179, 276, 283, 288, 290,
391, 409
Baghelkhand, 179, 180
Baglana, 352, 477, 503, 617
Bahadur Khan, 486, 487
Bahadur Shah I (of Delhi), 503, 504
Bahadur Shah II (of Delhi), 630, 531,
773, 775, 777, 778
Bahadur Shah (of Gujarat), 350,
353, 432, 433, 434, 437, 537,
640, 641, 683
Bahadurgarh, 623
Bahar lOian Lohani, 436
Baharimad, 183
Baha-ud-din Gurshasp, 324
Bahawalpur, 754
Bahman, son of Isfandiyar, 356
Bahmanabad, 182
BahmanI dynasty, the, 116, 326,
349, 356-63, 365, 367, 368, 385,
410, 420, 421, 510, 585; genealogical
table, 607
Bahraieh, 337
Bahram Aiba (Kishlu Khan), 325
Bahrain IChan (Tartar Khan), 328, 343
Bahram Shah, 276
Bahur, 198
Baillie, Colonel William, 684
Bairam Khan, 446, 446, 447, 560
Baird, Sir David, 717
Baiza Bai, Maharanl, 766
Bajaur, 117, 454
Baji Rao I, 643, 644, 645, 546, 647, 710
Baji Bao II, 698, 699, 700, 707, 708,
709, 769, 772
Bajpai, Shrl Ram, 956
Bajwara, 435
Bakarai, 211
Bakliala, 436
Bakshl, the, 393, 567
Bala Hissar (Kabul), the, 756, 757,
759
Baladitya (Narasiihha Gupta), 151
Balaghat (Deccan), 479
Balaji II (Nana Saheb, Balaji Baji
Rao), 546-8, 549, 552
Balaji Viswanath, 543, 644
Balaputradeva, 166
Balaram Seth, 706
Balasore, 638, 640, 703
Balavarman, 146
Balban Ghiyas-ud-din, 279, 288-94,
295, 310, 314, 343, 394, 409
Baldwin, Stanley (Earl Baldwin), 920
Balhara (Vallabharaja), the, 179
Balhilia-Pratipiya, 42
Bali, 215, 219, 222
Balkh, 474, 476, 477, 495, 750
Ballalasena, 187, 188, 192
Baloch tribes, the, 729
Baloehpur, 468
Baluchistan, 3, 15, 23, 101, 181,
454, 764, 760, 763, 990, 992
Ban Pal, Ran a, 402
Bana, 111, 126, 136, 148, 149, 166,
160, 169, 181, 201, 203. 206. 207, 210
Banavasi, 116, 172
Banda, 641, 735
Bandagan-i-Khas, the, 399
Bandhupalita, 110
Bandula (Burman), 731
Banerjea, Surendranath, 862, 889-90,
891, 892, 893, 980, 981
Banerjee, Sir Gurudas, 960
Bangad, 965
Bangalore, 687
Bani (Bhandi), 166
Banian, 284
Bankideva-Alupendra, 304
Banswara, 726
Bantam, 637, 643
Bar Nadi, river, 492
Bard Sana Masjid, the, 347, 418
Barabar hills, 228
Barabudur, 219, 220, 221
Barakzais, the, 749, 760, 763, 754;
genealogical table, 1021
Baramahal district, 688, 801
Barari Ghat, 549
Barasat (Bengal), 772
Barbak Shah, Rukn-ud-din, 345
Earbak Shah Lodi, 340, 341, 348
Barbak Shah, Sultan Shahzada, 346
Barbarike, 2il
INDEX
1075
Barbary, 495
Barbosa, E., 374, 375, 379, 397
Bardoli, 986
Bareilly, 772, 776, 778
Bargl-giri, 467
Barba, the Sayyids of, 631
Barid Shahi dynasty, 363, 365
Barker, Sir Robert, 692, 693
Barlas Turks, the, 336
Barlow, Sir George, 706, 722
Barnett, Commodore Curtis, 647
Barni, Zia-ud-din, 279, 289, 290,
292, 296, 297, 298, 301, 307, 309,
310, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316. 317,
318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 324, 327,
409, 410
Baroda, 526, 546, 637, 707, 708,
842, 843, 846, 871, 967, 1000
Barrackpore, 733, 775
Barthema, L. di, 397, 398
Bartoli, F., 459
Barwas (Broach), 182
Barwell, Richard, 785
Barygaza, 211
Basalat Jang, 689
Basava, 202, 203
Basawan (artist), 599
Basra, 495, 806
Bassein, 6i7, 546, 575, 632, 677,
678, 700
, Treaty of, 700, 701, 702
Bassein (Burma), 734
Basti district, 722
Bastille, the, 669
Basu, B. N., 911
Batai, 478
Batavia, 633, 716
Bayana, 337, 428
Bayazid (the Mehdi), 454
Bayazid (son of Sulaiman KararanI),
386
Bayazid Shah (of Bengal), 345
Bayon, temple of, 217
Baz Bahadur (of Malwa), 350, 420,
448, 449, 601
Beaconsfleld, Lord, see Disraeli
Beas, river, 744
Becher, Richard, 675
Beck, Mr, 897, 898
Bedara (Biderra), 633, 670
Bednore, 648, 682
Bednur (Keladi), 374
Begams of Oudh, case of the,
695-7, 764
Begara, the, 381
Belgaum, 517
Belgium, 968
Bellary district, 11, 517
Benaras, 1000
Benares, 77, 81, 184, 186, 187, 188,
283, 344, 404, 405, 482, 516, 538,
570, 672, 582, 694-5, 697, 720, 776,
777, 803, 810, 816, 852, 887
, Treaty of, 676, 692, 693, 694, 695
, University of, 961, 965
Bengal : under Palas, 164-9, 170, 191;
under later Palas and Senas, 186,
187-8, 277; under Guptas, 194;
Jainism in, 201, 202; Buddhism
in, 219; under Turko -Afghans,
279, 283, 284, 285, 286, 291, 295,
315, 316, 320, 325, 328, 329, 332,
337, 341, 343-7, 383, 386, 388,
389, 402, 437, 438, 443, 446;
under Mughuls, 425, 429, 437,
452, 463, 466, 468, 471, 482, 485,
493, 607, 629, 661, 564, 668, 571,
574, 676; Subahdars of, 536,
538-9; Portuguese in, 471-2, 805;
Dutch in, 634, 635, 805, 806;
East India Company’s factories in,
638, 639, 640, 641, 642, 643, 646,
649, 806, 806-9; French in, 643,
666, 805; establishment of Bi’itish
supremacy in, 669-75, 682,704,718,
719, 720, 724, 728, 731, 764, 784;
Afghan threat to, 748, 749;
industry and trade, 216, 397, 398,
399, 571, 672, 673, 674, 638,
806-10, 900; literature, 407, 410,
682, 683, 684, 813, 817, 964; art
and architecture, 412, 417, 600;
revenue system, 661, 790, 791-4,
809; British administration of,
784, 788, 789, 790-801, 802, 803,
816, 861, 853, 869, 862, 869, 873,
874, 875, 913, 914, 918, 924, 926,
928, 947, 948, 961, 974, 975, 980ff,
993, 995 ; English education in, 816,
817, 818, 819, 961 ; social and
religious reform in, 822, 878, 879,
881. 974 ; partition of, 876, 910, 926,
928, 980-1, 995 ; famine of 1943, 975
Kings of, 605-6
Nawabs of, 1020
Presidency of, 928
, West, 1005, 1008
Bengali language and literature, 346,
407, 408, 410, 669, 682, 583, 684,
813, 817, 964
Benson, Colonel, 732
Bentinck, Lord William, 714, 739,
761, 760, 765, 769, 773, 800, 803,
818, 825, 826
Berar, 111, 114, 116, 172, 352, 356,
369, 363, 372, 422, 445, 456, 475,
477, 616, 526, 544, 546, 682, 684,
769, 947, 1006
1076
INDEX
Berhampore, 775
Bering Strait, 751
Berlin, Treaty of, 834, 836
Bernier, BranQois, 487, 488, 573, o74,
Besant, Annie, 886-7, 958, 983
Besnagar, 114, 141, 1^6 238
Best, Captain Thomas, 636
Bewndgel Sir WUliam, 432, 469, 719
Bezwada, 369
Bhadrabahu, 87, 141
Bhadrasala, 101 _
Bhagadattas (of Kamarupa), the, Ib^
Bhagavad Oita, the, 84, 9 d, 96, 200,
203, 579
Bhagavat, 107
BMgavata Parana, the, 205, 408
Bhagavatas (or Vaishnavas),
69, 83, 84, 9o, 140, 141, 199, ^01,
205 , , ini
Bhagu (of the Yusufzais), 494
Bhagwan Das, 449, 454, 581
Bhajan, 406
Bhakkar, 444
ia‘SSfthf.1.,88,83,199,200,
205, 207, 403, 879
Bhaktiratndkar, the, 583
Bhandarkar, Dr., 405
Bhana Mai, Rai, 402
Bhandi, 166, 157, 191
Bhanu-dova, 304
Bhanuchandi-a Upadhayya, 458
^BMr^tltihksa Samsodhalca Mandala,
the, 966
Bharata, 3, 7, 93
Bharata-Varsha, 3, 7
Bharatas, the, 26, 27, 28, 29, 4-
Bharatpur, 543, 704, 705, 733, 841
Bharavi, 207, 210
Bhargas, the, 57
Bharhut, 230, 231, 234, 23o, -3/
Bhartrihari, 207
Bhasa, 60
Bhasldiar Pandit, 539
Bhaskara, 210
Bhaskaracharya, 189 198
Bhaskaravarman, 157, 158, 159, lo-
Bhatgaon (Nepal). 389, 390
Bhatinda, 290, 339
Bhatkal, 370, 576
Bhatnair, 290
Bhatrihari, 210
Bhattanarayana, 210
Bhattasali, Dr., 345
BJmttikdvya, the, 207
Bhatiiria, 344
Bhavabhuti, 163, 207, 210
Bhillama, 189
Bhils, the, 13, 47, 960
Bhilsa, 284, 297, 298
Bhima I (of Gujarat), 18a
Bhima (Kaivarta), 168
Bhima (Shalii), 171, 183
Bhimasena, 94 _ _
Bhimdev II (of Gujarat), 273
Bhimsen, 505, 526, 580
Bhimsen Burhaupuri, 479
Bhinmal (Broach), 182
Bhishma, 95
Bhitargaon, 243
Bhitari seal inscription, lei
Bhiwandl, 513 . ./.o
Bhogavarman Maukhan, 162
Bhoi dynasty, the, 385
Bhoja (of Dhara), 210
Bhoia (of Malwa), 185, 186, ^8
Bhoja I (of Kanauj), 161, 163, 170,
179, 186, 192
Bhoja II, 170
Ehojas, the, 55, 66
Bhojpur, 289
Bhongir, 356 , . , , n «
Bhonslas, genealogical tables, 614,
BhopM, 448, 546, 727, 776, 1000, 1005
, Begam of, 958
Bhotiyas, the, 196
Bhotta-vishti, 194
Bhrigukacheha, 81
Bhuiyas, the, 388
Bhujyu, 35
Bhukti, the, 195
Bhutan, 397, 723, 909
Bhutiyas, the, 14
Bhuvaneswar, 244
Bibigarh (Cawnpore), 777
Bible, the, 481, 816
Bidar, 356, 358, 359, 360, 362 365
369, 386, 420, 445, 476, 480, o48
Bihar, 144. 146, 186, 187, 197, 228,
277 279 296, 337, 341, 342, 429,
430, 436, 437, 462, 637, 539, 561,
571, 572, 573, 634, 638, 670, 673,
720, 739, 748, 776, 790, 801, 824,
869, 871, 875, 913, 918, 924, 928,
’ 940, 948, 954, 959, 974, 994, 1005,
Bih5?f Mall, Raja (of Amber), 449
Bihzad (of Herat), 698 ,
Bijapur, 175, 179, 363, 364 36.5,
369, 370, 372, 374, 410, 412, 421,
455, 456, 457, 475, 476, 479, 480,
486 491, 505, 611, 512, 513, 51.5,
619, 621, 627, 637, 648, 698, 600
INDEX
Bijjala Kalachurya, 189, 202, 203
Bikaner, 450, 726
Bilaspur, 1005
Bilgrami, Syed Husain, 960
Bilhana, 189, 210
Bilhapur, 645
Bimbisara, 58-9, 61, 63, 144
Bindusara, 99, 102-3, 112, 133, 140
Bir Narayan, 448
Bir Singh Bundela, 464, 471
Birbal, Kavi Priya, 681
Birkenhead, Lord, 920, 983
Bishan Das, 599
Bisnaga (Vijayanagar), 377
Biswa Simha, 388
Bithal Nath, 582
Bithux, 709, 776
Bitikchl, the, 662
Biyana, 301, 335, 341, 671, 584, 637
Black Hole of Calcutta, the, 657, 658
Blavatsky, Madame, 886
Blunt, W, S., 865
Board of Control, 690, 698, 701, 781,
787, 788, 789, 814, 815, 819, 821,
847, 848, 850, 854, 856
Board of Revenue, 772
Bodawpaya (Burma), 730
Bodh-Gaya, 88, 105, 145, 230, 231,
234, 237
Bodhisatva, 235
Bohgaz Keui, 25, 27
Bogle, George, 907
Boigne, Benoit de, 680
Bolan Pass, the, 754, 759
Bolshevism, 838, 905
Bombay, 617, 632, 634, 636, 637,
638, 639, 640, 642, 649, 676, 677,
678, 684, 688, 742, 762, 768, 773,
776, 785, 787, 788, 789, 802, 803,
804, 806, 819, 821, 830, 851, 853,
858, 861, 862-3, 870, 871, 873,
874, 878, 881, 899, 900, 901, 913,
914, 918, 920, 923, 924, 931, 933,
935, 943, 948, 959, 966, 967, 985,
999, 1000, 1001, 1005, 1008
Industrial Relations Act (1946),
974
School of Art, 966
Bombay-Burma Trading Corporation,
839, 840
Bombay Telegraph, 777
Bonnerjea, W, C., 892
Boone, Charles, 642
Bopadeva, 189
Borneo, 215, 219
Boscawen, Admiral Edward, 648, 649
Bose, Sir J. C., 966
Bose, Nandalal, 966
Bose, Rajnarayan, 896
1077
Bose, Subhas Chandra, 989, 991, 992
Botanical Survey of India, 966
Boughton, Gabriel, 477
Boy Scouts, Indian, 956, 960
Bradlaugh, Charles, 895
Brahma, 39, 60, 53, 78, 82, 134
Brahma Sabha, the, 877
Brahma Samaj, the, 813, 877-80, 881,
882, 884, 885, 955, 963
Brahma Sutras, the, 203
Brahmadeva, 175
Brahmajit Gaur, 442
Brahmana caste, the, 32, 33, 43, 44,
46, 58, 71, 72, 78, 79, 80, S3, 89,
91, 107, 109. Ill, 114, 129, 132,
135, 141, 164, 169, 191, 194, 195,
201, 216, 354, 371, 376, 380, 410,
481, 500, 516, 521
Brahmanapala, 183
Brahmamis, the Vedic, 62
Brahmanaspati, 39
Brahmanism, 78, 81-4, 139, 199, 202,
213, 215, 240, 260, 251, 253, 382,
459, 877
Bralunapala, 191
Brahmaputra valley, the, 388, 455,
492, 727, 729
Brahuis, the, 23
Braithwaite, Colonel, 684
Brajabhdshd, 407, 682
Brajabhumi (Jumna valley), 681
Brasyer, Captain, 776
Brayne, F. L., 947
Brazil, 632
Bribu, 35
Bright, John, 891
Brihaddevatd, the, 38
Bj-ihadratha, 110, 111, 112
Brihaspati, 207
Brihaspatimitra, 116
Brihatphalayanas, the, 172
Brindavan, 404
Brindavan Das, 582
British Administration up to the
Mutiny, 784^804; Central, 784-90;
Provincial, 790-8
Dominions, 804
British Government, the (Home
Government), 812-26 passim; see
also Part III, Book II, Modern
India, 829 sqq.
British Museum, 236
Broach, 137, 143, 157, 181, 182. 351,
676, 637, 677, 678, 704
Broadfoot, Lieut. W., 756
Broadfoot, Major, 742, 757
Brown, Percy, 684, 600
Brydon, Dr., 757
Budaun, 283. 286
1078
INDEX
Buddewal, 743
Buddha, Gautama, 58, 59, 60, 84, 8o,
86. 87-9, 91, 93, 95, 140, 201, 379
Buddhism, 87-91, 194, 201-2; the
scriptures of, 88-91, 142; Hlnayana
and Mdhayana, 140
— — patronised by: A6oka, 105, 106,
107, 108, 1 1 1, 140 ; distant countries,
212-16, 216; the Greeks, 117, 143;
Harsha, 159-60; Kanishka, 121-2;
the Mauryas, 139; the Palas, 169;
the ^ailendras, 219. Seealso Buddha,
Gautama ■ ,
Buddhist art, 219, 221, 231, 231-4,
236, 237, 240, 242, 263, 254,
410, 698
Budha Gupta, 151, 153, 184
Bughra Khan, 290, 291, 292
Buhler, J. G., 207
Buhlul Khan Lodi, 339, 340, 348,
Bukhara. 409. 475. 495, 749, 829, 831
Bukka I, 190, 366, 367
Bukka II, 367
Buland Darwdza, the, 588
Bulandshahr district, 146
Bundelas, the, 471, 498
Bundelkhand, 185, 186, 277, 279,
349, 433, 450, 498, 702, 706, 727,
779, 943
Bundi, 704, 706, 726
Buner, 454
Buran (Pindarl), 724
Burdwan, 465, 670, 636, 640, 670
Burgess, Dr., 419
Burhdn-i-Ma'dsir, the, 366, 357,
368, 359, 360, 361, 372
Burhan Nizam Shah, 364, 372
Burhanpur, 352, 441, 466, 505,
570, 671, 672, 702
Burhan'-ud-din, 508
Burke, Edmund, 690, 692, 693, 78<
Burma, 3, 6, 217, 375, 492, 679, 729,
730-5, 838-40, 910, 913, 918, 924,
948, 960, 969, 970, 990
Burmese Wars, 730—5, 748, 774,
Burnes, Sir Alexander, 752, 754,
756, 760
Burnes, Charles, 756
Burney, Major Henry, 732
Burr, Colonel, 709
Busliire, 749
Bussorah, 288
Bussy, Marquis de, 548, 650, 653,
666, 667, 716
Butler, Sir Harcourt, 926, 961
Butwal, 722
Buxar, 672, 673, 748
Cabinet Mission, 992-3, 997, 998
Cabral, Pedro, 631
Cachar, 732, 765
Caillaud, Colonel John, 671
Cairo, 409, 717
Calcutta. 231, 641, 642, 643, 655-662
passim, 666, 669, 670, 671, 677,
696, 706, 713, 732, 733, 755, 768,
770 774, 785, 790-804 passim,
816* 821, 824, 825. 861-3, 869,
890-4 passim, 899, 900, 914, 930,
931, 933, 935, 966, 981, 984, 985,
University, 816, 818, 821, 884,
892, 961, 965
Calicut, 375, 575, 629, 630
California, gold in, 866
Caliphs, see Khalifahs, the
Camac, General Jacob, 678
Cambay, 351, 352, 434, 575
Cambodia, 215, 217, 240, 248
Campbell, Sir Archibald, 731, 732
Campbell, Sir Colin, 777, 778, 779,
826
Canada, 888, 918
Canals, irrigation, 873, 899, 944.
See also Irrigation
Sraio?"™, 778,7,9.
781, 850, 852
Cape Colony, 743
Cape of Good Hope, 352, 631
Carey, William, 816, 817
Carnatic, the, 517, 524, 642, 645-54,
655, 656, 661, 666-9, 676, 682,
683, 684, 686, 690-1. 718-19, 720,
727, 764, 769, 841
Wars, 645-54, 666-9
Caron, Francois, 643
Carpenter, Dr., 405
Cartier, John, 577, 675
Cartridges, greased, 775
Caspian Sea, 212, 213, 751
Cassimbazar, 638, 656, 657, 731,
806
Cassino, Monte, 969
Caste system, 46, 78-9, 131, 132,
195, 196, 813
Castlereagh, Lord, 701, 704, 706
Catherine of Braganza, 634, 637
Catholic Emancipation Act, 819
Caucasus, the, 387
Cavagnai'i, Sir L., 835
CqiVBs, AtokuitJ, 237; Chaitya,
Cawnpore, 538, 697, 776, 777, 779,
931, 944, 954
Celebes, 219, 240
Census of 1931, Indian, 6
Central Advisory Board, 978-9
INDEX 1079
Central Asia, 182, 211, 213, 280,
284, 292, 324, 425, 431, 631, 573,
723, 806, 829, 831, 833, 903, 908
Central Banking Enquiry Com-
mittee, 946
Central Hindu College, Benares, 887
Central India, 295, 298, 438, 448,
465, 507, 626, 671, 634, 678,
723, 726-8_, 776, 778, 779, 871
Central Provinces, the, 445, 448, 850,
870, 918, 924, 943, 947, 954, 999,
1001, 1005
Ceylon, 81, 93, 107, 116, 136, 140,
145, 148, 173, 175, 188, 221, 243,
368, 632, 633
, Chronicles of, 58, 60-1, 62, 86,
88, 90, 99, 102
Chabaspur, 672
Chach, 182
Ohaghatai, 323, 324, 425
Chdhelgan, the, 288
Chain of Justice, Jahangir’s, 463, 469
Chait Singh (of Benares), 694-5,
696, 764
Chaitanya, 385, 403, 404, 405, 582-3,
879
Chaitanya Bhagavata, the, 582
Chaitanya Mangal, the, 682, 583
ChaUanyadiaritamitra, the, 404, 582
Chaitya caves, 237-8
Chakan fort, 614
Chakdarra, 902
Chakks, the, 364
Chakrapani, 1 68
Chakrayudha, 166, 170, 179
Chalukyas, the, 155, 167, 158, 170,
173-8, 179, 180, 182, 188, 189,
202, 205, 207, 365; genealogical
tables, 258, 259, 261
Chambal, river, 483, 546, 706, 708,
725, 766
Chamber of Princes, the, 926, 997,
998
Chamberlain, Neville, 777
Champa (Indo-China), 59, 76, 81,
86, 216, 219
Champaner (Muhammadabad), 352,
408,434
Champat Rai, 498
Champion, Colonel Alexander, 692
Chamunda Ray, 251
Clianakya, see Kautilya
Chand Bibi, 364, 456
Chand Khan (of Gujarat), 350
Chanda Pradyota Mahasena, see
Pradyota (of Avanti)
Chanda Sahib, 646, 650, 652
Chandahaudika, the, 170
Chandala caste, 196
Chandellas, the, 170, 171, 183, 185,
186 253, 277
Chanderi, 303, 341, 350, 428, 429
Chandemagore, 643, 661, 666, 805,
824
Chandi Devi, 583
Chandidis, 407
Chandi-mangal, the, 680
Chandra, 146, 147
Chandradeva, 186
Chandragiri, 373. 637
Chandra Gupta I, 144-5
Chandra Gupta II, Vikramaditya,
119, 148-50, 172-3, 192, 197, 200,
207
Chandragupta Maurya I, 62, 63, 68,
73, 85, 86, 97-102, 103, 125,
126, 128, 129, 140, 142, 144
Chandrapida, 163
Chandra Sena Jadav, 543
Chandras, the, 167
Chandravarman, 146, 147
Chandravarmankot, 146
Chandwar, 161, 279, 340
Changama, 683
ChSpas, the, 175, 182
Oharaka, 142
Charles II, 634, 637, 638, 640
Charnock, Job, 640
Charter Act, 788, 789, 801, 804, 805,
816, 817, 819, 854, 855, 888
Chashtana, 119
Chatfield Committee, 938
Chatter Singh, 746, 747
Chaudhury, Gen. J. N., 1002
Chauhans, the, 186, 187, 277, 278
Chaul, 352, 517, 575, 632
Chaulukyas, the, 171
Chaunsa, 437
Ghaurdsi Vaishnava ki vdrta, the, 582
Chauri Chaura, 986
Ghauth, 504, 519, 524, 539, 544, 548,
655, 682, 710
Chavotaka, 182
Chedis, the. 56, 167, 171, 187
Chehnsford, Lord, 915, 926, 931
Chenab, river, 464; and canal, 873
Chepauk, 690
Cherry, G. F., 720
Chess, 135
Chhatrapati, 517, 521
Chhatrasal Bundela, 498, 545
Chieacole, 653
Chicago, 884
Chidambaram, 961
Chilata, 140
Child, Sir Josiah, 639
Child marriage, 376, 957
Chilianwala, 746, 747
1080
INDEX
Chiu Qilleh Khau, see Nizam-ul-
ruulk Asaf Jah
China, 136, 140, 158, 159, 162, 163,
179, 196, 197, 198, 213, 214, 215,
216, 219, 236, 317, 322, 324, 344,
367, 375, 389, 397, 400, 598, 721,
774, 806, 822. 839, 868, 907, 909,
910
Chinese Turkestan, 426
Chinghiz Khan, 213, 284, 425, 431
Chiugleput, 367, 408, 438, 507, 667
China, the, 840
Chinsura, 635, 670, 824
Chintamoni, C. Y., 921
Chirol, Sir Valentine, 886, 931
Chiteldrug, 714
Chitor, 302, 303, 349, 352, 353, 434,
441, 449, 450, 603
Chitral, 837, 902
Chittagong, 346, 493, 570, 575, 670,
730, 731, 875, 987
Chitu (Pindari), 724, 725
Chodas, 104
Cholaa, the, 116, 173, 180, 188, 189,
193, 199, 205, 221, 248, 249, 250,
382 ; genealogical table, 263
Chota Nagpur, 555, 772, 928
Chotd Sana Masjidy the, 418
Christianity, 141, 379, 458, 459, 461,
470, 472, 623, 774, 814, 816, 819,
821, 884, 919
Chryse, the Golden Land, 214
Chrysostom, Dion, 142
Ohuluka, Brahmadeva’s, 175
Chumbi valley, 908, 909
Chun&r, 348, 433, 436, 437, 694, 709
Ohuraman Jat, 497, 642
Chuti Khan, 408
Chutiyas, the, 388
Chutu-Satakarnis (Chutukulananda),
the, 172-3, i75
Cis-Sutlej States (Sikhs), the, 737,
738, 739, 768
Civil Defence Corps, 970
Civil Disobedience, 983-8, 990
Civil Service of India, see Indian
Civil Service, the
Clark, Gen. Mark, 969
Claudius, 120
Clavaring, Sir John, 786, 786, 787
Clive, Robert, 648, 677, 642, 651,
652, 654, 660, 661, 662, 664, 665,
666, 667, 669, 670, 673, 674, 675,
727, 790
Clyde, Lord, see Campbell, Sir Colin
Cochin, 116, 576, 632, 1000, 1005
Cochin China, 217, 689, 839
Coekburn, Colonel William, 678
Coimbatore, 686, 688, 714, 944
Coinage, see Currency
Colbert, Jean- Baptiste, 633, 643
Cole outbreak, the, 772
Colgong, 347
Collector, the, 792, 795, 797, 798,
799, 800, 802
Colony Canals, Punjab, 873
Columbia University, 957
Colvin, John, 752, 754
Gombermere, Lord, 733
Comillti, 994
Commander-in-Chief, the, 849, 850,
873, 874, 876, 936-7
Commissioner, the, 792, 800
Committee of Secrecy, 784, 787
Commonwealth, the, 6, 972, 976, 977,
995-6, 997, 1005
Commonwealth Relations Conference
(1945), 971
Commimal Award, 988
Communications and Public Works,
941-4
Communists, 964
Comorin, Cape. 214, 305, 636, 727, 729
Conciliation Boards, 974
Conjeeveram (Kanchi), 116, 147, 172,
173, 176, 198, 205, 246, 361, 367,
385, 667
Constantinople, 179, 409, 425, 495,
684. 686. 712
Constituent Assembly, 993, 994. 995,
1005
Constitution, Indian, 1005-1011
Conti, Nicoio de, 368, 374
Cooch Bihar, 347, 388, 492, 495, 880,
1000
Coomaraswamy, Dr. A. K., 966
Co-operative Movement, the, 947-8,
976
Coorg, 668, 684, 765, 843, 1005
Coote, Sir Ejme, 668, 684, 685
Copper Age, 12. 13
Cornwallis, Lord, 677, 679, 681, 686,
687, 688, 689, 691, 697, 705, 706,
711, 791-800 passim, 802, 808,
809, 824
Cornwallis Code, 797
Coromandel Coast, 305, 326, 634
636, 638, 643, 806
Coronation Durbar, Delhi, 1911, 928
Gosijura, Raja of, 796
Cosmas Indikopleustos, 153
Cotton, Sir Henry, 890
Cotton, Sir Willoughby, 754, 755
Cotton industry, 865, 900-1, 930
Council of India, see India Council
Council of State, 923
Couper, Sir George, 770
Com-t of Directors, 816, 847, 848, 850
INDEX
1081
Covenanted Civil Service, see Indian
Civil Service
Cowell, Prof., 583, 849
Cox, Captain, 730
Craig, Sir James, 749
Crewe, Lord, 911
Crimean War, 774, 829
Cripps, Sir Stafford, 990
Cromer, Lord, 781
Cromwell, Oliver, 635, 638, 740
Crown, India under the, 840, 841,
844, 845, 846, 847-53, 854, 867,
868, 876
Cultural expansion in Ancient India,
211-23, 248
Renaissance, the, 960-7
Cunningham, J. D., 736, 739, 742, 744
Currency: in Maurya era, 137; in
Gupta era, 199; in Tughluq era,
322, 333; in Vijayanagar Empire,
375; in Mughul era, 674; of East
India Company, 642 ; the South
India Pagoda, 691; in Modern
India, 866-7
Currie, Sir Frederick, 745, 746
Curtius, Quintus, 82, 134, 139
Curzon, Lord, 862, 863, 871, 875,
902-13 passim, 926, 928, 936, 943,
944, 950, 960, 965, 980, 981
Cutch, 182, 328, 330, 352, 486, 999,
1005
Cuttack, 703
Cyrus, 63, 64
Dabhol, 576
Dabo, 763
Dacca, 485, 492, 493, 538, 564, 670,
572, 655, 731, 797, 798, 800,
806, 875, 890; University, 961
Dadaji Khonddev, 512
Dadar, 486
Dadda II, 157
Dadhikarna, 140
Daflas, the, 910
Dagh, 664
Dagoba, the, 237-8
Daiiir (Dahar), 182
Dahnaj, 182
Dal Khdlsa, the, 542
Dalai Lama, 907-9
Dald'il-i-Flruz ShaM, the, 329
Dalewal, 642
Dalhousie, Lord, 709, 721, 746, 747,
765, 767, 768, 769, 770, 772, 773, 774,
820, 840, 841, 850, 852, 866, 899
Dalip Singh, 741, 744, 747
Dalmau, 337
DaraajI Gaikwar, 547
Daman, 517, 519, 632
Damana, 147
Damila, 140
Damodara Gupta, 163
Damyak, 280
Ddnddhyahsha, the, 518
Ddnasdgara, the, 187
Dandandyaha, the, 382
Dandi, 987
Dandin, 210
Dane, Sir Louis, 904
Danes, the, 633, 805, 824
Daniyal, 456
Dantidurga, 178, 179
Danujamardana Deva, 345
Ddr-ul-Baqa, the, 579
Ddr-ul-harb, the, 496
Dar-ul-IsIam, 496
Ddr-ul-Shafd, the, 333
Dara Shukoh, 464, 468, 474, 477,
478, 480-7, 601, 508, 679, 581.
600
Daraporani, 714
Darbhanga, 639
Dardanelles, Treaty of the, 737
Dargai, 902
Darius, 64, 68
Dariya Eihan (of Sainbhal), 340,
341
Dariya Kkan LohanI, 342
Darjeeling, 909
Ddrogd, the, 557, 798
Darrang, 493
Dar/Saka, 60
Darya Khan, 334
Das, Desabandhu C. R., 985, 986
Das, Sarat Chandra, 909
Dasabodha, the, 611
Da^apura (Mandasor), 154
DaSaratha, 91, 92, 110, 140
Ddsaa, the, 26, 28, 32
Dastaks, the, 577, 807
Ddstdn-i-Amlr Hamzah, the, 598
Dasyus, the, 26, 32, 42
Datta, Akshaykumar, 878
Datta, Aswini Kumar, 980
DattajI Siiidhia, 549
Daud (of Bengal), 452, 463
Daud (of Khandesh), 355
Daud Khan (of Gujarat), 351
Daud Khan Bahmani, 357, 492
Daud Khan Sahu Klhail, 435
Daulat Khan (governor of Qanda-
bar), 473
Daulat Klian Lodi, 338, 342, 426,
427
Daulat Rao Sindhia, 669, 681, 682,
698, 699, 700, 701, 707, 708, 716,
766
1082
im)Ex
Daulatabad (Devagiri), 189, 298, 303,
304, 305, 312, 320-1, 325, 326.
330, 356, 359, 364, 420, 475, 476,
477, 478, 506, 508, 648
Davaka, 147
Dawar Baldish, Prince, 470, 471
Day, Francis, 637
Dayananda Anglo-Vedic College, 848
Dayananda Saraswati Svami, 883,
884, 890
De Laet, J., 487
Debal, 181, 182
Decaen, General, 717
Deccan, the, 137, 141, 144, 147,
172-80, 186, 187, 189, 193, 196,
202, 205, 250, 298, 303, 306, 320,
323, 325, 326, 330, 352, 371, 372,
374, 383, 404, 412, 421, 455, 456,
467, 468, 470, 472, 486, 491,
529, 536, 537, 538, 543, 544, 548,
562, 572, 676, 583, 638, 642,
645, 646, 666, 686, 688, 702, 724,
726, 727, 773, 943, 999; Bahmani
kingdom of, 356-62, 607; Five
Sultanates of, 363-5; Shah
Jahan and, 476-81 ; Aurangzeb and,
480, 481, 606-7, 608, 612-17,
523-6; French and English in,
660-5
Deccan Education Society, 881, 887,
955
Deedo Meer, 772
Dehra Dun, 873, 938, 970
Deimachos, 102
De la Haye, Admiral, 643
Delhi, 186, 190, 276-422 passim,
427, 428, 429, 433, 444, 445, 446,
453, 461, 484, 486, 487, 494, 600,
601, 503, 504, 609, 611, 627, 528,
529, 632-680 passim, 585, 591,
593, 655, 658, 659, 672, 680, 688,
702, 705, 727, 728, 735, 737, 743,
769, 774, 775, 776, 777, 779, 930,
934, 992, 995, 1005
Pact, 692
Sultanate, 275 sqq., 426
University, 961
Demetrios the Fair, 100
Demetrios, Prince (of Bactria), 114,
117, 141
Denmark, 968
Deogaon, Treaty of, 703
Doogarh, 240, 243
Deoi-ai, 486, 491
Depressed Classes, the, 959-60, 988
Dera Ghazi Khan, 902
Desa, the, 195
Doshrnukhs, the Maratha, 178
Deva Gupta, 155, 162
Devadatta, 60, 88, 95
Devadliar, G. K., 959
Devagiri, see Daulatabad
Devala Devi, 301, 304
Devanampiya Piyadasi (A^oka), 103.
124, 139
Devanarhpiya Tissa, 107
Devapala (of Bengal), 219
Devapala (Pala), 166
Devarashtra, 147
Devaraya I, 367
Devaraya II, 367, 368, 402
Devas, the, 107, 108
Devavarman, 110
Devi, 468
Devi Chandra Quptam, the, 207
Dhabades, the, 546
Dhaki Khasiyas, the, 196
Dhana Nanda, 63
Dhanaji Jadava, 524, 643
Dhananjaya, 147
Dhanga, 186
Dhar, 303, 320, 337, 351, 419, 546
Dhara, 198
Dharasena IV, 161
Dkarma, 96, 104, 105, 107, 128
Dharmaditya, 164
Dharmamalla (of Nepal), 389
Dharmapala, King, 166-6, 166, 169,
170, 179, 187
Dharmapala, missionary, 168
Dharmaiastras, the, 198
Dharmat, 482, 483, 484
Dhatri, 37, 83
Dhauii, 104
Dhimana, 168
Dholpur, 341, 643, 584
Dhoyl, 188
Dhpitarashtra Vaichitravirya, 94
Dhrava (Rashtrakuta), 170, 179, 180
Dhruva Dharavarsha, 170
Dhruvabha^a, 167, 161
Dhruvadevi, 148
Diarchy, 124, 916, 918, 924
Diaz, Bartholomew, 631
Didda, 164, 171
Dig, 705
Digamharas, the, 87, 202
Digndgdcharya, 149, 201, 207
Dihang valley, 910
Dilavara, 245
Dilawar Khan Ghxiri (of Malwa)
337, 348, 366
Dilawar Khan Lodi, 342, 426
Dilir Khan, 514, 617
Dilke, Sir Charles, 847
Dilras Banu Bogam, 477
Dilwar ‘Ali Khan, 637
Dinajpur, 344
INDEX 1083
Dinapore, 774
Dindigul, 688
Din-i-Ilahl, the, 459, 460
Diodoros, 129
Diodotoa I, 99-100
Dipalpur, 300, 337
Direct Action, 993, 994
Dirom, Major, 715
Disang, river, 388
Disraeli, Benjamin, 833, 835
Diu, 352, 434, 437, 445, 632
Divakara 160
Divodaaa, 27, 28
Divvoka, 168
Diwdn, the, 557, 563
Diwdn-i-^ Am, the, 488, 588, 593
Diwdn-i-Amlr Kolii, the, 392
Diwan-i-' Arz, the, 323, 392
Diwdn-i-Bandagdn, the, 392
Diwdn-i-Insha, the, 392
Diwdn-i'Istihqdq, the, 392
Diwdn-i-Khairdt, the, 333
Diwdn-i-Khds, the, 488, 533, 588, 593
Diwdn-i-Mustahhraj, the, 392
Diwdn-i-Qazd-i-Mamdlih, the, 392
Diwdn-i-Riidlat, the, 392
Diwdn-i-Riydsat, the, 309
Diwdnl of Bengal, the, 790, 792, 795,
806
Diwdnl Addlat, ■th.e, 795
Doabs, the, 166, 169, 170, 179, 186,
288, 289, 319, 320, 335, 337, 339,
340, 368, 385, 399, 428, 449, 648,
650, 720, 721, 803
Doctrine of Lapse, the, 709, 767, 768,
769, 770, 772
Dohds, the, 407
Dolmens, 12
Dominion Status, 919, 920, 922, 983,
987, 990, 996
Donabew, 731, 732
Dorasamudra (Halebid), 189, 252,
304, 306, 306, 320, 366
Dorjieff (Russian Buddhist), 908
Dost ‘All, Nawab, 646, 650
Dost Muhammad, 760-1, 752, 753,
754, 765, 756, 760, 780, 830
Dourah, or Dauhrua, 433
Dow, Colonel Alexander, 487, 671
Drake, Sir Francis, 635
Drake, Roger, 657
Drama, Indian, 964, 967
Draupadi, 94, 95, 247
Dravidians, the, 13, 14, 23, 116, 166,
178, 211 ; their art, 244r-62
Drona, 95, 132, 216
Drugs, intoxicating, 868
Druhyus, the, 26, 27
Dual Government, Clive’s, 790
Du Chemin (French commander), 684
Dudpatli, 731
Duff, Alexander, 818
Duff, James Grant, 514, 519, 521,
553, 565, 681, 700, 702
Dufferin, Lord, 853, 857, 892, 894, 926
Dumas, Benoit (governor of Pondi-
cherry), 644
Duncan, Jonathan, 816
Dundas, Henry, 687, 701, 749, 787
Dundee, 952
Dundu Pant, see Nana Saheb
Dungarpur, 726
Dupleix, Marquis, 644, 647-54 pas-
sim, 661, 668, 805
Durand, Sir Mortimer, 837
Durga, 82
Durgadas, 602, 503, 604, 540
Durgavati, 448
Durjan Sal, 733
Durlabh, Rai, 661, 662, 670
Durlabhavarddiana, 163
Durranis, the, 534, 649, 552, 748-9 ;
genealogical table, 1017
Durr-i-Durrdn, the, 534
Duryodhana, 94
Dutch, the, 221, 566, 572, 673, 676,
633-35, 637, 643, 644, 670, 716,
806, 806, 824
Dutt, Pandit Guru, 883
Dutta, Narendranath (Svami Vive-
kananda), 884-5, 886
Dutta, Toru, 964
Dvairajya, 124
Dwaraka, 94, 203
Dyaus, 38
Dyer, General, 984
Earth Goddess, the, 38, 39, 50
East India College, Haileybury, 856
East India Company, the, 536, 639,
576, 577, 633, 635-42, 748-60,
764r-71, 830, 840, 841, 843, 844,
845, 846, 854, 855, 866, 867, 874,
889, 898; under Parliamentary
control, 784^804; the end of, 821;
(Part III, Book I, covers the whole
period of the Company.)
East Indies, the, 636
Bast Punjab, 999, 1006
Eastern Economist, QTQ-1
Eastern Gangas, the, 189
Ecbatana, 129
Economic conditions ; in the Vedio
Age, 33-6; Aryan, 47; in Magadh-
an Empire, 79, 81; in Maurya
Empire, 135-8; in Gupta era,
197-9; in Vijayanagar Empire,
1084
INDEX
Economic conditions — contd.
376; in Turko- Afghan era, 396-9;
in Mnghul era, 569-77; in Modern
India, 805-11, 939-65, 972-77
Education : Ancient In^an, 51, 64,
198; Muslim, 409-10; Mnghul,
578-9; English, 812-13, 816-21 ;
Modem, 859, 876, 884, 888, 893,
896, 960-67, 978-9
Educational Congress, 897
Edward VIII (as Prince of Wales),
985
Edwardes, Sir Herbert, 746, 748,
753, 780
Egerton, Colonel, 678
Egypt, 136, 143, 211, 324, 330, 349,
352, 391, 395, 420, 421, 699, 716,
968
Ekanath, 511
El Edroos, Gen., 1002
Elara, 116
Eiephanta eaves, the, 251
Elizabeth, Qxieen, 458, 636
Ellenborough, Lord, 747, 767, 758-60,
762, 763, 766, 896
Ellichpur, 304
Ellis, William, 671
Ellora, 179, 261
Ellore, 653
Elphinstone, Lord, 776
Elphinstone, Mountstuart, 606, 534,
704, 707, 708, 727, 802, 803
Elphinstone, General W. G. K., 765,
766, 757
Empress of India, title of, 844
Endold rifle, the, 775
England, General, 768
English Company of Merchants, see
East India Company
English language, 979, 1011
Enlistment Act, General Service, 774
Eran, 146, 147, 151
Erandapalla, 147
Erskine, William, 430, 432, 442
Etawah, 338, 340, 341, 543
Eudemos, 97, 101
Eudoxus of Cyzicvis, 137
Euergetes II, 136
Eukratides, 117
Europe, 212, 343, 397, 412, 425,
470, 488, 572, 576, 635, 686, 716,
810, 817, 829, 835, 866, 868, 969,
976. jSee also Europeans
Europeans, the, 242, 497, 514, 620,
539, 655, 659, 666, 667, 668, 670,
673, 576, 696, 631-44, 649, 672,
680, 690, 697, 700, 702, 703, 704,
710, 711, 717, 720, 740, 741, 742,
744, 761, 773, 774, 776, 778, 782,
Europeans — contd.
806, 806, 808, 809. 810, 813, 815,
822, 826, 886, 888, 892, 898, 899,
900, 904, 949, 950
Euthymedia, 117
Ejrre, Sir Charles, 640
E 3 rr 0 , Major Vincent, 776
Fa-Hien, 149-50, 160, 192, 196, 197,
201, 226
Factory legislation, 869, 962-5, 973-4
Faizabad, 695, 696
Faizi (the poet), 457, 45S, 580
Faizi Garhindi, 680
Faizulla Khan (of Rampura), 692, 764
Fakhi'-ud-din {Kotwdl of Delhi), 290
Fakhr-ud-din ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Kufi,
278
Fakhr-ud-din Mubarak Shah, 326,
343, 344
Fakiu’-ud-din Muhammad Jauna
Khan, 316, 316, 317
Famine Enquiry Commission, 976
Famines, 361, 472, 488, 671, 677,
866, 869-72, 943, 948-9, 950, 976
Farghana, 426
Farid, see Sher Shah
Farid, Shaikh (of Bukhara), 672
Faridpur (Bengal), 772
Farquhar, Dr., 405
Farrukh Beg, 599
Farrukhnagar, 543
Farruklasiyar, 528, 531, 637, 544, 641,
642, 807
Faiawa-i-^Alamglrl, the, 508, 659
Fateh Khan, 749, 750
Fatehabad, 332
Fatehgarh, 697
Fathl^an (of Ahmadnagar), 475, 476
Fath Khan (son of Firuz Shah), 334
Fath Shah Jalal-ud-din, 346
Fathbad, 684
Fathpur Silcri, 462, 458, 460, 670,
573, 578, 586, 688, 698
Fathullah Imad Shah, 363
Fatuhdt-i-*Alamglr%, the, 581
Fatuhat-i-Flriiz Shdhl, the, 409
Faujdar, the, 658, 795, 796
Faujddri Adalat, the, 795
Fazalkah, 325
Female Sepoys, 682n^
Ferazee disturbances, the, 772
Fergusson, J., 260, 378, 410, 586
Fergusson College, Poona, 887
Ferishta, 278, 284, 286, 287, 310,
315, 318, 323, 338, 349, 356, 367,
358, 359, 360, 361, 363, 364, 372,
396
INDEX .1085
Ferozopore (Firuzpur), 335, 332,
742, 754, 759
Feroze Shah (Firuzshuhur), 742, 743
Financial administration: (1858-1905)
863-7; (1906-37) 939-41; (1938-
48) 975
Finch, W., 689
Finlz Khan (son of Selim Shah), 443
Flriiz Shah, 773
Firuz Shah (son of Kajab), 326-35;
successors of, 335-37
Firuz Shah Bahmani, 355, 357, 358,
367, 392
Firiiz Shah Khalji, 294, 296, 297,
298, 310, 409
Firuz Shah Tughluq, 317, 340, 342,
344, 347, 348, 394, 398, 399,
409, 410
Firuzabad (Pandua), 328, 332, 336,
343, 344, 345, 409, 417
Firuzshuhur, see Feroze Shah
Fiscal changes (1906-37), 951-2
Fisher, H. A. L., 931
Fitch, Ealph, 670
Florence, 969
Food: in Vedio times, 31; in Gupta
era, 199; in "Vijayanagar Empire,
376
Forde, Colonel, 667
Foreign immigrants in Gupta era,
195, 196
Forest Sersdce, Indian, 872, 932
Formuli tribes, the, 342
Forrest, Sir George W., 695
Fort St. David, 645, 648, 666
Fort St. George, 638
Port William, 640, 657, 720
Forth, Dr., 666
“Forward Bloc”, 989
Foster, Sir William, 477
Fowler, Sir Henry, 865, 867
Fox, Charles James, 787
Prance, 968
Francis, Sir Philip, 785, 787
Fraser, Lovat, 908, 911
Free trade, 865
French, the, 216, 490, 633, 635,
645-9 649-55 passim. 660, 661,
662, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 677,
678, 679, 684, 685, 686-90 passim,
694, 699, 702, 711, 712, 715-17,
728, 730, 737, 749, 700, 805, 824,
839, 840, 872, 888, 906
French East India Company, 642-4
Frere, Sir Bartle, 849
Fresco-paintings, 242-3
Fryer, John, 519
Fullarton, Colonel William, 685
Pulta, 659, 660
Fu-nan, 216, 217, 219, 221
Fytche, General, 735
Fyzullapur, 542
Gadgil, N. V., 999
Gahadavalas, the, 161, 186, 187, 188,
277 ; genealogical table, 257
Gaikwars, the, genealogical table,
1014. See Baroda
Gajapati Prataparudra, 369
Gakkars, the, 438
Ganapati (Kakatiya), 190, 298
Ganapati Naga, 146
Gancla, 185
Gandamak, Treaty of, 834, 835
Gandhara, 27, 34, 56, 63-4, 104, 113,
140, 153
sculpture, 234-40
Gandhi, Mahatma, 921, 960, 983-4,
985, 986, 987, 988, 989, 990, 991, 998
Gandhi-Irwin Pact, the, 988
Ganesh, Raja, 344-5
Ganga Bai, 676
Qangaddsa Pratdpa Vildsa, the, 408
Gangadhar, 408
Gangadhar Shastri, 707
Gangaikon^a-cholapuram, 250
Gangas, the, 173, 190, 202, 251, 385
, Eastern, 189
Ganges river and valley, 139, 180,
186, 188, 189, 199, 201, 214, 276,
319, 383, 385, 429, 438, 634, 692,
704, 721, 739, 776, 822, 899
Gangetic Doab, the, 166, 169, 170,
179, 288, 289, 319, 320, 335, 337,
339, 340, 399, 428, 449, 548, 550,
720, 721, 803
G*angoyadeva, 167, 184, 186
Gangu, 356
Ganj, 581
Gahjam, 158, 159, 165
Garah Katanga, 448
Gardner, General, 722
Garga, 142
Garga Yavanas, the, see Muslims
Garhgaon, 492
Garhwal Plills, 485, 723
Gartok, 908
Garuda column, 141, 143
Garudadhvaja, 238
Gaudas, the, 152, 165, 167, 158, 162,
163, 164-5, 167, 170, 179, 187
Gauliati, 492
Gaur, 280, 345, 346, 347, 404, 408,
418, 437, 462
Gautaml BalaSrI, 133
Gautamlputra fetakarni, 116, 119,
125, 132, 144, 172, 178, 189
1086
INDEX
Qawilgarh, 702, 704
Gawshpur, 725
Gaya, 516
Gemelli-Carsri, G. F., 509
General Society, see East India
Company
Geneva Trade Conference, 977
Genoa, 631
Geological Survey of India, 966
George III, King, 787
George V, King, 928
Germany, 872, 898, 903, 906, 907,
949, 968, 989, 991
Ghafur Khan, 727
Ghaghar, river, 332, 387
Ghairwajh, the, 333
Ghalib Khan, 337
Ghasiti Begana, 655, 656, 657
Ghats, Western, 512
Ohazl, title of, 491
Ghazi Malik, 300, 313. See also
Ghiyas-ud-dln Tughluq
Ghazl-ud-dln Firuz Jang, 537
Ghazi-ud-din Imad-ul-mulk, 529
Ghazipur, 452, 706, 725
Ghaznavids, the, 180, 184, 188, 275,
OTR O'?*? O'TQ
Ghazni, 182, 183, 277, 278, 280, 290,
532, 631, 765, 758, 759
, Sultana of, 171, 183, 275-6, 281,
283
Ghazni Khan, 355
Gheria (or Vijayadrug), 640
Ghiyas Beg, 681
Ghiyas-ud'din (of Malwa), 360
Ghiyas-ud-dln ‘A'zam Shah, 344
Ghiyas-ud-d!n Bahadur Shah, 316,
343
Ghiyas-ud-din Bahmani, 357 •
Ghiyas-ud-din Balkan, see Balkan
Ghiyas-ud-dln Mahmud (of Ghur),
279n
Ghiyas-ud-din Mahmud Shah
(Shahi), 347
Ghiyas-ud-din Muhammad (of Ghur),
277, 280
Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, 300, 313,
314-17, 324, 327, 337, 394, 408, 409
Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq II, 335, 343
Ghiyaspur, 343
Ghizali, 580
Ghizalis, the, 766
Ghosh, Arabinda, 980
Ghosh, Lalmohan, 891
Ghosha, 31
Ghulam Husain, 629, 632, 638, 639,
662
Ghur, 279, 280, 631; Sultans of,
276-80
Ghuzafc, 183
Ghuzz Turkmans, the, 277
Gidumal, Dayaram, 969
Gilbert, Sir Waiter, 747
Gilgit, 837
Gillespie, General Sir R. R., 722
Giria, 639, 672
Girivraja, 59, 61, 70, 83, 92, 94
Gimar, 104, 185, 202
Gz(a Qovinda, the, 188, 210
Gladstone, W. E., 832, 833, 835,
836
Gladwin, Francis, 469
Glaukanikoi, the, 65
Goa, 6, 361, 370, 445, 458, 517, 574,
575, 632, 633, 634, 642
Goalpara, 344, 492
Godavari, river, 178, 179, 189, 383,
385, 466
Godavarl-Krishna Doab, 385
Goddard, Colonel, 678
Godeheu, M., 652, 666
Godolphin, Earl of, 641
Godwin, General Sir H. T., 734,
774
Gogra, river, 429, 430, 434
Gogunda, 460
Gohad, 704, 706; Rana of, 678
Gokar^ia, 166
Gokhale, General, 709
Gokhale, Gopal Krishna, 887, 911,
916, 931, 955, 962, 980, 981, 982
Gokla (of Tilpat), 497
Golab Singh, 744
Goldsmith, Sir Frederick, 906
Golkunda, 369, 372, 374, 385, 402,
410, 445, 466, 457, 476, 476, 479.
480, 486, 491, 496, 605, 506, 517,
637, 643
, Sultanate of, 365
Gollas (the White Hun), 163
Gomata, image of, 251
Gombroon, 634
Gondapur, 704
Gondophernes, 118
Gonds, the, 471
Gondwana, 355, 445, 448, 449,
644
Gooty, 714
Gopachandra, 164
Gopala I, 165, 191
Gopala II, 167
Gopala III, 168
Gopalgir, 289
Gopinath, 613
Gopinathj)ur inscription, 385
Oopuram, the, 250
Gora (Rajput), 302
Gorahkpur, 722, 986
INDEX
1087
Gordon, Sir J. H., 741
Gosala, 85, 107
Gough, Sir Hugh (Lord Gough), 742,
743, 746, 747, 766, 781
Gould, B. J., 909
Govardhan, 599
Government Museum, Madras, 236
Government of India, the, 781, 821,
824, 847-53, 911-26. See also
Part III, Book II, Modern India,
829 sqq. passim
Government of India Act, 1919,
916 sqq., 930, 983
Government of India Bill, 1935,
922 sqq., 988-9
Governor-General, powers of the,
714, 784r-804 passim
Governor-General-in-Couneil, the,
788, 832, 845, 847-56 passim, 861,
864, 870, 874, 889, 911-26 passim,
937, 968. See also Government of
India
Govind, Guru, 600, 641, 736, 737, 738
Govinda I, 386
Govinda III, 170, 179, 180
Govindachandra, 167, 186, 187
Govindapur, 640
Graham, General, 908
Grahavarman Maukhari, 155, 157
Qrdma, the, 196
Grand Trunk Boad, 441
Grant, Charles, 793, 816
Greeks, the, 113-20, 133, 134, 142,
211, 212, 213, 224, 226, 234, 235,
400, 680, 823
Gregorson, Dr., 910
Grey, General, 766
Grierson, Dr., 682, 683
Griffin, Sir Lepel, 740
Qfihya Sutras, the, 79, 82, 83, 92
Gritsamada, 36
Growse, F. S., 682
Guhila Eajputs, the, 302, 386
Gujarat, 178, 179, 182, 185, 186, 202,
277, 284, 299, 300, 301, 304, 312,
320, 330, 335, 337, 349, 351-3,
387, 397, 398, 400, 412, 418, 419,
422, 425, 432, 434, 445, 451, 462,
456, 472, 477, 482, 486, 526, 627,
540, 641, 545, 546, 661, 571, 572,
573, 689, 698, 634, 702, 725,
726, 999
— ■ — , Sultanate of, 351-3
Gujarat (Punjab), 747
Gu jars, the, 196
Gulab Singh (of Kashmir), 776
Gulbadan Begam, 569, 679
Gulbarga (Aihsanabad), 356, 357,
358, 370, 420
Gulistaai, Treaty of (1813), 751
Gumti, river, 329
Guntur, 385, 686, 689
Guptas, the, 123, 144-52, 153 sqq.,
160, 162, 165; administration,
191-5; social conditions, 195-9;
religion, 199-207; literature, 207-
10; art, 230, 240-3; genealogical
table, 255
Gurgaon district, 543, 947
Gurjaras, the, 157, 163, 166, 169,
175
Gurlihas, the, 14, 390, 721-3, 739,
778, 874
Gurramkonda, 714
Gurudaspur, 541
Guxukul of Hardwar, the, 884
Gurus, Sildi, 499, 500
Guti, 682, 683
Gwalior, 183, 283, 284, 295. 335,
340, 341, 348, 428, 430, 447, 476,
484, 500, 546, 584, 678, 694, 706,
766, 767, 777, 779, 841, 842,
999
, Treaty of, 708
Gyantse, 908-9
Habibullah, Amir, 904-5
Hadramaut, 495
Hafiz, 344
Hafiz Rahamat Khan, 692
Haidar Shah, 354
Haidaru, 739
Haig, Sir Wolseley, 279, 295, 301,
315, 320, 327
Haileybmy College, 856
Haji Ahmad, 539
Haji Ibrahim Sarhindi,, 580
Haji Iliyas, see Shams-ud-din Iliyas
Shah
Haji Maula, 307
Hajipur, 452
Hakalzai, 758
Hakim (brother of Akbar), 460
Haldm Dawai, 488
Hala Satavahana, 142
Halaku, 297
Haldighat, 450
Halebid (Dorasamudra), 189, 252,
304, 306, 306, 320, 366
HaUiday, Sir F. J., 801
Hamburg, 950
Hamid Khan, 340
Hamida Banu Begam, 447
Hamilton, William, 641
Hamir (of Mewar), 303, 386, 387
Hamir Deva (of Ranthambhor),
302, 402
1088
INDEX
Hammlr-Mahdhavya, the, 302
Hammlrmada-mardana, the, 408
Hammond, Sir Lawrie, 954
Hamza Shah, Saif-ud-din, 344
Hansi, 279, 286, 299, 332
Hanmnan, 93
Har Govind, Guru, 500
Har Kishan, Guru, 500
Har Hai, Guru, 500
Harapala Deva, 312
Harappa, 15, 19, 24, 26, 37, 224,
230, 965
Harauti, 349
Hamvijaya, the, 135
Hardinge, Charles, Lord, 925, 926,
930, 939, 959
Hardwar, 336, 884
Hare, David, 817
Hari Pant Phadke, 681
Hari Singh Naola (Nalwa), 739
Hari Vijaya Suri, 458
Hariana, 435
Hariar I, 326, 366, 367
Hariar II, 366, 367
Harichandra (Brahmana), 169
Harihara, 190
Hariharpur, 638
Hara-kiri, 822
Harinath, 681
HariSchandra, 91
Harishena, 145, 146, 148, 160,
207
Harisimha (of Tixhut), 389
Haritiputras, the, 175
Harivarman, 216
Harponelly, 713
Harris, General George (Lord Harris),
712, 714
Harsha (of Kanauj), 102, 165-60,
161, 162, 163, 165, 170, 178, 181,
186, 191, 192, 202, 203, 207,
440
Harsha Charila, the, 135, 149, 159,
169, 201, 210
Harshadeva, 162
Hartog, Sir Philip, 961
Haryahka kings (of Magadha), the,
58-60
Hasan (poet), 310
Hasan (father of Sher Shah), 435
Hasan Ahdal,' 494
Hasan ‘Ali Khan, 497
Hasan-i-Dihlavi, 409
Hasan Khan (brother of Mahmud
Begarha), 352
Hasan Khan Mewati, 428
Hasan, Zafar Elhan, see ‘Ala-ud-din
Hasan Bahman Shah
Hasan-un-Nizami, 281-2
Hastings, Marquess of, 522, 708, 717,
718, 722-31 passim, 764, 765,
768, 814, 840
Hastings, Warren, 577, 676-9 pas-
sim., 684, 685. 689, 691-4, 695,
696, 727, 728, 764, 770, 785, 786,
790, 791, 796, 797, 816, 907
Hastivarman, 147
Hatgarh, 779
Hathras, 543
Havell, E. B., 410, 966
Havelock, Sir Henry, 777, 778, 780
Hawkins, Captain William, 636
Hazara, 66, 164, 378, 494, 744, 746
Heath, Captain William, 640
Hegesander, 133
Heliodoros, 141, 238
Hellenistic art, 234
Helmud, river, 181
Hemachandra, 85, 86, 202
Hemadri, 189
Heraantasena, 187
Henry IV, Emperor, 392
Henry PV (of France), 643
Herakles (Indian), 82, 84, 92, 139
Heras, Eev. Father, 366
Herat, 101, 454, 749, 750, 761, 763,
830, 833
Hormaios, 117
Herschell Committee, 867
Hewitt, General, 776
High Corirts, 804
Hijli, 640
Hildebrand (Pope Gregory VII), 392
Himachal Pradesh, 999, 1005
Himalayas, the, 323, 412, 430, 438,
446, 465, 677, 600, 721, 727, 729
Himu, 403, 443, 446
Hinaydna Buddhism, 90, 140
Hindal, 432, 433, 444
Hindi language, 354, 402, 407, 488,
964, 1011
Hindu Colonial Kingdoms, 211-23
Hindu Kingdoms : of Vijayanagar,
366-83 ; Orissa, 383-6 ; Mewar,
386-8; Kamarupa and Assam,
388-9; Nepal, 389-90
H in du Law, Vikramadityan, 189
Hindu-Pdd-Pddshdhi, the, 545, 547,
726
Hindu Shahiya dynasty of Waihand,
the, 182-3
Hindu University, Benares, 887
Hinduism, 201, 202, 222-3, 400, 879,
885
Hindukush, the, 323, 454, 455, 474
Hindustani, 681
Party, the, 631
Hippalus, 137
INDEX
1089
Hirani-Khera, 332
Hiranyagarbha, 39
Hiru'{Pmdari), 724
Hisiop, Sir Thomas, 709, 725
Hissar Firuza, 332, 338, 433, 435
Hiuen-Tsang, 121, 153, 156, 157,
159, 160, 169, 178, 181, 192, 197,
198, 201, 203, 213, 240
Hobart, Lord, 691
Hodson, Major William (of Hodson’s
Horse), 777, 778
Hogg, Sir Stewart, 861
Holdich, Sir T. H., 751
HoU, the, 569
Hoikars, the, 680, 705-6, 724, 725, 726,
727, 736 ; genealogical table, 1014
Holland, 635, 684, 806, 968. See
Dutch
Holland, John, 687
Holmes, T. Rice, 776
Holwell, J. Z., 667, 658, 670
Home Government, the (Whitehall,
the British Government), 812-26
passim, 847-8; see also Part III,
Book II, Modern India, 829 sqq.
Home Guards, 935
Home Rule League, Besant’s, 983;
Tilak’s, 983
Homer, 142
Horse*sacrifice (Asvamedha), the, 43,
91, 114, 139, 148, 150, 162, 173,
176, 199, 207
Houghton, Lord, 889
Bouse of Commons, 641, 815, 816,
847, 849, 854, 867, 891, 895, 915.
See also Parliament
Hoysalas, the, 189, 190, 202, 205, 251,
252, 303, 304, 305, 366, 367, 382
Hpagyidoa, 730, 732
Hiigel, Baron von, 740
Hugli, 472, 670, 632, 638, 640, 647,
660, 661, 662
Hultzsch, Dr. E., 325
Human sacrifices, 826
Humayun, 350, 353, 354, 360, 425,
430, 432-4, 436, 437, 438, 443,
444-6, 451, 487, 664, 564, 678,
679, 684, 688, 696, 698
Humayun (son of Muhammad Khan),
335
Humdyun-ndmdh, the, 569, 679
Hume, Allan, 892, 893, 894
Huns, the, 150, 161, 163-4, 155, 166,
184, 196, 201, 400
Hunter, Sir William, 740, 876
Husain ‘Ali, Wazir, 628-9, 554
Husain ‘Ali Sayyid, 637, 640, 643, 644
Husain Beg, 464
Husain Nizam Shah, 364, 372
Husain Quli iOian, 659
Husain Safavl Shah, 532
Husain Shah (of Ahmadnagar), 475,
476
Husain Shah (of Bengal), see ‘Ala-
ud-din Husain Shah
Husain Shah Sharqf, 346, 348, 417
Husain Shahi dynasty, the, 347
Husaini, the, 409
Hushang Shah (Alp Khan of MalvTa),
349, 351, 358, 420
Hushyar ‘ Ain-ul-mulk, 358
Hutton, Dean, 701, 715
Hmnshka, 122, 139
Hyder ‘AH, 548, 668, 679, 682, 683,
684, 685, 689, 716, 741
Hyder Beg, 697
Hyderabad (Deccan), 480, 627, 638,
644, 596, 600, 641, 650, 666,
667, 688-90, 716, 717-18, 727, 776,
843, 846, 870, 998, 1000-2, 1005
Nizams of, genealogical table,
1018
Dniversity of, 961
Hyderabad (Sind), 760, 762
'' Ibadat-Khdna, the, 458
Ibn Batutah, 286, 306, 313, 315 sqq.,
321, 324, 333, 399, 400
Ibn Hauqal, 276
Ibn Blhordadzeb, 219
Ibn Rosteh, 219
Ibrahim (son of Sikaudar), 341, 342
Ibrahim, Rukn-ud-din, 299
Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah I, 364, 402
Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah II, 364
Ibrahim Khan, 445
Ibrahim Khan Gardi, 648, 552
Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan, 341-2, 398,
426, 427, 428
Ibrahim Shah Sharql, 347, 348, 417,
630
Ibrahim Sur, 435, 446
Idar, 362
Ikdala (Azadpur), 328, 329, 332
Ikhtiyar-ud-din Altuniya, 286, 287
Ikhtiyar-ud-din Ghazi Shah, 344
Ikhtiyar-ud-din Muhammad, 278-9,
283
Ikshvakus, the, 67, 91, 92, 93, 116,
172
Ilak Khan, 276
Ilbari Turks, the, 288, 295
Ilbert BUI, 891, 892, 896
Iliyas Shah, 344; descendants of,
345, 606
Iltutmish, 282-5, 288, 289, 301, 343,
394
1090
INDEX
Imad Shahi dynasty (of Berar), the,
363
Imad-ul-mulk, 535, 648
Imam, Sir_‘AlI, 916
Imam-i-'^ Adil, the, 460
Imamgarh, 762
Immadi Narasimha, 369
Imperial Civil Service, see Indian
Civil Service
Impey, Sir Elijah, 786, 796, 797
Improvement Trusts, 931
Inam Commission, 773
Inayat Klian, 581
Inchcape, Lord, 962
Income Tax, 865, 866
Indapur, 47 6
Independence Day, 987, 1005
Independence League, 960
India Act, Pitt’s, 686, 679, 681, 682,
689, 690, 787, 788, 789
India and Burma (Emergency Pro-
visions) Act, 968
Indian Annual Register, 969, 970
India (Consequential Provision) Bill
(1949), 1006
India Council, 847, 848, 850, 862, 853,
864, 893, 896, 911-26 passim
India Independence Bill, 1947, 995
India weekly, the, 896
Indian Archipelago, 211, 219, 222
Indian Association of Calcutta, 889,
890, 891
Indian Civil Service, the, 855-7,
888-93, 897, 912, 931-4
Indian Codes of Procedure, 804
Indian Colonial Kingdoms, 211-23
Indian Councils Act (1892), 980
Indian Government, see Government
of India
Indian Historical Records Commis-
sion, 965-6
Indian Liberal Federation, 983, 987
Indian Mercantile Marine, 943
Indian Military Academy, 938, 970
Indian National Army, 991, 992
Indian National Conference, 892-3
Indian National Congress, 813, 852,
863, 857, 860, 881, 887-98, 903, 916,
920, 921, 925, 928, 958, 968, 972-3,
980, 996 passim, 998
Indian Navy, Royal, 938-9, 970, 992
Indian Ocean, 194, 370, 375, 631,
716, 717
Indian Penal Code, 804
Indian Retrenchment Committee,
962
Indian Revolt ( 1 857-59), 729, 748, 766,
767, 772-83, 790, 821, 841, 849,
852, 855, 865, 873, 874, 896, 899
Indian Sandhurst Committee, 937
Indian Science Congress, 966
Indian State Forces, 938
Indian States, the, 782, 840-6, 917,
920, 921, 922, 925-7, 948, 968, 970,
973, 997-1004, 1005
, Minor, 764-70
Indian Statutory Commission, 579,
937, 961
Indian Tariff Board, 977
Indian Universities, see Universities
Indian Women’s University, 961, 963
Indil Khan (Saif-ud-dm Firuz), 346
Indo-CMna, 211, 214, 216, 222
Indo -Iranian Cultural Society, 972
Indore, 546, 680, 709, 999
Indra, 24, 26, 26, 37, 38, 39, 40, 50,
82, 94, 139, 191
Indra III, 170, 179
Indra Singh Rathor, 501
Indraprastha, 94
Indraraja, 161, 166
Indra varman, Maharajadhiraja, 216
Indus, river, 64, 182, 336, 494, 763,
754, 760, 761, 762, 837, 838
valley, 276, 739; pre-liistoric
civilisation of, 13, 15-23, 24, 25,
26, 37, 39, 211, 230
Industrial Commission, 810, 951
Employment Act (1941), 974
Revolution, English, 811
Industry, see Trade
Infallibility Decree, Anoka’s, 460
Infanticide, 773, 821, 822, 826
Inglis, Brigadier, 778
Lmes, A. D., 763, 767, 774, 776
Instrument of Transfer, the, 844,
846
International Labour Conference
(1947), 971
Iqbal, Sir Muhammad, 991
Iqbalmand, 300
Iqbdlnamah-i-Jahanglrl, the, 465, 680,
681
Iqtd% the, 393
Iradat Khan, 470
Irak, 182, 323
Iranians, the, 181, 531, 698
Iron Age, 12-13
Iron Pillar, Delhi, 242
Irrawaddy, river, 730, 731, 734
Irrigation, Mauryan, 129; in Kash-
mir, 163; in Tughluq period,
331-2; Bahmani, 362; Modern,
873, 943-4. See also Canals
Irvine, W., 556, 663
Irwin, Lord, 920, 987
‘Isa Khan (of Dacca), 463
'Isa Khan (of Koil), 340
INDEX
1091
Kanavarman Mauldiari, 155, 162, 165
Iselin, Colonel, 910
Ishwar Das, 581
Ishwari Prasad, 302, 315, 321
Isidore (of Charax), 118
Islam. 8, 180, 181, 212, 222, 223,
275, 276, 281, 282, 283, 297, 298,
307, 312, 352, 365, 402, 403, 405,
406, 410, 425, 454, 458, 469, 481,
487, 496, 497, 654, 699, 879, 884,
904, 957
Movement, the New, 957
Islam Khan (governor of Bengal), 466
Islam Khan Lodi, 340
Islam Khan Rumi, 530
Islam Shah Sher, 443, 560
Islamic Art and Architecture, 410-22
Isle of France (Mauritius), 644, 647,
712, 716
Islington Commission, 931
Isma‘Il ‘Adil Shah, 364, 370
Isma‘il Mulch, Nasir-ud-din Shah,
366
Isma'Sl Safavl, 426n
Ispahan, 806
1 Avar a, 83
ISvaradeva (Siva), 160
Ifivarasena, 172
Italy, 968
I‘timad Khan, 451
I*timad-ud-daulah (Mirza Chiyas
Beg), 464, 466
I-tsing, 198
Izid Bakhsh, 485
‘Izz-ud-din ‘ A‘zam-ul-mulk, 343
Jabbalpur, 150
Jacatra, 633
Jackson, Coverly, 773, 778
Jackson, Prof, (of Chicago), 957
Jacobin Club, 712
Jacquemont, V., 740
Jagadishpur, 773
Jagannath, temple of, 383, 386
Jagat (Dvaraka), 352
Jagat Seth (banker), 668, 659, 661
Jagat Seth Fateh Chand, 539
Jagatsimha, 389
Jagayyapeta, 236
Jagdalak Pass, 757, 759
Jdglr system, the, 314, 330, 335, 342,
436, 494, 644, 546, 647, 666, 666,
557, 560, 696, 697, 710
Jahan Khan, 635
Jahan Shah, 527
Jahanara, Begam, 477, 480, 481,
484, 679
Jahandar Shah, 627, 628, 631
Jahangir, 456, 457, 460, 463 - 70 , 476 ,
500, 556, 559, 563, 565 , 666 , 570 ,
574, 678, 579, 580 , 681 , 591 , 596 ,
600, 601, 636, 637
Jahansuz, the, 277
Jai Singh, 486
Jaiohand (of Kanauj and Benares)
277, 278, 279
Jaidev, 499
Jails and Police, the, 934-6
Jairnall, 449
Jaina literature, 408
Jainas, the, 69, 62, 70, 73, 74, 75, 82,
85-7, 89, 98, 102, 110, 111, 126,
135, 139, 140, 153, 201, 202, 203,
379, 410, 413, 459, 461
Jaintia, 732, 765
Jaipal (Jayapala), 182, 183
Jaipur, 540, 600, 704, 706, 726,
842
Jaisalmer, 450, 727
Jaitak, 722
Jaitpur, 768
Jajau, 627
Jajnagar, 291, 328, 329. See also
Orissa
Jalal Khan Lodi, 342
Jalal Khan LohanI, 436
Jalal Khan Sher, 443, 660
Jalal-ud-din Flruz Shah, see Firuz
Shah Khaljl
Jalalabad, 166, 742, 757, 759, 905
Jalall, 289, 340
Jalalpur, 66
Jalandhar, 113, 168
Jalauka, 1 10
Jalaun, 767
Jalianwalla Bagh, 984
Jalnapur, 704
Jalor, 303, 352
Jam Babaniya, 330
Jdm-i- Jahan Numd, the, 569
Jamd''at Khdna Masjid, the, 414
Jamal Khan Sarang Khani, 435
Jambu-dvipa, 3-4
James I, 637
James II, 638, 640
James, Commodore, 642
Jdmi* Masjid, the, 418, 420, 488, 588,
Jammu, 336, 735, 1002-4, 1005
Jamrud, 601, 902
Jams, the, 330
Jamshed (artist), 599
Jamshid (of Golkunda), 366
Jamshid (of Kashmir), 353
Jamuna, river, see Jumna
Jan Muhammad, 683
Janaka, 42, 92
1092
INDEX
Janamejaya, 42, 91, 92, 96
Jang Bahadur, Sir, 776, 778, 780
Janjira, 352, 615, 617, 521
JankojI Rao Sindhia, 549, 552, 766
Jaora, 727
Japan, 214, 236, 636, 806, 822, 898,
949, 960, 969, 976, 980, 990, 991, 992
Jarasandha, 94
Jarib, the, 478
Jasrat Khokar, 339
Jaswant Rao Holkar, 698, 700, 702,
705, 706
Jaswant Singh, 482-3, 486, 494, 501
Jatahis, the, 72, 91, 216, 231
Jats, the, 497, 529, 635, 540, 642,
548, 568, 680, 822
Jauga^a, 104
Jaiihar, rite of, 67, 302, 402, 449
Jauna Khan, Muhammad, 315, 316,
317. Se& also Muhammad bin
Tughluq
Jaunpur, 329, 332, 335, 337, 340,
342, 346, 347-8, 349, 410, 412,
417, 433, 436, 437, 445, 447, 670,
672, 574
Java, 216, 219, 221, 222, 240, 248,
396, 633, 636, 636, 670
Javll principality, 613
Jay Singh, 601, 504, 614-15
Jay Singh II, 640, 646
Jay Singh Surl, 408
Jaya ISvaramuxti, 216
Jaya Simhavar, 216
Jaj'a-Sthitimalla, 389
Jayachandra (of Kanauj), 277, 278,
279
Jayadeva, 162, 210
Jayadhvaj, 493
Jayaji Rao Sindhia, 766
Jayananda, 682
Jayapala, 182, 183
Jayapida Vinayaditya, 163
JayarudramaUa (of Nepal), 389
Jayasiambha, Kumbha’s, 387
Jayavarman I (of Kambuja), 216
Jayavarman II, 216
Jeoh Doab (Punjab), 536
Jedda, 362, 806
Jejakabhukti (Bundelkhand), 185
Jesuits, the, 459, 472
Jeta (Rajput general), 439
Jetavana, 186
Jews, the, 379
Jhain, 301
Jhala, chief of, 450
Jhansi, 768, 773, 776, 779, 841
Jharkhand hills, 438
Jhmoka-daraan, the, 496
Jhelum, river, 66, 336, 469, 736, 1003
Jhindan, Rani, 741, 744, 745, 746, 747
Jhinds, the, 736
Jihad, the, 496
Jija Bal, 512
Jinji, 517, 623, 524, 668
Jinnah, Qaid-i-Azam, 987, 989, 990,
991, 994, 995, 996
Jivita Gupta II, 162
Jiwan Khan, 486
Jizya, the, 331, 364, 394, 462, 497,
602, 604
Jnane^vara, 189
Jnatpikas, the, 56, 84
Jodphur, 441, 483, 501, 602, 540,
704, 709, 726, 926
Jones, Sir William, 816
Joahi, Narayan Malhar, 954, 965-6
Jubbulpore, 448
Jud, 282, 283, 289
Judiciary, the, 933-4
Jujhar Singh Bundeia, 471
Jullunder, 299, 409, 447, 464, 635, 744
Jumna, river, 180, 294, 319, 332, 429,
463, 484, 641, 668, 671, 634, 678,
704, 716, 721, 737, 738, 779
Juna Shah, 334
Junagadh, 1000
Junagarh, 362
Junaid, or Junayd, 182
Junnar, 364, 613
Jury, trial by: in Southern India,
194; Modem, 814-16
Justice, Administration of; under the
Guptas, 194; up to the Mutiny,
795-8
, High Courts of, see High Courts
, Supreme Com-t of, 786-6
Justin, 98, 99, 100
Jwalamukh!, 329
Jyotirmalla (of Nepal), 389
Kabir, 406-7
Kabul, 101, 120, 182, 188, 342, 426,
427, 429, 430, 433, 444, 446, 463,
454, 467, 464, 489, 473, 607, 627,
632, 633, 634, 676, 691, 698, 631,
699, 712, 747, 748-59 passim,
829, 833, 834, 836, 904, 906
, Turkl Shahlya Kings of, 181
Kaoharls, the, 388
Kaohohapaghata, Chief of, 184
Kadambas, the, 116, 166, 173, 176
Kadphises I, 119-120
Kadphises 11, 120, 121, 137, 141
Kaffir, Malik Naib, 190, 301, 304,
306, 306, 309, 311
Kai !l^usrav, 292
Kailasa, 253
INDEX
1093
Kaiqubad, 294, 296
Kaithal, 287, 337
Kaivarta caste, 194
Kaivarta chiefs, 169
Kakatlyas, the, 174, 175, 189, 190,
246, 277, 303, 304, 316
Kakavarnin, 61, 63
Kakhr-ud-din Mubarak Shah, 343
Kakka (Pratiharal, 167
Kalachuria, the, 164, 173, 176, 186,
187, 203, 253
Kaladi, 203
Kaldmandalam, the, 967
Kalang, river, 492
Kalanga, 722
Kdlanirnaya, the, 403
Kalapahar, 386
Kalasoka, 61
Kalat (Kelat), 181, 833
Kalhana, 105, 111, 121, 122, 163,
163, 183, 210
Kail, worship of, 825, 886
Kalidasa, 111, 114, 149, 207
Kalikata (or Kalighata), see Calcutta
Kalima, the, 496
Kalimullah Shah Bahmani, 362
Kalinga, 56, 63, 102, 103, 104, 105,
109, 112, 116, 127, 128, 130, 186,
188 189
Kaiinjar, 183, 279, 433, 439, 460, 451
Kalldraja, 153
Kallar, 181
Kaloras, the, 760
Kalpa-vTiksha, the, 82
Kalpi, 336, 337, 348, 779
Kalsi, 104
Kalyan, 613, 614
Kalyana (or Kalyani), 180, 189, 203,
480
Kara Bakhsh, 508
Kama (Rajput general), 439
Kamala Devi, 301
Kamandaka, 210
Kamarupa, 147, 157, 158-9, 162,
166, 188, 388, 492, 493
Kamata, see Kamarupa
Kamatpur, 347, 388
Kamboja, 66
Kambojas, the, 104, 167
Kambuja, 216, 217
Kambuja-deSa (Indo-China), 216,
217, 219, 221
Kampil, 289
Kampila, 42, 320, 338
Kampili, 366
Kamran, 432, 433, 444, 750
Kanarese districts (Kanara), 172,
173, 176, 178, 196, 201, 203, 367,
682,714
NN
Kanauj, 151, 152, 165, 156-63, 166,
169, 179, 183, 188, 210, 277, 337,
338, 437, 438
, Pratihara rulers of, 169-71
Kanchi (Conjeeveram), 116, 147,
172, 173, 175, 198, 205, 246, 361,
367, 386, 667
, Pallavas of, 173-6
Kanchipura, 173
Kandaehdra, the, 382
Kandahar, see Qandahar
Kandarpanarayan, 453
Kangi-a, 182, 336, 468, 600, 735, 739
KanhojI Angria, 642
Kanishka I, 90, 120-2, 140, 181,
210, 237
Kanjur, the Tibetan, 214
Kannada literature, 377
Kanva dynasty of Magadha, the,
36, 114-15
Kanwa, see Khanua
Kapaya Nayaka, 326
Kapilavastu, 84, 87
Kapilendra, 190, 383, 386
KapiSa. 63, 118
Kapur Singh, 541
Kara, 296, 297, 298, 301, 337, 448
Kara-jal, 324
Karan (of Mewar), 466
Kararanl Sultans, the, 386, 606
Karas, the, 202
Karatoya, river, 388
Karikal, 644
Karim Khan, 724, 725
Kdrkhdnds, the, 392
Karkotas, the, 163, 182
Karkun, 362
Karle cave, 238, 261
Karma, doctrine of, 83, 84, 89
Karma mdrga, the, 205
Karma Mimdnsd, the, 408
Karpa, 95
Karna Kalachuri, 167
Kamadeva II, Rai, 301, 304
Karnal, 532
Kamasuvarna, 156, 168, 162, 165
Karnata, 172, 175, 178, 187, 188, 203
Karnatak, the, 380, 479, 496, 511,
618, 644
Karnavati, R5ni (of Mewar), 434
Kamul, Nawab of, 766
Kartripura, 147
Karttikeya, 82, 125, 200
KaruvaJd, 109, 133
Karwar, 617
Kashghar, 496
Kashmir, 104, 111, 121, 122, 140,
168, 169, 163-4, 183, 191, 196,
203, 245, 363-4, 412, 420, 445,
1094
INDEX
Kashmir— conitZ.
454, 482, 500, 607, 534, 535, 573,
691, 739, 744, 810, 846, 990, 1000,
1002-4, 1005
— , Cliromcles of, 104-5, 110, 122
, History of, Shaliabadi’s, 580
, Shahi Kings of, 171
, Sultanate of, 353-4
Kashmir Gate (Delhi), 777
KasI Rao, 706
Kasim Khan, 464
Kasim ‘All Khan, 472
Kasiram Das, 683
Ka«is, the, 41, 66, 57
Ka^yapa Matanga, 140
Katachchuris, see Kalachur
liatehr, 289, 338
Kathaioi, the, 65
Kathasaritsdgra, the, 215
Kathiawar, 101, 119, 129, 144, 149,
160, 169, 170, 180, 182, 183, 999,
1000
Katmandu, 389, 390, 723
Katwah, 662, 665, 672
Katyayana, 92
Kaufmann, General, 834
Kaumudl mahotsava, the, 207
Kaundinya, 216
Kaur, Rajkumari Amrit, 979
Kaurali, 769
Kau^ambl (Kosam), 42. 60, 77, 81
Kautillya Arthaidatra, the, 126, 128,
130. 132, 136, 138, 141, 164
Kautilya (Chanakya), 63, 97, 98,
101, 126
Kdvadia, 375
Kaverl, river, 174, 178, 180, 386,
507 ; reservoir, 945
Kavikanhan Chandl, the, 583
Kavi-Kulash, 623
Kavirdja, the, 207
Kdyastha, the, 194
Kaye, Sir J. W., 763, 764, 766, 758,
769, 768, 769
Kayumars, 294
Keane, Sir John (Lord Keane), 764,
765, 761
Keating, Colonel Thomas, 677
Kedar Rai (of VikranQpur), 453
Kediri, 221
Keen©, H. G., 439
Keith, Prof. A. B., 911
Keladi, 374
Kelat (Kalat), 181, 833
Kemal Pasha, 986
Kennedy, Pringle, 464»
Kerala country, the, 116, 203
Keralaputra, 104
Kesari, Tilak’s, 895
KeSavasena, 188
Keshab Chandra Sen, 878, 879, 880,
881
Khadga dynasty, the, 165
Khafi Khan, 477, 486, 498, 509, 514,
522, 623, 524, 628, 538, 681
Khairpur, 760, 762
Khajuraho, 186, 244
Khajwah, 484, 491
Khalifahs, the, 181, 283, 312, 326,
330, 391, 654, 560
Ivhalilullah, 483
Kdialji Sultans of Malwa, the, 348-50
Khaljis, the, 294, 296-313, 318, 320,
394, 397, 414, 455; genealogical
table, 604
Khalsa, the, 542, 735, 739; Army,
766; College (Amritsar), 957; Chief
Diwan, 967
Rhdlm (crown lands), the, 393, 557
Klmms^ the, 331, 393
Khan Jahaa, 476
Khan Jahan Lodi, 471
Khan-i-‘A‘zam (general), 368
Khan-i-‘A‘zam ‘Aziz Koka, 467,
464
Khan-i-Dauran, 476, 631
Khan -i- Jahan Maqbul, 330, 334
Khdn-i-Sdmdn, the, 667
Khan-i-Shahid Muhammad, 290-1
Khan-i-Zaman, 476
Khdnddn-i~Timurld, the, 698
Khande Rao, 706
Khandesh, 335, 365, 446. 466, 466,
476, 477, 478, 603, 644
Khanua (or Kanwa), 388, 428, 429,
438, 448
Kliardj (land tax), the, 331, 393
Kharavela, 116, 125, 140
Kharda {or Kurdla), 682, 690, 698,
716, 717
Kharoshtihi inscriptions, 143
Khaaddr, the, 288
Khas^'-wala, 766
Khasis, the, 14
Khataians, the, 394
Khattaks, the, 494, 496
Khdzin, the, 393
Khelna, 361
Khens, the, 388
Kherla, 349
Khilafat Movement, 984, 985, 986
Khirki, 709
Khiva, 284, 495, 829, 831, 832
Khlzr Khan Sayyid, 303, 304, 311,
337, 338, 339
Khizrabad (Chitor), 303
Khojak Pass, 764
Khokars, the, 280, 282, 284, 335, 339
INDEX
Khouds, the, 826
Khotan, 213, 214
lUmldsat-ut-Tawdrlkh, the, 581
Khurasan, 323, 538
Khurrarn, Prince, 455, 456, 460, 467.
See also Shah Jahan
Khursau Qidi, 599
Khush-hal Khan (Khattak), 494-5
Khusrav (son of Jahangir), 457, 464,
465, 470, 500, 508
Khusi'av Khan, Nasir-ud-din, 312,
313, 314
Khusrav Malik, 277
Khusrav Shah, 277
Khutba, the, 326, 353, 438, 460, 476,
491
Khwaja ‘Abdus Sainad, 574, 598,
599
Khwaja Abid (governor of Lahore),
536
Khwaja Abid Shaikh-ul-Islarn, 537
Khwaja Haji, 304, 305
Khwaja Jahan (Bahinaiu ininistor),
360
Khwaja J'ahan (of Jauiipur), 337,
347
Khwaja Jahan Mahmud, see Mahmfxd
Gawan
Khwaja Jarnal-ud-din, 288
Khwaja Mansur, 453 .
Khwaja Qxitb-ud-din (of Ush), 285
Khwaja Serhud, 641
Khwaja Tash, 300
Khwaija-i- Jahan, 327
Khwarazm, see Khiva
Khyber Pass, 501, 729, 747, 754, 759,
833, 834, 902
Kia-che (Kassapa), 58
Kibe, Sardar Rao Bahadur, 680
Kieu-tsieu-k’io, 119, 120
Kikatas, the, 28, 57-8
Kilokhri, 286, 294, 296
Kilpatrick, Major James, 665
Ki-pin, 118, 120
Kirat Singh, 340
Kiratas, the, 47
Kiratpur, 500
Kirlqjatriek, William, 717
Kii’inan, 281
KIrtimalla (of Xopid), 389
Kirtivarman (Chandella), 186
Kirtivarman I (Chalukya), 175
Kishangarh, 726
Kishkindhya, 93
Kishlu Khan (Bahium Aiba), 325
Kishori Lai Goswami, Raja, 914
Kitchener, Lord, 874, 875, 936, 937
Kittur, 681
Kiul, 437, 584
1095
Koch Bihar, 347, 388. Sec also
Gooch Bihar
Koch Hajo, 388, 492. See also Gooch
Bihar
Koh-i-nur diamond, the, 533, 739
Koil, 279, 341
Kold Jilui, 583
Kolaba, 767
Kolhapru.', 514, 517, 547, 776, 1000
Kols, tlie, 13
Konakamana, 109
Konaraka, 383
Kondapalli, 369
Kondavid, 326
Kondavidu, 369
Kondavir, 361
Konkan, the, 101, 119, 175, 358, 359,
361, 370, 514, 708
Kooch, 706
Kopargaon, 677
Koppain, 188
Kora. 691
Koran (Qxiran), the, 287, 288, 459,
460
Korea, 214
Koregaon, 709
Korkai, 211
Kosala, 41, 56, 57, 59, 60, 70, 72, 91,
147
Kota dynasty, the, 146
Kotah, 705, 726, 779
KoUam, the, 195
Kottura, 147
Koiwdl, the, 393, 558
Krishna, worship of, 37--8, 50, 83,
92, 94, 95, 141, 178, 404, 581-2
Krishna, river, 172, 179, 190, 236,
■ 356 ,’ 385, 456, 545, 548, 650,
IGrishna I, 179, 251
Krishna III, 180
Krishna Devakiputra, 83
Krishna Misra, 186, 210
Krishna Nayaka, 327
Kri.shna Rao Kadam, 766
Krishna Udaiyar, Raja, 765
Krishnachandra (of Nadia), 583
Krishnadas (son of RajVjallabh), 656
Krishnadas Kaviraj, 404, 582, 583
Krishnadova Raya, 369, 370, 371,
■ 377 ,’ 378, 379, 385, 404
Krishnaji Bhaskar, 513
Krishnapala (general), 3()2n
Krivis, the, 42
Krori, the, 561 .
Kshaharatas, the, 119, 144
Kshatriya caste, the, 44, 46, 56, 58,
63, 71, 72, 77, 78, 79, 98, 141,
178, 196, 196, 215, 380
1096 INDEX
Kshema Gupta, 164
Kshemendra, 62, 210
Kshemisvara, 170, 210
Kshetra Simha (of Mowar), 387
Kshxrasvamin, 163
Kshudrakas, the, 65
Kubera, 147
Kuberanaga, 149
Kubja Vishnuvardhaiia, 178
Kublai Khan, 216, 322
Kudal ^angaman, 189
Kujula Kaja, 119-20
Kulaeekhara, 305
Kulinism, 187, 568
KuUuka, 403
Kulottuhga I, 189
Kumaon, 722, 723
Kumara (Bhaskaravarman), 162
Kumara (Kharttikeya), 82
Kumara Gupta, 150
Kumara Gupta III, 151, 155
KumaradevI, 144-5
Kumaraghoaha, 219
Kumara j I va, 201
Kumaralata, 142
Kumardmatya, the, 193, 195
Kumarapala, 185
Kumarapala (of Bengal), 168
Kumarapala Chaulukya (of Anhil-
vara), 202
Kumarapala (of Gujaxat),
Kumarila, 205
Kumbha, Rani,, 349, 387
Kumbhakonum, 250
Kurabhalgarh, 352, 387
Kumbhan Das, 582
Kunala, 110
Kundapura, 84
Kunika, 86
Kunwar Singh, 773, 776
Kunzru, Hriday Nath, 956
Kurala, 147
Kurdla, «ee Kharda
Kuffam, the, 195
Kurram district, 835, 902
Pass, 834, 836
Kurukshetra, battle of, 42, 95
Kuras, the, 41, 42, 47, 56, 70, 72,
78, 91, 94, 95
Kuia, 93
Kushan-Satavahana era, the, 205
Kushans, the, 118, 119-23, 125, 137,
141, 142, 213, 236
Ku^inagara, 88, 691
Kusthalapur, 147
Kviumbins, 178
Kuvera, 191
La Bourdonnais, Coimt de, 647, 648
Labour, 962-6, 972, 973-5
Labour Party, 992
Lad Malika, 436
Lady Hardinge Medical College,
Calcutta, 969
Lahore, 277, 281, 282, 285, 286, 287,
290, 320, 337, 339, 340, 342, 427,
441, 444, 464, 466, 470, 485, 601,
532, 535, 642, 548, 570, 573, 574,
675, 688, 591, 696, 735, 736, 739,
741, 744, 745, 746, 748, 749, 753,
765, 761, 821, 854, 933, 987, 990
Lahori Bandar, 576
Lake, Lord, 702, 705, 706, 733.
736
Laldia (of Mewar) 387
Lakheri, 680
Lakhmaniya, Rai, 188
Lakhnauti, 280, 2,84, 291, 316, 320
343
Lakshmana, 93, 169, 368
Lakshmana Sena, 188, 279, 281«.
Lakshmi Bat, Rani (of Jhansi), 779,
780, 781
Lalcshmi Karna, 96, 186, 187
Lai Kumari, 628
Lai Singh, 742, 744
Lila Hansraj, 883-4
Lila Lajpat Rai, 883
Lalita Mddhava, the, 408
Lalitiditya, 163, 164
Lalhya Shihi, 163, 171, 181
Lally, Count de, 666, 667, 668, 669
Lambert, Commodore, 733, 734
Lamghan {or Laghman), 182
Lancashire cotton mills, 900-901, 952
Lancaster, Captain James, 636
Land Mortgage Bank, the, 948
Land revenue: in Matuya Empire,
128; under the Guptas, 194; in
Vijayanagar Empire, 381-2; in
Turko- Afghan era, 393-4; in Mugh-
ul era, 478-9, 618; later, 773;
in Bengal 794; in modern times,
941
Land settlements: Afghan, 440;
Mughul, 478, 660-3; Bengal, 794,
799
Landour, 723
Lane-Poole, Stanley, 275, 319, 321,
431, 433
Languages of South India, 13
Lanka (Ceylon), 93
Lansdowne, Lord, 838, 853, 867, 906
Laos, 217
Laswari, 702
Lattalur (Latur), 178
Lava, 93
191
I
INDEX
1097
Law, Hindu, 804
— — , Muslim, 508, 804
Law, Jacques, 651, 652, 654
Law Commission, the, 789
Lawrence, Sir George, 756, 757, 776
Lawrence, Sir Henry, 744, 745, 747,
748, 770, 773, 778, 780
Lawrence, Sir John (Lord Lawrence),
745, 748, 776, 777, 780, 830, 831,
873, 890
Layton, Sir W. T., 940
League of Nations, the, 930, 953
Lee Commission, 932-3
Lee<Warner, Sir William, 768
Leese, Gen., 969
Legislation, 847-53, 854-75, 910-27
Legislative Councils, 895, 910-27
Lenoir, P.C.(govemor of Pondicherry),
644
Lespinay, Bellanger de, 643
Levirate marriage, 76
Leyden. 432
Lhasa, 907, 908, 909
Liohchhavia, the, 66, 75, 144, 149
Lildbatl, the, 680
Lindsay, Dr. A. D., 961
Linga, cult of the, 37, 40, 202
Linlithgow, Lord, 922, 946, 963-9,
992
Lisbon, 632
Literature: Aryan, 36, 51-4; in
Magadhan era, 91-6; in Mauryan
era, 125-6, 141-2; in Gupta era,
207-10; in Vijayanagar Empire,
377-9; in Turko- Afghan era, 400-
10; in Mughul era, 678-84; in
modern times, 964
Lloyd Dam, the, 944
Local 'Self-Government (1858-1905),
868-63; (1906-37), 930-31
Lodis, the, 340-3, 414, 428; genea-
logical table, 605
Lohanis, the, 342, 426
Lohara dynasty, the, 164
Lohgarh 541
Lokavibhaga, the, 173
London, University of, 820
Longhurst, A. H., 378
Louis XIV, 490
Lower Chenab Canal, 873
Lower Ganges Canal, 873
Lucknow, 600,
776,
778,
810,
931,
982, 983
, University of,
961
Ludhiana, 737,
738,
739,
742,
743,
749, 760
Lumbinigrama,
87
Lumsden, John.
, 720
Lutf-un-hisa, 664
Lyall, Sir Alfred. 684, 693, 695, 696
721, 729, 871
Lyallpur, 944
Lytton, Lord, 833, 834, 836, 870, 889,
891, 926, 939
Ma‘dstr-i-‘Alamglri, the, 581
Ma‘nsir-i-Jahmiglrl, the, 581
Ma'dsir-i-Eahimi, the, 580
Ma‘bar, 304, 305, 306, 320, 325
Macartney, Lord, 685-6
Macaulay, Lord, 692, 693, 804, 818,
819, 889
McCaskill, Sir John, 742
MacDonald, Ramsay, 920, 931, 982,
988
MacDonnell, Sir Antony, 871, 948
Macheri, 704
Mackenzie, Colin, 766
Maclagan Committee, 947
MacMahon, Sir Henry, 906
Macnaghten, Sir William, 752, 753
754, 755, 756, 758
McNeiU, Sir John, 752
Macpherson, Sir John, 679
Madagascar, 643
Madanapala, 168, 403
Madanapdrijdta, the, 403
Madhava Gupta, 158
MadhavaRaoI, 653, 676, 678, 692, 710
Madhava Rao II, 680
Madhava Rao, Sir T. . 842
Madhava Rao Narayan, 678, 698
Madhava Vidyaranya, 366, 377, 403,
408
Madhavaoharya. 680
Madhiyamika, 114
Madhva, 205
Madhya Bharat Union, 999, 1006
Modhya Pradesh, 1005
Madhya-de^a, the, 4, 5, 27, 70, 71, 113,
150,157,161,162, 186,187,196,202
Madrakas, the, 147
Madras, .
645, 647
666 -^
690,
766, 768, 785,
803, 804, 806,
853, 861, 863, ooo, oow,
873, 874, 878, 893, 894,
947, 948, 954, 963, 965, 987,
1005, 1008
— — , Carnatic, the, 617
Fort St. George, 638
Madrid, Treaty of, 634
Madura, 116, 250, 304, 306,
371, 374, 810
1098
INDEX
Magadha, 42, 46, 55-69, 113-15, 123,
151, 152. 158, 162, 347; adminis-
tration 71-5; social life, 75-9; econ-
omic condition, 79-81; religion,
81-91; literature, 91-6
Magas of Gyrene, 100, 102, 106
Magha, 210
Magistracy, the, 860, 862, 892
Maha Singh, 464, 736
MahabalddMkrila, the, 193
Mahabat Khan, 468, 469, 471, 530
Mahabat Khan Sur, 435
Mahdbharata, the, 7, 64, 76, 83, 84,
92, 93-6. 141, 142, 207, 222, 347,
354, 407, 408, 580, 583
Mahad, 513
Mahadaji Sindhia, 522, 533, 678,
679, 680, 681, 684, 698, 710, 737
MahMandanarjaka, the, 193
Mahadeva, 50, 169
Mahakantiira, 147
Mahakosala, 67
Mahal, the, 518
Maham Anaga, 447
Mahanandin, 60, 61, 62
Mahanayakacharya, the, 381
Mahdnirvam Tantra, the, 878
Mahapadma Nanda, 60, 62-3
Mahdpradhdna, the, 193
Mahatrdja, the, 195
Maharajpur, 766
Maharashtra, 172, 176, 178, 190, 510,
611, 619, 623, 552, 568, 699, 710,
88i
Mahasahhd, the, 195
Mahasthan. 104, 965
Mahavira, Vardhamana, 59, 60, 84-7,
89
MahSydna Buddhism, 140
Mahd, 644, 668, 684
Mahondra, Prince, 107, 147
Mahendraditya {Kumara Gupta I),
160
Mahendragiri, 147
Mahendrapala Pratihara, 167, 170
Mahendravarman I, 173, 176, 178,
192, 203, 207, 253
Maheshwar, 680
Mahe4varas, 84, 202
Mahfuz Khan, 683
Mahidpur, 709
Mahipala I, 167, 188
Mahipala II, 167-8
Mahipala Pratihara, 170, 179, 180
Mahlak Deva, Bai, 303
Mahmud (Sultan of Delhi), 336,
337
Mahmud Begarha (Abul Path Khan,
of Gujarati, 351, 362, 356, 360
Mahmud Gawan (Khwaja Jahan)
360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365
Mahmud of Ghazni, 164, 171, 180,
183, 184, 275, 276, 277. 396
Mahmud Khalji (of Malwa), 349,
350 352 420
Mahmud II Khalji (of Malwa), 350,
352, 353, 402
Mahmud Lodi (son of Sikandar
Lodi), 428, 433
Mahmud Shah (of Bengal), 436, 437
Mahmud Shah (son of Ibrahim, of
Jaimpur), 348
Mahmud Shah (of Kabul), 749, 750,
Mahmud Shah Balimani, 362, 365
Mahmud Shah Khalji (of Malwa
339, 360
Mahmud Shah Sharqi (of Jaunpxir),
340
Mahoba, 279, 320, 337
Mahodaya (Kanauj), 161, 169
Mahomet, the Prophet, 181, 657
Mahsuds, the, 903
Mahuli, 513
Mainpuri, 643
Maitrakas, the, 154
Mai wand, 835
Majapahit, 221-2
Majlia-i~Khalwat, the, 392
Majmuddr, the, 393
Makhdum-i-'Alam, 347
Makhdumah Jahin, 360
Makran, 181
Makwanpur, 723
Malabar, 116, 203, 375, 638, 644,
688, 699, 806
Malabari, Behramji, 887, 956, 959
Malacca, 222, 633
Maladhar Vasu, 408
Malakand Pass, 837, 902
Malaon, 722
Malartio, M., 712
Malavas, the, 65, 67, 147
Malay Archipelago, 188, 214, 219,
221, 222, 375, 397, 636, 868
Malay Peninsula, 188, 216, 217, 219,
221, 240, 868, 990, 991
Malcolm, Sir John, 679, 687, 691,
704, 708, 709, 711, 717, 723»,
724, 726, 727, 749, 769
Maldah district, 380
Maldeo, 303
Maldev (of Marwar), 439
Maidive Islands, the, 376
Malet, Sir Charles W., 686
Malhar Bao Gaikwar, 841, 842
Malhar Bao Hoikar, 646, 548, 549,
650, 562, 698
INDEX
1099
Malhar Eao Holkar II, 709, 710
Mali bah (Malwa), 182
Malik, the, 289
Malik Ahmad (of Alimadnagar),
364
Malik Ahmad Chap, see Ahmad Chap
Malik ‘Ambar, 365, 467, 468, 476
Malik Ayaz, 352
Malik Chhajju, 296
Malik Ghazi Sahana, 332
Malik Ikhtiyar-ud-din, 188
Malik Jiwan Khan, 487
Malik Mubarak, 290
Malik Muhammad Jayasi, 402, 581
Malik Muqaddir, 291
Malik Naib Kafur, see Kafur
Malik NasTr, 355
Malik Raja Faruqi, 355
Malik Sarvar, 335
Malik Targhi, 291
Malik Yaklaki, 312
Malik-ush-Sharq, the, 335, 347
Malika Jahan, 297, 299, 359
Malkapur, 352
Malkhed, 179
Mall, Bana, 327
Malla-kara, the, 194
Mallas, the, 56, 67, 59, 389, 380
Malieson, G. B., 743, 747, 778
Mallikarjuna, 368
Mallinatha, 149
Mallu (son of Isma'il ‘ Adil Shah), 364
Mallu Iqbal, 336, 337, 340
Mallii Khan, Qadir Shah, 350
Malvelly, 712
Malwa, 101, 114, 115, 119, 144, 149,
163, 154, 173, 175, 179, 185, 186,
188, 198, 284, 297, 299, 303, 304,
320, 335, 337, 348, 349, 351, 353,
368, 387, 402, 410, 425, 434, 438,
439, 443, 445, 448, 449, 456, 482,
498, 526, 629, 637, 646, 646, 700,
702, 724, 725, 727, 999
, Khaljl Sultanate of, 348-60
Mamallapuram, 173, 175, 246, 247,
261
Man Singh (of Amber), 449, 450, 461,
457, 464, 681
Man Singh (of Gwalior), 348
Man Singh (feudatory of Sindhia), 779
Manasa Devi, 683
Manavya goira, the, 175
Manchester, 809
Mandala, 448
Maniala, the, 195
Mandalay, 838, 839, 840, 944
Mandasor, 146, 147, 154, 434, 626
, Treaty of, 709, 727
Mandavi, 332, 767
Mandawar, 284
Mandor (Viramgam), 182
Mandu, 303, 349, 350, 352, 419, 420,
434
Mangabami Jalal-ud-din, 284
Mangal Deva, 284
MahgaleSa, 175
Mangalore, 304, 683, 687, 712
, Treaty of, 685, 686, 687
Mangu Khan, 307
Maaikchand (general), 658, 659, 660
Manipur, 730, 732, 733, 842, 846, 1000,
1005
Manjha district, 536
Mankir, 179
Manma-Siddha III, 304
Mannikka Vasahar, 203
Manohar (artist), 599
Manpur, 634
Mansabddr, the, 556-7, 663
Mansehra, 104
Mansol, Charles G., 748
Manaurah, 276
Mantaraja, 147
Mantra, the, 51-2
Mantrl, the, 518
Mantrin, the, 193
Manlriparishad, the, 193
Manu, 132, 138, 193, 403
Manucci, 496, 626, 658, 600
Manyakheta (Malklied), 179
Manyu, 37
Mao, 141
Maratha Deshmukhs, the, 178
Maratha Wars, 676-9, 698-706,
706-9, 786
Marathas, the, 178, 193, 365, 373,
467, 471, 492, 604, 506, 606, 607,
510-26 passim, 529, 536, 636, 637,
639, 540, 541, 643-53, 677, 631,
632, 638, 642, 646, 650, 655,
676-82, 686-93 passim, 698-706,
712, 713, 716, 716, 723-8 passim,
737, 748, 764, 766, 779, 881, 896
Marathi language and literature,
402. 407, 611, 964
Maravarman Kulaselchara, 304
Mareara (of Ispahan), 643
Marley, General, 722
Maxmad (Marwar), 182
Marryat, Captain, 731
Marshall, Sir John, 224, 228, 403,
410, 421
Marslunan, J., 697
Martaban, 734
Marta^K^a, temple of, 163, 245
Martin, Fran9ois, 643
Martindell, Sir Gabriel, 722
Maruis, the, 39
1100
INDEX
Marwar, 119, 182, 428, 439, 501, 502,
503, 604, 540
MasdUk-ul-ahsdr, the, 397
Mashkarins, the, 201
Maajids, 359
Massaga, 66
Mas'ud Khan, 349
Mas'udi, 275
Masulipatam, 575, 637, 638, 643,
650, 667, 689
, Treaty of, 686
Mathews, Brigadier Bichard, 685
Mathura, 83, 84, 94, 119, 122, 123,
131, 139, 140, 183, 230, 232, 234,
235, 237, 497
, ruins and sculptures of, 232
aqq., 240
Matila, 146
Matsya, 66, 999
Mattavildsaprahasana, the, 175
Maues (Moa or Moga), 118
Mauhan, 397
Maukharis, the, 154, 155-6
Maulana Khwajagi, 410
Maulana IMuaiyyan-ud-din XJmrani,
409
Maulana Shah Muhammad ShahS-
bidi, 580
Maulana Sharf-ud-din MazandaranT,
359
Mauritius, 644, 647, 712, 716
Maurya Empire, the, 97-112, 124-30,
181-43; government, 97-112, 124-
30; administration, 126-30; social
conditions, 131-6 ; trade and
navigation, 136; currency, 138;
industry, 138; religion, 139;
literature, 141 ; foreign influence,
142 ; art, 224-30, 248. See also
Mauryas
Mauryas, the, 4, 67, 62, 63, 69, 72,
82, 85, 110, 112, 113, 175, 182,
193, 211, 455, 509; genealogical
table, 266. See also Maurya
Empire, 97-103
Mavalis, the, 612, 515
Maya, mother of the Buddha, 87, 88
Mayo, Lord, 831, 832, 939
Mayura, 160, 207
Ma3mrbhanj, 1000
Mazzini, G., 890
Mecca, 181, 185, 406, 444, 447, 495,
639
Medical College, Calcutta, 818
■ , Lady Hardinge, 959
Medical Service, Indian, 932-3
Medina, 185
Medini Eai, 350, 402
Mediterranean, the, 212, 696
Medows, Sir William, 687
Meet Niser ‘Ali (or Titto Meer), 772
Meerut, 279, 332, 336, 543, 775, 777
Megasthenes, 125, 126, 132, 133, 869
Meghavarna, 58
Meghnad Saha, Dr., 966
Mehdi ‘Ali lihan, 749
Meherauli Iron Pillar, 146, 147
Mehta, Pheroze Shah, 981
Mekala, 150
Melbourne, Lord, 752
Memoir of Central India, Malcolm’s,
quoted, 679, 687, 691, 708-9, 711,
723n, 724, 725, 727
Menander, 114, 117, 140, 142, 143
Meruhtuga, 85
Merv, 836
Mesopotamia, 21, 23, 24, 336, 854
Meston, Lord, 940
Metcalfe, Lord, 727, 733, 737, 814
Methold, W., 634
Mettur irrigation project, 944
Mewar, 302, 303, 349, 353, 386-8,
422, 430, 434, 449, 450, 451, 466,
467, 602, 504, 605, 540; Kanas of
genealogical table, 608-9
Mewat, 289, 335, 443, 498, 543, 822
Mhow, 779
Mian Bahadur Shah, 456
Miani, 763
Middleton, Sir Henry, 636, 696
Midnapur, 670
Miftdh, the, 409
Mihira, 141
Mihiragula, 151, 153, 164, 203
Mihr-un-nisa, see Nur Jahan
Mildenhall, John, 636
Milindapariho, the, 136, 142
Military Administration : (1858-1906),
873-5, 893; (1906-37), 936-9
MiU, J. S., 691, 692, 693, 719, 721
Milton, John, 481
Mirhamsa, the, 198
Mindon, Eng, 838
Minhaj-ud-din, 410
Minhaj-us-Siraj, 281-2, 285, 286,
287, 288
Minto, 1st Earl of, 722, 737
Minto, 4th Earl of, 925, 926, 982
Mir Alam, 717
Mir Arz, the, 558
Mir Atish, the, 657
Mil Bahri, the, 658
Jkfir Bakshl, the, 667
Mir Barr, the, 558
Mir Pazl-ullah Inju, 368
Mir Jafar, 569, 658, 661, 662, 664,
666, 666, 669, 670, 671, 673, 786,
806, 807
I3SIDEX
noi
Mir Jumla (governor of Bengal), 492,
493
Mir Jumla (Muhammad Sa’id), 479,
480, 484, 528, 530, 576
Mir Kasim, 670, 671, 672, 673, 8C6,
807, 808
Mir Madan, 662
Mir Mai, the, 558
Mir Mannu, 534, 535
Mir Manzil, the, 558
Mir Mun'im, 535
Mir Qamar-ud'dm, see Nizam-ul-mulk
Asaf Jah
Mir Sayyid ‘Ali, 598
Mir Tozak, the, 558
Mir Yunus Ali, 433
Mlr-i-Adal, the, 441, 559
Mira Bai, 407
Miran (son of Mir Jafar), 664, 670
Miranpur Katra, 692
Mirasdars, the, 801, 802
Miris, the, 910
Mirpur, 760, 763
Mirza Ghiyas Beg, 464. See also
I‘timad-ud-daulah
Mirza Haidar, 354
Mirza Muhammad, see Siraj -ud- daulah
Mirza Muhammad Hakim (governor
of Kabul), 446, 453
Mirza Muhammad Kazim, 581
Mirzapur, 724
Mishmis, the, 910
MisU, Sikh, 735, 736
Mithila, 408
Mithra, 141
Mithradates I, 117
Mitra, 24, 26, 38
Mitra, Sir Ramesh Chandra, 894
Mocha, 495, 806
Mohan Prasad, 786
Mohanlal, 662, 664
Mohenjo-Daro, 15-23, 24, 27, 37,
224, 230, 965
Mohmanda, the, 837, 903
Moin-ud-din Ahmad, 593
Moira, Earl of, see Hastings, Mar-
quess of
Mokal (of Mewar), 387
Moluccas, the, 633, 636
Monghyr, 166, 167, 446, 671, 672
Mongols, the, 216, 284, 287-92
passim, 295, 297, 299, 300, 301,
310, 312, 314, 320, 327, 330, 353,
359, 366, 391, 400, 403, 409. See
aZ^o Mughuls
Monier- Williams, Sir M., 404
Monserrate, C. de, 559, 570
Monson, Colonel, 705, 785, 786
Montagu, Edwin S., 915, 958
Montagu-Chelmsford Report and
Reforms, the, 915, 926, 930, 932,
937, 939-40, 951, 983
Montgomery, Sir Robert, 748
Monuments, 224-54,964-6. See also Art
Mookerjee, Sir Asutosh, 961, 964
Moore, Edward, 715
Moors, the, 379
Moplahs, the, 772
Morar, 779
Morari Rao, 651, 652
Moreland, W. H., 557n, 573, 574
Morieis, the, 98
Morley, Lord, 911, 913, 914, 915,
919-20, 950, 982
Morley-Minto Reforms, the, 913, 915,
981-2
Mornington, Lord, see Wellesley,
Marquess
Moscow, 956, 979
Mother- Goddess, the, 20, 22, 24, 39, 52
Motijhil, 656, 659
Mountbatten, Lord, 994, 995, 996,
999, 1001
Mousikanos, 65
MrieJichhaJcatiJcd, the, 207
Mu‘azzam (uncle of Akbar), 460
Mu'azzam (son of Aurangzeb), see
Bahadur Shah of Delhi
Mubarak, Shaikh, 458
Mubarak Khan (of Khandesh), 355
Mubarak Khan (of Suket), 340
Mubarak Shah (Sayyid), 339
Mubarak Shah II, 323
Mubarak Shah Fakhr-ud-dln, 325,
343, 344
Mubarak Shah Qutb-ud-din Khali i,
311, 312-13, 314
Mubarak Shah Sharqi, 347
Mubaxakabad, 339
Mubaxiz Khan, see Muhammad ‘Adil
Shah Sur
Mudki, 742
Mudrd-Rdicshasa, the, 207
Muftis, the, 393, 659
Mughlani Begam, 635
Mughul Government, the, 564-5;
the nobility, 555; public services,
655-7; chief officers, 567-8;
police, 668; law and justice,
659-60; revenue system, 660-3;
provincial government, 663; army,
663-6. See also Mughuls.
Mughuls, the, 425-601, 631, 640, 641,
642, 645, 693, 704, 710, 719, 724,
726-9 passim, 735, 748, 764, 767,
772, 775, 776, 778, 823, 858, 866.
See also Mughul Government and
Mongols,
1102
INDEX
Mugs, the, 664, 677
Muhaminad, Prince (son of Balban),
409
Muhammad II (of Gujarat), 408
Muhammad Iljof Turkey), 363
Muhammad ‘Adil Shah Sur, 443,
446, 452, 480, 537
Muhammad ‘All (son of Amvar-ud-
dln Nawab), 650, 651, 654
Muhammad ‘All (Nawab of the
Carnatic). 683, 690, 691, 718
Muhammad ‘Amin l^an, 479, 494,
629, 631
Muhammad ‘A'zam (son of Aurang-
zeb), 602, 503, 607, 527, 543
Muhammad Bahmani (brother of
‘AJa-ud-din II), 369
Muhammad bin Tughluq, 306, 317-
26, 327, 329, 333, 334, 342, 344,
355, 366, 366, 392, 393, 394, 395.
396, 398, 399, 409, 410
Muhammad of Ghur (Mu‘iz-ud-d!n
Muhammad bin Sam Sultan),
184, 276-80, 281, 282, 285
Muhammad of Ghur, Qutb-ud-din,
276, 285
Muhammad Husain, the Zarrin-
qalam, 683
Muhammad Husain Nazirl, 580
Muhammad ibn -Kasim, 182
Muhammad Ibralilm (son of Raf!-us-
Shan), 629
Muhammad Jauna, 347
Muhammad Junaidi, 286
Muhammad Kam Baksh, 627
Muhammad Khan (son of Piruz
Shah), 334, 335, 337
Mixhammad Khan, Sultan (brother
of Dost Muhammad), 750
Muhammad Mirza (of Persia), 751
Muhammad Murad (of Samarqand),
599
Muhammad Nadir, 599
Muhammad Reza Khan, 790
Muhammad Sa‘Id, see Mir Jumla
Muhammad Salih, 681
Mxihammad Saqi, 581
Muhammad Shah (of Bengal), 345
Muhammad Shah, Bhikhan (of Jaim-
pur), 348
Muhammad Shah (of Delhi), 339,
528, 529, 532-3, 537, 583, 688
Muhammad Shah (son of Plruz
Tughluq), 351
Muhammad Shah, Ghazni Khan
(of Malwa), 349
Muhammad Shah (of Gujarat), 351
Muhammad Shah (of Khwarazm),
Muhammad Shah (brother of Sulai-
man Shukoh), 485
Muhammad Shah I Bahmani, 357
Muhammad Shah II Bahmani, 357
Muhammad Shah III Bahmani, 349,
360-2
Muliammad Shah Khan (Pathan), 725
Muhammad Sultan (son of Aurang-
zeb), 480, 485, 600
Muhammad Sultan (cousin of Huma-
3mn), 432
Muhammad Zahir (of Kabul), 905
Muhammad Zaman, 432
Muhammadabid, (Champaner), 352,
408, 434
Muhammadan Anglo -Oriental Defence
Association of Upper India, 897
Muhammadans, see Muslims
Muhtasib, the, 393, 496, 557
Mu‘iz-ud-dln Bahram, 287
Mu‘iz-ud-din Kaiqubad, 294
Mu‘iz-ud-din Muhammad bin Sam,
see Muhammad of Ghur
Mujahid Shah Bahmani, 357
Mukammal Khan Gujarati, 680
Muldierji, Haris, 896
Mukhlispur, 641, 691
Mukhyapradhana, the, 193
Muktapida, 163
Mukunda Harichandana, 385
Mukundara Pass, 706
Mukimdaram Chalcravarti, 683
Miila prakritia, the, 191
Mulaka, 66
Mularaja II Solanki, 185
MuUa Baud, 680
MuUa Qasim Beg TabrezI, 488
Mulraj, Diwan, 745, 746
Multan, 182, 183, 276, 277, 280, 284,
286, 290, 299, 326, 327, 336, 337,
338, 410, 439, 441, 445, 485, 676,
735, 739, 742, 745, 746, 890
Mumtaz Mahal, 468, 470, 472, 488,
679, 693
Munar Baji Deshpande, 616
Mupdaa, the, 13, 61
Mundy, Peter, 473
Municipalities, 860-3
Mun'im Khan, 452-3, 671
Munir-ud-daulah, 536
Munja, 185
Munro, Sir Hector, 672
Munro, Sir Thomas, 688, 704, 715,
727, 732, 801
Munsif-i-Mumifdn, the, 441
Munsifan, the, 440
Munsiffs, the, 798, 799
Muntakkab'-ul-Lubdb, the, 581
Muny Begam, 786, 790
INDEX
1103
Muqaddam, the, 662
Muqarrab Khan, 523
Muqta, the, 393, 394, 395
Mura, 98
Murad, Prince, 364, 454, 455, 468,
474, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485
Murad II (of Turkey), 363
Muradabad, 537
Murshid Qull Jafar Khan, 638, 583,
642, 807
Murshid Quli Khan, 478, 479, 507
Murshidabad, 538, 569, 656, 657,
668, 660, 664, 672, 731, 796, 796,
797, 798, 800, 806
Murtaza Nizam, 364
Musangi, 188
Muscat, 806
Mushrif-i-Mamdlik, the, 393, 558
Music ; in the Mughul Court, 601 ;
in Modern India, 966-7
Muslim Education, 409-10
Law, 508, 804, 841
League, the, 888, 916, 968, 981,
982, 986, 987, 989, 990, 991, 992,
993, 994, 998
State in India, 391-6
Muslims, the, 185, 188, 190, 275-422,
428-577 passim, 598, 631, 632,
655, 680, 769, 772, 774, 775, 797,
806, 814, 819, 825, 841, 867, 873,
896, 897, 898, 914, 919, 920, 923,
928, 958, 980, 981, 982, 983, 984-5,
986, 987, 989, 990, 991, 993, 994,
996, 1003
Mussoorie, 723
Mustafanagar, 663
Mmtaufl, the, 658
Mustaufi-i-Mamdlih, the, 393
Mutakhab-ut-Tawdrikh, the, 580
Mu'tamid Khan, 466, 467, 681
Muttra, 497, 616, 642, 643
Muwallada, the, 369
Muxadabad, see Murshidabad
Muzaffar Husain Mirza, 464
Sluzzafar Jang, 650
Muzaffar Khan Turbatl, 453, 661
Muzaffar Shah I (of Gujarat), 355
Muzaffar Shah 11, 350, 363
Muzaffar Shah III, 451
Muzaffar Shah, Zatai Khan, 312,
337, 351
Muziris, 211
Myede, 734
Mysore, 173, 202, 205, 251, 303, 365,
367, 373, 495, 617, 548, 600, 651,
652, 668, 682-8, 689, 702, 711-14,
715, 717, 727, 764, 765, 841, 843,
846, 870, 1005
■ r University, 961
Nachna-ke-Talai, 243
Nadia, 279, 280, 404
Nadir Shah, 529, 531-3, 534, 538,
642, 546, 550, 596, 735, 748, 905
Nadira Begam, 486
Nadu, the, 195
Nagabhata I, 169
Nagabhata II, 166, 170, 179
Nagadasaka, 60, 61
Nagadatta, 146
Nagarahara, 166
Nagarapati, the, 195
Nagarjvma, 140, 142
Nagarjunikonda, 126, 136, 140, 230,
236-7, 965
Nagarkot, 183, 329
Nagas, the, 122-3, 140, 144, 145, 149
Nagasena (of Padmavati), 146
Nagaxar, 352
Nagpur, 704, 708, 709, 768, 810, 841,
879, 900, 944, 986
University, 961
Nahapana, 119
Ndib-Diwdn, the, 790
Ndib-i-Wazlr-i-Mamdlik, the, 393
Ndib-Ndzlm, the, 790, 791, 792, 796
Naidu, Sarojini, 958, 964, 979
Naigamas, the, 164
Ndik, the, 380
Naimishdranya, the, 7
Naim Tal, 723
Nair, Sir Sankaran, 916
Najib-ud-daulah, 535, 548, 550, 561
Najm-ud-daulah, 673, 674
Nakhlistan, 16
Nakula, 94
Nala, 96
Nalanda, 167, 166, 198, 214, 219,
242, 965
Namadeva (Namdev), 405, 881
Nana Fadnavis, 676-81, 698, 700,
710, 716
Nana Saheb (Balajl II), 546
Nana Saheb (Dundu Pant), 769, 772,
773, 775, 776, 777, 779
Nanak,’Guru, 406, 498, 541, 735, 737
Nand Das, 582
Nanda dynasty, the, 60, 62-3, 98, 101
Nandakumar, 661, 786, 787
Nandana, 183
Nandin, 146
Nandivardhana, 60, 61
Nandivarman Pallavamalla, 174, 191
Nandurbar, 366
Nanjraj (Dalwai of Mysore), 682
Nankana, 406
Nannur, 407
Nanyadeva, 389
1104
INDEX
Napier, Sir Charles, 747, 762, 763
Napoleon I, 507, 617, 669, 699, 716,
730, 737, 740, 809
Naqib Khan, 581
Nara (Arjuna), 92
Nara Narayan, 388
Narada, 207
Narahari Chakravarty, 583
Narahari Mahapatra, 581
Narasa Nayaka, 368-9
Narasimha I (of Orissa), 383
Narasimha Gupta, 151
Narasimha Saluva (of Vijayanagar),
368
Narasimhavarman I, 173, 174, 178
Narasimhavarman II, 175
Narasimhavarman Mahamalla, 175,
247
Naravarman, 146
Narayan Eao, 676
Narayan Singh (of Sambalpur), 768
Narayana, 83^, 94, 169, 201, 206
Narayanapala, 166, 167
Narbada, river, 352
Nargund, 681
Narmada, river, 420, 455, 456, 510,
545, 646, 681, 709, 775, 776
Narnol, 498
Narnulla, 704
Narwar, 146
Nasatyas, the, 24, 25, 39
Nasib Khan (Nusrat Shah), 346, 347
Nasik, 93, 116, 133, 172, 173, 251,
468, 517, 707, 810
Trimbak, 352
Nasir Jang, 660
Nasir Khan, 345, 369, 532
Nasir Khan Mahmud 11, 353
Nasir-ud-din (son of Firuz Shah), 316
Nasir-ud-dln Abul Muzaffar Mah-
mud Shah, 345
Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, 285, 288, 334,
410
Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shah II, 346
Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Shah
(Tatar Khan, of Gujarat), 351
Nasir-ud-din Nusrat Shah, 346, 347
Nasir-ud-din Qabacha, 279, 281, 283,
284
Nasir-ud-din Shah (Isma‘il Mukh),
356
Nasir-ud-din Sultan, 402
Nasir-ul-mulk (Nawab of Bengal),
749
Nasirabad, 776
Nataraja Siva, 263
Nabhamuni, 205
National Committee for India’s Free-
dom, 972
National Planning Committee, 972-3,
975
Nationalism, Indian, 937, 978, 980^0'’
Native States, see Indian States
Nauroz, the, 498
Navasahasanka, Sindhuraja, 1 84,
186
Navskrishna, Raja (of Sobhabazar),
584
Nawaz Klian Shah, 477, 486
Nawazish Muhammad, 665
Nayaka, the, 380
Nayanars, 175, 203
Nayapala, 167, 214
Nazar Muhammad, 475
Nazim (or Subahddr), the, 563
Nazir (poet), 360
Nearchos, 67, 68, 79, 134
Negapatam, 576, 684
Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal, 952, 973,
987, 994, 998
Nehru, Pandit Motilal, 985, 986
Nehru Report, 927, 937
Neill, Colonel, 776, 777, 778, 780
Nelcynda, 211
NeUore, 304
Neolithic Age, 9-11, 14, 211, 224
Nepal. 104, 144, 147, 214, 389, 679,
721, 776, 778, 779, 909
War, 721
Nerun, 182
Netherlands, the, 296, 647
New Guinea, 222
New Mussahnans, the, 297, 300, 302,
307, 310, 425
NiamatuUah, 681
Nicholas I, of Russia, 829
Nicholson, Frederick, 947
Nicholson, John, 748, 777, 779, 780
Nlchyas, the, 55
Nicobar Islands, 188, 1005
NieoUs, Sir Jasper, 722
Nidhanapur, 158
Niemeyer, Sir Otto, 941
Nigali Sagar, 104
Nikitin, Athanasius, 362
Nilambar, 388
Nilaraja, 147
Nile, river, 212
Nimitz, Admiral, 1004
Nirgranthas, the, 85
Nirvana, meaning of, 89
Nishadas, the, 46, 47, 78
Nlshapur, 278
Nizams, the, 180, 365, 646, 650, 653,
679, 681, 682, 083, 684, 686, 687,
688-90, 698, 699, 702, 703, 704.
712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718,
724, 769; genealogical table, 1018,
INDEX
Nizam ‘Ali (of Hyderabad), 548, 688,
718
Nizam Bidar-ul-mulk, 358
Nizam Shah Bahmani, 352, 360
Nizam (Sikandar) Shah Lodi, 340,
341, 346, 410, 609
Nizam Shahi dynasty, the, 363, 471,
475, 611
Nizam-ud-din Ahmad, 284, 315, 317,
318, 339, 44], 580
Nizam-ud-dlii Auliya, 414
Nizam-ul-mulk Asaf Jah, 629, 531,
536, 537, 538, 545, 646, 650, 682, 688
Nizam-ul-mulk Barhi, 361
Nizam-ul-mulk Shahi, 471, 646
Nizam-ul-mulk Sultan (of Ahmad-
nagar), 475
Nizamat Adalat, Court of, 824
Nizamsagar irrigation project, 944
Noakhali, 994
Noer, Friedrich von, 459
Non-Co -operation Movement, 983-8
Non-Violence {AMmsa), 83, 84, 86,
89, 102, 201
Norris, Sir William, 641
North-Eastern Frontier, the, 907-9
North-West Frontier, the, 453, 473,
493, 748-9, 829-38, 902-3
North-West Frontier Province, 234,
902, 903, 918, 924, 990, 993, 994,
996
North-Western Provinces (modern
United Provinces), the, 430, 789,
802, 819, 861, 853, 878, 903
Northbrook, Lord, 832, 833, 834, 842
Northem Frontier States, the, 907-9
Northern Sarkars, the, 653, 667, 669,
683, 686, 689, 724, 801
Norway, 968
Nott, Sir William, 756, 757, 758, 759
Nowgong district, 388
Nuniz, 368, 369, 371, 376, 377, 380,
381, 382
Nur Jahan, 464-6, 468-70, 487, 679,
691
Nur-ud-din (the Turk), 286
Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir,
sea Jahangir
Nushka-i-Dilkushd, the, 479, 581
Nushki, 906
Nusrat Khan Wazlr, 301
Nusrat Shah (son of Firuz Tughluq),
335, 337
Nusrat Shah (of Gaur), 407, 418
Nusrat Shah (Naslb Khan, of Ben-
gal), 346, 347
Nydya Sutras, the, 198, 203, 408
Nyayddhisa, the, 618
Nysa, 64, 66, 66
1105
Ochterlony, Sir David, 705, 722, 727,
733, 738
Oedyar, Raja (of Mysore), 373
Ohind, 66
Olaindyagam, the, 193
Olcott, Colonel, 886
Omdut-ul-Umara, 691, 718, 719
Omichand, 659, 661, 665
Onesikritos, 83, 133
Opium, 845, 864, 868
Orenburg, 831
Oriental institutes, 965
Orissa, 66, 158, 166, 187, 189, 190,
191, 196, 202, 304, 329, 344, 347,
348, 349, 360, 361, 368, 369, 370,
383, 404, 422, 446, 446, 453, 639,
672, 634, 638, 660, 656, 673, 702,
790, 801, 826, 869, 875, 913, 918,
924, 928, 940, 999, 1000, 1005
Oriyas, the, 924, 964
Orme, Robert, 520, 642. 656, 660, 668
Ormuz, 185. 634
Ostend Company, the, 633
Ottawa Trade Agreement, 960, 952
Oudh, 145, 158, 283, 286, 295, 297,
307, 325, 337, 629, 536, 637, 638,
649, 596, 600, 672, 673, 679, 682,
691-4, 691-7, 702, 718, 720-1,
727, 748, 749, 769, 770, 771, 772,
773, 774, 776, 778, 780. 781, 803,
841, 842, 843, 853
, Begams of, 695-7, 764
, Nawabs of, genealogical table,
1013
•, Tenancy Act, 803
Outram, Sir James, 768, 762, 763,
770, 773, 778. 780
Owen, S. J., 701, 719, 721
Oxenden, Sir George, 636
Oxus, river, 387, 429, 474, 836
Oxyrhynchus papyri, the, 143
Paciflc Ocean, 397
Pacific Relations Conference (1944),
971
Padmanabha Datta, 408
Padmdvat, 669
Padmavatl, 123, 146, 400
Padmini, 302, 402, 681
Padshah, the, 491
Padshdhndmdh, the, 581, 698
Paes, Bartholomew, 370, 374, 375,
377, 380
Pagan (King of Burma), 733-4
Paharpur, 966
Pahlavas (Parthians), 115, 118-19,
132, 141, 144
Painghat, 478
1106
INDEX
Painting, medieval, 253
Paithan, 137
Pakistan, 6, 898, 990, 991, 993, 995,
996, 1002, 1003, 1004
Pakthas, the, 27
Pal, Bepin Chandra, 980, 981
Pala d;^asty, the, 166-9
Palaeolithic men in India, 9-1 J
Palakka, 147
Palaman, 492, 772
Palas, the, 184, 187, 198, 202, 214,
263, 277; genealogical table, 257
Pali, 70, 81, 90-91, 142, 213
Pallavas, the, 116, 135, 172, 173-6,
179, 198, 245-8, 365; genealogical
table, 262
, their art, 245-8, 251
Palmer, Colonel (Resident at Poona),
700
Palmer, Colonel (surrender of
Ghazni), 758
Palmerston, Lord, 762
Palura, 140, 215
Pamirs, the, 836
Pan-chao, 121
Punch Mahal, the, 689
Pafichalas, the, 41, 42, 66, 70, 72,
78. 94, 95
Panchamaka, 61
Pancharatas, the, 201, 205
Panchavati, 93
Panchaiantra, the, 210
Panchayat, the, 381, 660
Pandavas, the, 247
Pandharpur, 881
Pandia, 92
Pandit, Vijayalakshmi, 979
Pandit Edo, the, 618
Pandua (Firuzabad), 328, 332, 336,
343, 344, 345, 409, 417
Pandus, the, 78, 83, 91-2, 93-6
Pandyas, the, 101, 104, 116, 174,
189, 190, 212, 304, 306
Pangul, 358
Panhala fort, 514
Paniar, 766
Papini, 64. 68, 84, 92, 142, 164
Panipat, 684; battles of: first, 427,
428, 429, 434; second, 446, 447;
third, 635, 642, 660-3, 676, 735,
748
Panis, the, 36
Panjdeh, 836
Panna, 498
Para, 67
Para Atnara, 91
Parades, the, 141
Paragal Khan, 408
Paragand, the, 440-1, 618, 662
Paraganas, the (of Bengal), 665
Paramahansa Sabha, the, 881
Paramananda, 582
Paramaras, the, 171, 185, 188
Paramardideva, 186
Paramatman, 60
ParameSvara (the Kavindra), 408
Paramountcy, 997j9^
Para^ara, 92
Pardiara S77iritl, the, 403
Parashuram Trimbak, 523-4
Parenda, 475, 480
Parihars, the, see Pratiharas
Parikshit, 42, 91, 95
Parinin'dna, the, 58, 61, 85, 86, 88,
99, 102'
Parishd, the, 193
Parishad, the, 195
Parjanya, 39, 82
Parliament, the British, 690, 817,
819, 836, 847, 861, 854, 888,
911-27 passim. See also House of
Commons
Parliament of Religions, the, 884
Parsis, the, 458, 956
Parsoji, 708
Par^va, 86, 87
Parthasarathi MiSra, 408
Parthians, the, 117, 118-19
Parva Gupta, 164
Pdrvatl Parinaya, the, 408
Parwez, Prince, 467, 468, 470
Pa^upati, and Pa^upatas, 60, 84,
134, 202, 203
Pataligrama, 60-60
Pataliputra, 60, 61, 63, 70, 77, 81,
87, 92, 98, 101, 102, 103, 109, 111,
113-14, 129, 133, 134, 137, 138,
146, 149, 160, 166, 167, 168,
197-8, 226, 966
Patan (Nepal), 389, 672
Patanjali, 6, 82, 92, 114, 134, 139, 141
Patel, Sardar, 999-1000
Paihdn Kings, Chronicles of the, 280,
286, 309
Pathans, the, 296, 494, 707, 723,
726-6, 729, 840, 874
, Delhi, 284
Pathri, 364
Patiala, 999, 1006; Maharaja of, 862
Patiall, 289, 338
Patna, 429, 452, 473, 500, 528, 570,
672, 574, 598, 600, 638, 670,
671, 672, 722, 776, 797, 798, 800,
933
— — ' University, 961
Patriotic Association, Muhammadan,
897
Patta, 449
INDEX
1107
Pattala, 65, 81
Paiwdrl, the, 562
Pauravas (Purus), the, 26. 27, 28,
29, 42, 66, 82
Pava, 59, 85
Pavanaduta, the, 188
Pawars, the, 546
Payendah Khan, 749
Peacock Throne, the, 488, 533, 596
Pearl Mosque (Agra), 488
Peddana, poet laureate, 377
Peel, Lord, 940
Pegu, 376, 730, 731, 734, 838
Pehoa, 169, 170
Pelsaert, Fran9ois, 566, 567, 571,
572, 573, 574
Penang, 636
Penar (Penner), river, 174, 688
Penugonda, 373
Percy, Lord Eustace, 940
Pericles, 185
Periplus, the, 211, 214
Permanent Settlement, the, 799,
802, 809, 815, 859
Perron, General, 716
Persepolitan Bell, the, 226
Persia, 178, 185, 212, 276, 292, 322,
324, 336, 354, 359, 363, 364, 368,
375, 394, 397, 400, 401, 409, 410,
421, 425, 444, 454, 457, 468, 471,
473, 495, 496, 504, 531, 532, 533,
546, 555, 577, 696, 598, 634, 637,
737, 749, 760, 751, 752, 753, 760,
774, 805, 829, 830, 831, 833,
906-7
Persian Architecture and Art, 402,
420, 686 sqq.
language, 815, 816, 817
Literature, 317, 318, 329,
341, 354, 435; in Turko-Afghan
era, 409-10; in Mughul era, 431,
435, 466, 481, 666, 578-84
Persian Gulf, 398, 639, 806, 903, 906-7
Perso-Arabic system (Mughul gov-
ernment), the, 554
Peruschi, 669
Peshawar, 27, 121, 122, 183, 277,
494, 601, 534, 536, 739, 746, 749,
750, 762, 753, 754, 902
Peshwa, the, 511, 618, 622, 643,
644, 646, 647, 701, 703, 704, 710,
718, 727, 768, 895; genealogical
table, 616
Pharro, 141
Phayre, Sir Ai’thur, 732, 734, 842
Philip II (of Spain), 296, 319
Philippos, 97
Pindaris, the, 707, 708, 723-6, 726,
731
Pihgala, 54
Pipphalivana, 98
Pir Muhammad, 447, 448
Pishin district, 835
Pishtapura, 147, 178
Pithapuram, 147
Pitt, Thomas, 640
Pitt, William, 694, 705, 787; his
India Act, 686, 689, 690, 787, 788,
789
Plassey, battle of, 553, 677, 662-4,
665, 666, 669, 670, 672, 675, 806,
809
Plato, 642
Phny, 128, 137, 212, 810
Plutarch, 98
Pocoek, Admiral Sir George, 666, 668
Pokarna, 146, 147
Pokharan, 146
Police, the: Mughul, 658; British
Indian, 800, 861; modern Police
and Jails, 932, 934-6
Poligdrs, the, 802
Pollock, Sir George, 758, 759
Polo, Marco, 190, 192, 194, 393
Polybius, 111
Pondicherry, 6, 198, 643, 645, 647,
707, 708, 709, 810, 944, 963, 967
Poona, 511, 614, 617, 649, 562, 676,
677, 678, 680, 681, 692, 698, 700,
707, 708, 709, 810, 944, 963, 967
Pact, 988
, Treaty of, 708
Poor Law Bill, New, 819
Popham, Captain, 678
Population of India (Census of
1931), 6
Poros (Paurava king), 65, 66, 67,
68, 101, 139
Portfolio System, the, 850
Porto Novo, 684
Portuguese, the, 352, 353, 370,
383, 434, 445, 452, 454, 465, 457,
471, 472, 493, 517, 519, 521, 546,
577, 631-3, 634, 636, 636, 637,
642
Post Ofi6ce, the, 864
Post-War Reconstruction Committee,
973
Potddr, the, 662
Pottinger, Eldred, 751, 767
Prabhakara, 205
Prabhakaravardhana, 155, 166-7,
159, 181
Prabhavati, 149, 173
PrdcMn Kdmarupl Nritya SangJia,
the, 967
Prachyas, the, 66
Pradyota, 67, 61
1108
INDEX
Pradyumna-abhyudaya, the, 408
Prajapati, 25, 37, 39, 50
Prakrit, 7
Pralliad Niraji, 624
Prant, the, 518
Prarthana Samaj, the, 891-2, 955
Prasad, Babu Rajendra, 994, 1005
Prasad, Rana, 444
Prasenajit, 67, 59, 60
Pratap (of Mewar), 450, 451, 466
Pratdp Rudra Kalydn, the, 408
Pratap Siihha, 709
Pratap Singh, Raja (of Mainpuri),
340
Pratapa Rudradeva I, 303, 304, 305
Pratapaditya, 453
Prataparudra, 385
Pratapgarh, 613, 726
Pratiharas, the, 161, 166, 167,
169-71, 179, 182, 183, 184, 196,
275, 277; genealogical table, 266
PratinidJd, the, 543
Pratishthana, 116
Pravahana-Jaivali, 42
Prayaga, 123, 158, 159-60, 162
Pre-historio India, 9-23
Premavdrtikd, the, 682
Presidency College, Calcutta, 817
Presidency Tovras, 861-3
Press Regulations, 1817, 814; Verna-
cular Press Act, 891
Prinsep, H. T., 707, 727, 729
Pi’isons, see Police
PrithivI, 38, 39, 52
Prithviraj, 277, 278, 280
Prithviraja III, 186, 187
Privy Council, the, 804, 826
Priyadariana (Asoka), 88
Proclamation of 1868, the Queen’s,
782
Prolaraja II, 1 90
Prolaya Nayaka, 326
Prome, 732, 734, 736
Prophet, the Great (Mahomet), 181,
667
Provincial Autonomy, 829, 920, 924
Provincial Civil Service, the, 857
Provincial Councils, 792, 796, 851
Provincial Courts of Appeal, 800
Provincial Governments, 857, 864,
893, 913-4, 916-25, 973, 974, 976,
979, 989
Ptolemy, 95, 119, 215
Ptolemy II, Philadelphos, 106
Public Debt of India, 912
Publio Instruction, Committee of,
817-18
Public Services: (1868-1905), 854-8;
(1906-37), 931-3
Public Works, and Communications,
898, 941-3
Pudukottai, 175, 263
Puhar, 211
Pulake^in I, 175
Pulakesin II, 157, 158, 169, 173,
174, 175, 176, 178, 181, 189,
207
Pulicat, 635, 637
Pulindas, the, 42
Pundra-nagara, 104
Pundras, the, 42, 55, 92
Pun^avardhana, 104
Punjab, the, 97, 117, 163, 183, 184,
213, 276, 276, 277, 278, 281, 283,
284, 286, 287, 290, 291, 295, 300,
320, 323, 337, 426, 426, 427, 430,
433, 438, 463, 464, 482, 494, 499,
629, 532-36 passim, 542, 648, 549,
563, 570, 679, 682, 709, 736, 739,
744, 745-8, 761, 754, 756, 766,
775, 776, 777, 803, 804, 810, 829,
837, 842, 861, 869, 871, 873, 878,
883, 884, 890, 902, 918, 919, 924,
928, 947, 948, 964, 984, 985, 990,
993, 994, 995, 1005, 1008
Tenancy Act, 803
Punjabi, 407
Puran Mai, 438
Purdna QiVd, the, 685
Purdnas, the, 60, 61, 62, 99, 110,
111, 113, 114, 115, 198, 202, 207,
883
Puran dhar, 515
, Treaty of, 677
Puri, 203, 244
Pumea, 655, 657
Purohiia, the, 194
Purosottama Gajapati, Raja, 368,
385
Puru Gupta, 151
Purus, the (Pauravas), 26, 27, 28, 29,
42, 65, 82
Purushapura, 121. See Peshawar.
Purushottama, 468
Purva Mimdrhsd (Karma Mlmdrhsd),
205
Purvananda, 62
Pusa Agricultural Research Institute,
944
Pvshdn, 39
Pushkalavati, 64, 65, 66, 68
Pushkarana, 146
Pushpapura, 146. ^ee Pataliputra
Pushyabhuti, the house of, 161, 156,
166-7, 165; genealogical table,
266
Pushyagupta (the VaiJya), 101, 129
Pushyamitra, 199, 202
INDEX
Pushyamitra 6unga, 110, 111, 112,
113, 114, 139, 141
Pushyamitras, the, 160, 163
Qadam Rasul, the, 347, 418
Qadian. 957
Qadir Shah (MaUu Klian), 350
Qadr Khan, 343
Qandahar, 101, 433, 444, 454, 465,
468, 473, 474, 478, 492, 494, 531,
534, 575, 591, 754, 755, 756, 757,
829, 833, 834, 835
Qansauh-al-Ghatiri, 352
Qanungo, Dr., 435n, 442, 481
Qanungoes, the. 561, 791, 793
Qasim Barid-ul-Mamalik, 362
Qasim Khan, 482, 483, 632
Qazi ‘Abdul Muqtadir Shahnini,
410
QazI ‘Ala-ul-mulk, 301-2
Qazi Mughis-ud-din, 306-7
Qazl-ul-Qazat, the, 393, 557, 559
Qdzls, the, 441, 559-60
QiVa-i-Kuhna Masjid, the, 685
Qizilbashls, the, 756
Queens-regnant (Gupta), 196
Quetta, 833, 906
Quilon, 304, 305
Quinton, J. W., 842
Quli Qutb Shah, 366, 385
Quran, the, 608, 623
Quranic Law, 331, 332, 391, 393,
496, 669
Qutb IChan, 340
Qutb Mindr, the, 242, 285, 310, 414
Qutb Shahl dynasty (of Golkunda),
the, 363, 365, 386, 505
Qutb-ud-din (of Bengal), 465
Qutb-ud-din (of Kashmir), 353
Qutb-ud-din Ahmad (of Gujarat), 351
Qutb-ud-din Aibak, 186, 278-9,
281-2, 283, 285, 301
Qutlugh Khan, 402
Qutlugh Kliwaja, 299
Races of India, the, 13-14
EadcliSe, Sir Cyril, 995
Radha, 682
Radha Kanta Deb, Raja, 825
Radhakrishnan, Sir S., 966
Rafl-ud-Darajat, 628
Raf i-ud-daulah, 528
Rafi-us-Shan, 627, 628, 629
Raghoba, 689
Raghuji Bhonsle, 546
Raghuji Bhonsle II, 702, 703, 704,
707, 708, 709
1109
Raghunandan, 403, 408
Raghmiath Rao, 535, 548, 549, 676,
677, 678
Rahula, 88
Rai, Lajpat, 981, 991
Raiehur, 369, 370
Doab, the, 359, 367, 368, 370
Raidas, 406
Raigarh, 495, 506, 517, 523
Railways, Indian, 845, 864, 872, 899,
941-2, 970
Rainier, Admiral Peter, 716
Raisin, 438, 439
Raj Singh, Rana (of Mewar), 467,
502, 504
Rdjd, Rdjan, the, 29-30, 71, 75, 93
Rdja-guru, the, 194
Rajab, 327
Rajagriha (Rajgir), 59, 60, 70, 76,
86. 88. 90
Rajahmundry, 361, 653, 667
Rdjanyaa, the, 32-3
Rajaraja (Chola), 180, 188, 249
Rajaram (son of Shivaji), 506, 507,
523, 624, 644, 646
RajaSekhara, 170, 207
Rajasimha (Narasimhavarman) II,
176
Rajasthan, 999, 1000, 1005
Rajasthan, Tod’s, 727
Rdjasuya rite, the, 43, 91, 94
Rdjataranginl, the, 210, 354
Rajballabh, 668, 665, 656, 657
Rajendra Chola I, 167, 180, 188,
189, 221, 260
Rajendra Chola III, Kulottuhga I,
189
Rajgarh fort, 612, 615
Rajmahal, 453, 482, 670, 657
Rajputana, 182, 194, 245, 296, 351,
448, 486, 627, 548, 598, 600, 705,
i 706, 723, 726-8, 748, 776, 869, 871
Rajputs, the, 184, 190, 192, 196,
207, 277, 278, 289, 299, 301, 302,
303, 350, 353, 386, 396, 402, 425,
427, 428, 429, 432, 434, 438, 439,
444, 448, 449, 450, 451, 458, 466,
471, 483, 540, 641, 647, 549, 696,
601, 680, 706, 708, 709, 726, 822,
843, 1000; the Rajput War, 601-4
Rajshahi, 876
Rajyamatl, 162
RajyapalaPratihara, 171, 184
Rajya^I, 166, 156, 157, 196, 206
Rajyavardhana, 165, 166, 157, 165
Raksas, 372
Rakshasas, the, 93
Raleigh, Sir Thomas, 960
Ram, Raja (Jat), 497
1110
INDEX
Ram Narayan, 670
Ram Singh, Raja, 483, 500
Rama, story of, 91-3; worship of,
581-2
Rama Charita, the, 210
Rama Gupta, 148
Rama Raya (Aravidu), 371, 372,
373, 378
Ramachandra, 190
Ramakrishna Mission, the, 884-6,
955, 959
Ramakrislma Paramaliansa, 884-6
Raman, Sir C. V., 966
Ramananda, 404, 405
Ramanuja, 202, 205, 210
Ramapala, 167, 168, 187
Rdmayana, the, 93, 222, 407, 408,
580, 582
Ramchand, Raja, 450
Ramchandra Pant, 523
Ramchandradeva (Yadava), 298, 301,
303, 304, 305, 306, 610
Ramcharitamdnasa, the, 682
Ramdas Samarth, Guru, 611, 522,
881
RameSvaram, 250, 306
Ramganga, river, 183
Rammohan Roy, Raja, 812-5, 817,
824, 825, 876, 877, 879, 882, 883,
896
Ramnad, 304
Ramnagar, 517, 519, 746
Rampur, 1000
Rampuxa, 692, 706
Rampurva, 104
Ramu, 731
Ranada, MahMev Govinda, 512, 519,
881, 882, 887, 896, 967
Ranade, Ramabai, 959
Ranaiura, 167
Ranchordaa Jodha, 602
Ranga II, 373
Ranga III, 373
Rangir, 480
Rangoon, 630, 731, 733, 734, 778,
839, 840, 931, 933, 990
• IFniversity, 961
Ranikhet, 723
Ranjit Singh, 522, 736-41, 750, 752,
753, 754, 756, 760, 761,* genea-
logical table, 1016
Ranjur Singh Majhithia, 743
Ranmal, 302
Ranoji Sindhia, 546
Ranthambhor, 279, 283, 284, 297,
301, 302, 450, 451
Rao, Sir Dinkar, 767, 776, 780, 842,
852
Rao Sahab, 773
Raor, 182
Ras Khan, 582
Bds-panckadhyayl, the, 582
Rdshtra, the, 178, 195
Rash'trakutas, the, 166, 167, 168,
170, 171, 178-80, 187, 188, 202,
250, 251 ; genealogical table, 260
Rasul, A,, 980
Ratan Singh, Raiia, 302, 350
Rathas (temples), 175, 246
Rathors, the, 439, 483, 494, 601, 502,
503, 604
Ratipala (general), 302
Raushnara, 481
Ravana, 93
Ravorty, Major H. G., 279, 284,
286, 296, 325
Ravi, river, 336, 642, 571, 746, 873
Ravilsirti, 207
Ravivarman (Kerala), 304
Ravivarman, Prince, 408
Rawalpindi, 906
Rawlinson, H. G., 517, 626, 757
Rawlinson, Lord, 937
Ray, Sir P. 0., 966
Ray, Mrs. Renuka, 979
Rayamalla, 387
Raymond, Fran9ois de, 682, 716
Razakars, 1001
Raziyya, Queen, 286
Razm-Ndmah, the, 580
Razvi, Syed Kasim, 1001, 1002
Read, Colonel Alexander, 801
Reading, Lord, 846
Red Sea, 211, 212, 352, 464, 631, 636,
637, 639, 716, 806
Reddis, the Telegu, 178
Rees, Sir J. D., 907
Reform Bill (English), 819
Reforms, epoch of, 829
Registrars, the, 798
Reflating Act, 784, 785, 787, 789, 796
Religion: in Vedic times, 37-40, 50;
in Magadhan era, 81-91; in
Mauryan era, 139-41; in Gupta
era, 199-207 ; in Turko-Afghan ora,
400-7; in Modern India, 867-87
Religious Disabilities Act (1866), 773
Religious and Social Reform, 876-87,
956-60
Rennell, James, 671
Revenue administration : Bengal
(1765-93), 791-4, 795, 797, 798;
Madras (1829-58), 801-2; Mughul,
660-3
Revolutionary War, European, 699
Rewari, 443, 643
Rhosan Akhtar, see Muhammad
Shah (of Delhi)
INDEX
nil
Richelieu, Cardinal, 641
Big-Veda, the, 13, 22, 25-40 passim,
45, 52, 53
Rig-Vedic age, the, 24-40
^ik-Samhitd, the, 36, 51, 52
Ripaud, Lieut., 712
Ripen, Lord, 714, 835, 859, 860,
861, 930
Rita, 38
Road development, Indian, 942-3
Robat Kila, 906
Roberts, Lord, 834, 835
Roberts, P. E., 693, 709, 715, 741,
757, 787
Roe, Sir Thomas, 465, 487, 637
Rohilkhand (Ruhelkhand), 146, 147,
158, 289’ 529, 691-4, 721
Rohtak, 643
Rohtas (Bihar), 435, 437, 469
Roman coins, 212
Rome and Roman Empire, 137, 142,
212, 213, 234, 346, 810, 969
Ronaldshay, Lord, 931
Rooper, 739
Rose, Sir Hugh, 779
Roshniyas, the, 454
Round Table Conference, the, 920,
921, 968, 987, 988, 991
Rowlatt Act, the, 984
Roy, Rai Bahadur S. C., 966
Royal Air Force, 905, 938, 968, 970
Royal Indian Navy, 938, 939, 970,
992
Royal Military College, Sandhurst, 938
Rudra (6iva), 39, 50
Rudradaman I, 115, 119, 138, 144
Rudradeva, 146
Rudramma Devi, 190, 192, 298
Rudrasena II, 149, 173
Rudravarman, 216
Rub Parwar Agha, 357
Ruhela Afghans, the, 529, 549
— War, 69 1-4
Ruhelkhand, 146, 147, 158, 289, 629,
691-4, 721
Ruhut (Rahib), river, 183
Rukn-ud-din, Shaikh, 317, 325
Rukn-ud-din Firuz, 285-6
Rukn-ud-din Ibrahim, 299
Rum, 364
Rumbold, Sir Thomas, 689
Rumi Khan, 434
Rummindei Pillar, 87, 104
Rupa Goswami, 408
Rupamati, 400, 420
Rupnagar, 484
Ruqayya Begam, 488
Rural Indebtedness and Recon-
struction, 946-7
Russell, Sir John, 946
RusseU, W. H., 782
Russia, 730, 739, 750, 751, 752, 753,
829-38, 840, 865, 903, 904, 906-9,
971, 979, 980, 983
Russian Turkestan, 831
Russo-Afghan Boundary, 836, 837
Turkish War, 833
Ryot, the, 562
Ryotwarl Settlement, the, 801, 802
Ryswick, Treaty of, 643
Sa'adat ‘Ali, 697
Sa'adat Khan (of Oudh), 538
Sahaji Sindhia, 649
Sabha, the, 30, 44, 71
Sdbhdsad Bakhar, the, 520
Sabhyas, the, 191, 193
Sabuktigin, 182-3, 185, 276, 277
Sachiva, the, 193, 618
Sadar Amins, the, 799, 800, 933
Sadar Diwanl Addlat, the, 795, 796,
800, 803, 804, 933
Sadar Nizdmat Addlat, the, 795, 797,
798, 803, 933
Sadar-us-Sudur, the, 657, 560
Sadashiv Rao Bhao, 648, 549, 650,
652
Sadasiva Raya, 371-2
Sadharam Braluna Samaj, the, 880
Sadhama, 641
Sadler, Sir Michael, 961
Sadozais, the, 749, 754
Sadr, the, 441
Sa'dullah Khan, 473, 474, 530, 554
Safavi Empire, the, 425
Safdar ‘All, 646
Safdar Jang, 538, 682
Saffarids, the, 276
Sagar, 324
Sagauli, Treaty of, 722
Sahadeva, 94
Sahajati, 81
Sahasahka, the new, see Vikrama-
ditya, the
Sahe^h-Mahe^h, 57, 77
Sahib Subah, the, 663
SaMbji, 494
Sahyadri range, the, 510
Saif-ud-daulah, 682
Saif-ud-din, 276
Saif-ud'din Firuz, 346
Saif-ud-din Muhammad, 277
^ailendras, the, 219-21
St. Lubin, Chevalier de, 677, 716
St, Thomas, see San Thom6
^aiSunagas, the, 68-61, 62
^aiva Nayanars, 176
1112 INDEX
Saivism, 120, 121, 122, 199, 200-3,
207, 217, 249, 366, 379, 404. See
also ^iva
Sakala (gialko^), 113, 117. 163, 277
Sakas, the, 70, 95, 115. 118-19, 120,
132, 135, 141, 144, 148, 149, 184,
, 189, 400
Sakasthana (Sistan), 118, 833, 906
Saketa, 77, 114, 121, 123
Sakhar Kheda, 538
Sakharam Bapu, 648
Sakhls, the, 407
6akra, 82
Sakrigali, 437
Saktisra, 20, 21, 201
Sakuntala, 96
^akya-muni, 88, 105
^akyas, the, 57, 60, 77, 84, 87
Salabat Jang, Nizam, 667
Salahkayanas, the, 116, 172
Salar Jang, Sir, 776, 780
Salbai, Treaty of, 678, 679, 680
Saldi, 299
Sale, Sir Robert, 742, 757, 758
Salim, (son of Akbar), 456, 457. See
also Jahangir
Salima Begam, Sultana, 457, 579
Salimgarh, 484
Salimulla, Nawab, 981
Salisbury, Lord, 833, 834, 836, 891
Sali^uka, 110, 111
Salivahana, 116
Salsette, 617, 646, 632, 677, 678
Salt monopoly, 845, 864, 893
Saluva djmasty, the, 368
Saluva Narasii^a, 385
Saluva Timma, 369
Salween, 731, 734
Samacharadeva, 164
Samana, 290, 300, 327, 337
Samanids, the, 182
Samantasena, 187
Samarqand, 336, 426, 474, 631, 829,
831, 835
Samarsi, 387
Samatata, 104, 147
Sambalpur, 768
Sambara, 28
Sambhal, 433, 584
l^ambhu, 200
Samgramaraja, 164, 183
Samhitds, the, 35, 61-2, 63
Samiti, the, 30, 44
Samklrtan, the, 879
Samprati, or Sampadi, 110, 140
Samsara, doctrine of, 83, 84, 89
Samudra Gupta, 68, 119, 145-8, 149,
160, 172. 173. 191, 192, 193, 206,
207
Samugarh, 483, 484
Samvat, 512
San Thome (Madras), 119, 630, 641,
648
Sanada of adoption, 841
Sanakanikas, the, 147, 149
Sanchi, 228, 230, 231, 234, 235, 237,
243
Sandhivigrahika, the, 193
Sandhyalsara, 168, 210
Sandila, 337
Sanga, Rana (of Mewar), 350, 402,
403, 425, 426, 427, 428, 449
Sangala, 67
Sangama (of Vijayanagar), 368
, dynasty of, 367, 368
Sangameshwar, 369, 361, 523
Sangrama, 600
f^ankaracharya, 96, 203, 205, 210
Sahkaradeva, 298, 306
Sankara varman, 163, 170
Sahkarshana, 139, 141
Sanslcrit, 7, 126, 185, 207, 210, 213,
215, 217, 222, 329, 345, 354, 377,
383, 401, 407, 408, 678, 816, 817,
818, 879
College, Dhara, 198
SantSji Ghorpade, 524
Santal Parganas, the, 665, 772
^antideva, 210
Sapru, Sir Tej Bahadur, 921, 962
Committee, 948, 961-2
Sapta Sindhu, the, 28
Saran, Prof. Paramatma, 435
Sarasvati, 39, 134
Sarda, Rai Saheb Harbilas, 957
Sardar Khan Singh, 746
Sardesai, 616, 519
SardesJvmukM, 619, 644, 682
Sardha-Oudh canals, the, 944
Sarfaraz Khan, 539, 655
Sarhind. See Sirhind.
Sarkdr, the, 440, 662
Sarkar, Sir J. N., 474, 479, 481, 483.
485, 487, 493, 496, 605, 506, 511,
519, 524, 630, 642, 549, 552, 655,
668, 660, 710
Samath, 88, 226, 228, 240, 966
Sarvddhikdrin, the, 193
Sarvar-ul-mulk, 339
Sarvarthaohirdaka, the, 193
^arvavarman, 142
Sarvavarman Maukhari, 156
Saiahka, 155, 157, 166, 203
Sasaram, 436, 436, 442, 585
Saiigupta, 68
Sassanian dynasty, the, 122
Rostra Dlpikd, the, 408
Sdstraa, the, 71, 812
INDEX
1113
Sastri, Srinivasa, 921, 955
Satadhanus, 110
^atakarnis (Chutukulananda), the,
172
^atakarnis (Satavahana), the, 115,
116, 172
Satara, 150, 517, 524, 646, 709, 768,
841
Satavahana d5niasty, the, 115-16,
119, 131, 132, 135, 139, 144, 172,
210
Satgaon, 320, 343, 345, 471, 472, 575
Sail, 75-6, 197, 302, 376, 400, 402,
496, 568, 773, 813, 822-5
Satiyaputra, 104
Satnanais, the, 498
Satpura range, the, 349, 510
Satrap, the, 131
^atrunjaya, 185, 202
Satvats, the, 55
Satyaki, 178
Satyapir, the, 401
Satydrtha Prakds, Dayananda’s, 883
Saubhuti, 65
Saugor, 779
Saunders, Thomas, 651
Saurashtra, 999, 1000, 1005
Sauvira, 81
Savanur, 683
^avaraa, the, 42, 78
6avarasvamiu, 205
Savityi, 39, 96
Sawad (Swat), 197, 353, 454
Sawai Jay Singh II, 542
SayajI Rao Gaikwar, 842
Sayana, 366, 377, 408
Sayani, 896
Sayurghdl lands, the, 560
Sayyid Jamal -ud-din Urfi, 580
Sayyid Maqbar ‘All, 578
Sayyids, the, 338-40, 342, 393, 414,
528, 529, 531, 537, 540; genealogical
tables, 605, 606
School Book Society, the, 818
Science: in Vedic age, 36, 51-4;
Modern Indian, 966
Scott, Colonel W., 720
Sculpture: early schools of, 230;
Gandhara school, 234-40; Gupta
period, 240-3 ; Medieval, 253
See also Art and Monuments
Scythians, the, 118-19, 120, 125, 144,
235
Scytho-Parthian Kings, the, 118-19
Seal, Sir B. N., 966
Secretary of State for India, the, 829,
845-7 C> passim, 910-26 passim, 937,
968
Secunderabad, 1008
Sedaseer, 712
Seistan, 118, 883
Seistan Mission, 906
Seleukos, 98, 99, 101, 110, 117
Seleukos Nihator, 103, 111
Selim Shah (Islam Shah Sher), 443.
660
Seljuqs, the, 276
Sen, Dr., 519, 568
Send Karte, the, 543
Sendpati, the, 518, 546, 842
Senas, the, 168, 187, 189, 202, 253,
277; genealogical table, 258
Senateova, the, 381
Sepoy Army, the, 774, 775, 780, 781,
874
Sepoys, female, 682n^
Sera, 682
Serampur, 824
Seringapatam (Srirangapatan), 373,
374, 548, 685, 688, 712, 714, 718
, Treaty of, 688, 845
Servants of India Society, the, 955,
956, 963
Seths, the, 194
Seton, Alexander, 737
Seva Sadan Societies, the, 959-60
Seva Samiti, the, 956
Boy Scouts, 956
Seven Years’ War, 664, 660, 666, 669
Sewell, Robert, 366, 367, 370, 372
Shadi Khan, 311, 345
Shafi, Sir Mohammad, 921
Shah Beg, 465
Shah Buland, Iqbal, 474
Shah Husain (governor of Sind), 444
Shah Isma'Il Safavi of Persia, 426
Shah Jahan, 366, 455, 456, 466, 467,
468, 469, 470-90, 492, 500, 505,
508, 611, 654, 655, 656, 559, 561,
662, 565, 667, 671, 572, 674, 578,
681, 682, 591, 593, 596, 600, 601
Shdh-Jahdnndmdh, the, 581
Shah Lodi, Sultan, (Islam Khan
Lodi), 340
Shah Mirza (Shams-ud-din Shah), 353
Shah Rukh, 338
Shah Shuja, 739, 760, 753, 754, 755,
766, 758, 761
Shah Turkan, 285
Shah Wall Khan, 651, 552
Shahabad, 310, 724, 824
Shahana-i'Mandi, the, 309
Shahbad (village), 310«.»
Shahdara, 469
Shahi Khan (Zain-ul-‘ Abidin), 354,
401, 402
Shabiya dynasty, the, 164, 171,
182-4, 186, 188
H14
INDEX
Shahji (father of SMvaji), 476, 477,
611, 512, 719
Shahpur!, 731
Shalir-i-nau, 495
Shahranpur, 735
Shahi'yar, 466, 468, 470
Shahfi (son of Rajaram), 507
Shahu (Shivaji II), 623, 524, 643,
544, 545, 646, 547
Shaibani Khan ijzbeg, 426
Shaista lOian, 493, 514, 639, 643
Sham Singh, 743
Shambhuji, 503, 605, 506, 515, 516,
523
Shambliiijl II, 524n, 545
Shams-i-Siraj ‘Afif, 328, 330, 331,
333, 334, 344, 410
Shams Khan (of Gujarat), 351
Shams Khan Auhadi, 337
Shams-ud-din Abu Nasar Muzaffar
Shah (Sidl Badr), 346
Shams-ud-din Ahmad (Ganesh), 346
Shams-ud-din Daud (BahmanI), 357
Shams- ad-din Firuz Shah, 316
Shams-ud-din Iliyas Shah (Haji
lUyas), 328, 329, 344
Shams-ud-din Shah (Shah Mirza, of
Kashmir), 353
Shams-ud-din Yusuf Shah, 345
ShankarajI Malhar, 523
Shans, the, 388, 389, 840
Sharaf Qai, 308
Sharb, the, 331
Shariat, the, 292
Sharma, Dasaratha, 612n
Sharqi dynasty, the, 346, 347, 348
Shashghani, the, 333
Shastri, Krishna, 369, 370, 380
Shaukat Jang, 655, 657, 658, 659, 665
Shelton, Colonel John, 758
Sheoraj, 722
Sher-afghan, 465
Sher ‘Ali, 830, 831, 832, 833, 834,
836, 836
Sher Andaz, 291
Sher Khan Sunqar, 290, 292, 327
Sher Khan Sur, 347
Sher Muhammad, 763
Sher Shah, 426, 429, 432, 433,
434-43, 445, 462, 667, 560, 569,
574, 575, 578, 685, 596
Sher Singh, 746, 747, 766
Sheristadar, the Chief, 793
Shiahs, the, 359, 364, 444, 476, 478,
486, 505, 531
Shihab-ud-dln (Muhammad of Ghur),
184, 276-80, 281, 282, 285
Shihab-ud-din (of Kashmir), 363
Shihab-ud-din Ahmad, 318, 462
Shihab-ud-dIn Bayazid Shah, 345
Shihab-ud-din Bughra Shah, 316
Shihab-ud-din ‘Umar, 311
Shipping, 970, 972
Shtqdar-i-Shiqdaran, the, 440
SMqddrs, the, 395
Shitab Rav, 790
Shivaji, 495, 498, 503, 505, 510,
511, 612-23, 544, 547, 565, 709,
710, 736, 768, 895
Shivaji II (Shahu), 543, 544, 545,
646, 647
Shivaji III, 524
Shivner, 512
Sholapur, 476, 900
Shorapur, 325
Shore, Sir John (Ijord Teignmouth),
679, 682, 690, 691, 697, 699, 715,
749, 793
Shuja (son of Shah Jahan), 481, 482,
484, 485, 486, 807
Shuja, Sultan, 639
Shuja Mirza, 750
Shuja'at Khan, 494
Shuja'at Khan (of Malwa), 350
Shuja-ud-daulah (of Oudh), 638, 660,
551, 672, 692, 695, 696
Shuja-ud-din Khan, 639
Sialkot, 113, 117, 163, 277
Siam, 216, 217, 730
6ibi district, 96, 835
6ibis, the, 65
Siddharaja Jayasirhha, 186, 189
Siddhartha (father of Mahavira), 84
Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha), 87, 88
Siddi Maula, 297
Sidi Badr (Shams-ud-din Abu Nasar
Muzaffar Shah), 346
Sidi Jauhar, 614
Sikandar (of Gujarat), 353
Sikandar (of Kashmir), 353
Sikandar II (of Bengal), 345
Sikandar ‘Adil Shahi, 605
Sikandar Jah, 718
Sikandar Shah (of Bengal), 329, 344
Sikandar Shah (Nizam Shah) Lodi,
340, 341, 346, 410, 509
Sikandar Sur, 444, 445, 446
Sikandara, 497, 589, 600
Sikharas, 243-5, 248, 249, 251, 252
Sikhism, 406
Sikhs, the, 465, 498-600, 529, 635,
536, 540, 641, 542, 549, 553, 601,
706, 729, 735-48, 760, 752, 763,
754, 755, 756, 761, 776, 777, 780,
867, 874, 919, 923, 956-7, 995,
1003
, Twelve confederacies of, 735
Sikkim, 723, 768, 908, 909
Sikri, 584
Silabhattanka, 207
^iladitya (Barsha), 156, 157,
See also Harsha of Kanauj
Siiixhaehalaiai, 369
Simhavarman, 146, 173
Simhavishnu, 173
Simla, 723,' 759, 982, 992
Simon, Sir Jolm (Lord Simon), 920
Commission, 920, 921, 933, 986,
987
Simraon (Nepal), 389
Simuka (Satavahana), 115, 139
Sinan, the Albanian, 584
Sind, 15, 23, 78, 117, 119, 158, 159,
178, 181, 182, 275, 283, 284, 286,
290, 295, 325, 326, 327, 329, 330,
337, 352, 398, 439, 444, 445, 454,
482, 486, 533, 535, 573, 729, 739,
742, 751, 764, 760-3, 806, 829,
923, 924, 990, 993
Sagar, 284, 536
Sindhia house of Gwalior, the, 546,
706, 708, 709, 721, 724, 725, 737,
776, 779; genealogical table, 1015
Sindhia, MahadajI, 622, 533, 678,
679, 680, 681, 684, 698, 710, 737
Sindhu-Sauvira, 66
Sindhuraja Navasahasanka, 184, 185
Singapore, 991
Singhagarh fort, 514
Sihghana, 189, 198
Singhasari, 221
Sinha, Dr. J, C., 805n
Sinha, Lord, 913, 916, 930
Sipah Solar, the, 563
Sipihr Shukoh, 486, 486, 487
Sipri (Sivpur), 678
Siraj-ud-daulah, 639, 669, 655-62
passim, 664, 665, 669, 672, 807
Sirhind, 339, 340, 444, 634, 636, 540,
541, 548, 735
Canal, 873
Siri, 310
Sirmur lulls, 332
Sirohi, 727
Sironj, 626
Sirsuti, 332
Sisodias, the, 502, 503, 612
Sist, 381
Sistan, 118, 833, 906
^yunaga, 58, 61
Slta, wife of Rama, 92, 93
Sitabaldi, 709
Sittannavasal, temple at, 253
Sittang valley, 731
6iva, 20, 21, 22, 24, 39, 50, 82, 84,
105, 139, 141, 160, 218, 249. See
also &ivism
1115
Siva-Bbagavatas, 84
Siva Skandavarman, 139, 173
Sivadeva (of Nepal), 162
Sivas, the, 27, 37
Sivasamudram, 369
Siwalik, 283
SiwaUlc Hills, 336, 352, 445
Skanda, 82, 139
Skanda Gupta, 150, 153, 155
Skeen, Sir Andrew, 937
Skylax, 64
Slave dynasty, the, 279, 281-94;
genealogical table, 603
Slavery, 133, 198, 334, 342, 345, 361,
400, 472, 533, 675
, Abolition of. Bills: English,
819; Indian, 826
Sleeman, Sir William, 579, 770, 825
Slim, Gen. (later Field Marshal), 969
Smith, Richard Baird, 777
Smith, Sir Harry, 743
Smith, General Joseph, 683
Smith, Dr. Vincent A., 226, 377,
443, 446, 462-3, 469, 461-2, 477,
483, 486-7, 506, 574, 593. 685,
696, 754
Smriti, 53
Sobha Singh, 640
Sobraon, 743
Social conditions: in Vedic age, 31; in
Aryan age, 45; Magadhan, 75; in
Maurya era, 131; in Gupta era,
195; in Vijayanagar Empire, 376;
in Turko- Afghan era, 399; in
Mughul era, 566 ; in modern times,
821-6, 876-87, 978-9
Social and Religious Reform, 876-87,
955-60
Social Service League, 955
Socotra, 211
Soma, 32, 36, 39, 40, 43
Soma, Princess, 216
Somadeva, 210
Somefivara Ahavamalla, 188
Some^vara III, 189, 192, 210
Somnath, 183, 185, 769
Sonargaon, 316, 320, 329, 343, 344,
441, 672, 675
Sondip, 493
Song Yun, 163
Soonda, 713
Sooty, 672
Sopara, 81, 104
South Africa, 376, 971
Spain, 181, 607, 634, 635, 684
Spalirises, 118
Spice Islands, 633, 635
iSraddha, 37
^raddUaananda, SvamT, 883
INDEX
158.
INDEX
1116
^ramanas, 129
^ravana Belgola, 251
Sravastl, 57, 59, 77, SI, 146, 158
^renika (Bimbisara), 68
^ri Harsha, 210
^ri Meghavarma (-Vanna), 145
^rl Prithvl Vallablia, the, 192
^ri Vaishnavas, the, 205
§ri Vikrama, 265
£§ri Yajha ^atakarni, 116
^rlkara Nandi, 408
Srinagar, 1003
Sringeri, 203
Srinjayas, the, 25, 26, 27, 42, 94, 95
^ripur, 575
^rlrangam, 205, 250, 652
Srirangapatan. See Seringapatara
^rong-tsan Gampo, 214
Sruti, 51, 63
State lotteries, 826
Statesman, The, 969
Statutory Civil Servants, 856, 857,
891
Stavorinus, 671
Steel Corporation of Bengal, 970
Stein, Sir Aurel, 213
Stephen, Sir James, 786
Stephenson, Edward, 641
Stewart, Sir Donald Martin, 834
Stolietofi, General, 834
Strabo, 82, 133, 134, 138, 139
Straohey, Sir John, 693, 864
Straehey, Sir Richard, 870, 948
Stuart, General James, 685, 712
Stuarts, the, 636
Stupas, 228, 231, 236-8
Subah, the, 456, 662
Suhahdar (or Nazim), the, 563
Subandhu, 207
Subansiri; river, 388
Subbarayan, Mrs. Radhabai, 979
Subhadra, 94
Subhagasena, 111, 114
Subject Peoples Conference (1945),
971
Subordinate Civil Service, 857
SudarSana lake, 129
Sudas, 27, 28
Suddha-advaita, 404
Suddhi movement, the, 883
Suddhodana, 87
^udra caste, the, 32, 33, 46, 71, 78,
132, 181, 195
Suevi, the, 137
Suez Canal, 855, 898, 949, 968
Suffren, Admiral de, 684, 716
''ufi. Shaikh, 488
■fism, 405, 457, 461, 481
randha. 164
Sugriva, 93
Sulienpha, 389
Sujan Rai Khatri, 581
Sukkur Barrage, 944
Sulaiman (Arab merchant), 170, 192
Sulaiman Kararani, 452
Sulaiman the Magnificent, 425
Sulaiman Shukoh, 482, 485, 486
Sulikas, the, 155
Sultanates, independent: Jaimpur,
347-8; Malwa, 348-50; Gujarat,
351-3 ; Kashmir, 353-4; Khandesh,
355; the Bahmani Kingdom, 356-
63; of the Deccan, 363-5
Sultangaj, 242
Sultanpm-, 316. See Warangal
Sumant, the, 618
Sumatra, 166, 215, 219, 222, 240,
633, 636
Sumeria,n civilisation, 21, 23
Simam, 290, 327
Sunda, 682
Sxmdara Pandya, 306
Simdaramurti, 203
Sungas, the, 110, 113-15, 199, 231
Sunnis, the, 359, 458, 482, 495, 631
Supa, 456
Supreme Council, the, 794, 814
Supreme Court, the, 796, 797, 803,
804, 824, 933, 1007
Sura, 32
Suraj Mai Jat, 542, 660
Surajgarh, 436
Surapala, 167
feas, the, 167, 187
Surasena (Mathura), 56
^urasenas, the, 84, 139
Surashtra, 66, 101, 129, 170, 182
Surat, 351, 452, 473, 477, 614, 517,
520, 523, 540, 541, 574, 575, 634,
636, 630, 637, 638, 642, 643, 677,
702, 719, 727, 767, 806, 981
, Treaty of, 677
Surdas, 682
Surjana Hara, Rai, 450
Surji-Arjangaon, Treaty of, 704
Surma valley, 910
Surman, Jolm, 641
^urparaka (Sopara), 81, 104
Surs, the, 434, 444, 445, 452, 554,
560, 669, 671; genealogical table,
611
Surya, 24, 25, 39
Suryavarman II (of Kambuja), 216
Susa, 129
Sufiruta, 142
Sufiunia inscription, 146
Sntanuti, 640
Sutas, the, 71, 72
INDEX
1117
Sutlej, river, 290, 331, 485, 541, 722,
727, 729, 735, 736, 737, 738,
739, 742, 743, 744, 766, 775, 944
Sutras, the, 53, 54. 70, 72, 77
Suvarnabhumi, 215
Suvarnadvipa (Sumatra), 166
Suvarnagrama, 345
Suvarnarekha, river, 452
Suvamdrug, 642
Svamidatta, 147
Svayamvara, practice of, 76, 197
^vetaketu, 42
Svetambara, Jainas, 84-5, 87
SvetaJvalara Upanishad, the, 200
Swadeshi movement, the, 900, 950, 981
Swaraj, 981, 984, 986
Swat (Sawad), 197, 353, 454
Swedish Bast India Company, the, 633
Sydenham, Captain, 724
Syed Ahmad, 772
Syed Ahmad Khan, Sir, 849, 882,
896-8, 986
Sykes, Sii’ Percy, 907, 947
Sylhet, 345, 995
Symes, Captain Michael, 730
Syria, 117, 136, 211, 212
Tabaqat-i-Akbari, the, 580
Tabaqdt4-Ndsirl, the, 288, 410
Tagara, 137
Tagdi, 372
Taghi, 327
Tagore, Abanindranath, 966
Tagore, Devendranath, 877, 878,
879, 880
Tagor, Rabindranath, 878, 961,
964, 967
Tahmasp Shah, 444, 532, 598
Taila I Chalukya, 180
Taila II, 180, 185, 188
Tailangas, the, 730
Taj Khan, 436
Taj Mahal, the, 488, 593, 596
Taj-ud-din Piruz Shah, see Firuz
Shah Bahmani
Taj-ud-din Yildiz, 279, 281, 283
Tdj-ul-Ma‘dsir, 281
Taj-ul-mulk, 338
TSyofe, the, 580
Tajikas, the, 178
Taklamakan desert, 213
Tal Sehonda, 471
Talamba, 336
Talara, the, 381
Talikota, battle of, 373
Talkhis, the, 409
Talmud, the, 481
Talpuras, the, 760
Tamar, 291
Tamil country, the, 116, 190,205,380
districts, 385
literature, 377
people, 202, 203, 205
Tamralipti, 81
Tanda, 452
Tanjore, IIG, 179, 180, 188, 249, 253,
507, 651, 652, 667, 719, 727, 764,
769, 810
, Cholas of, 180
Tanjur, the Tibetan, 214
Tattled, the, 322-3
Tansen, 598, 601
Tantia Topi, 773, 777, 778, 779
Tantricism, 201, 253, 254
Tapti, river, 355, 510
Tara Bai, 507, 524, 543, 547
Tarai, the, 722
Tarain, battle of, 278, 279, 283
TardI Beg, 446
Tarf, the, 518
Ta’rihTi-i-^Aldi, the, 302», 410
Tarlkh-i-^ Alfi, the, 580
Ta'rikh-i- Firuz Shdhi, the, 279?i,
319», 410
Ta’rlkh-i-Jdn Jahdn, the, 679
Ta’rikh-i- Mubdrak Shdhi, the, 317,
319n, 339, 410
Tarmashirin Kkan, 323, 324
Tartar Khan (Bahram Khan), 328,
343
Tartars, the, 198, 431, 555, 724
Taslh Lama, the, 907
Tashilhunpo, 907
Tashkhend, 831, 834
Tata Iron and Steel Company, 970
Tatar Khan (Nasir-ud-din Muham-
mad Shah), 351
Tathdgata, 88
Tattah, 326, 330
Tattvahodhini Patrikd, the, 878
Tavernier, Jean Baptiste, 573
Taxila, 64, 66, 68, 77, 81, 83, 102,
103, 104, 111, 117, 131, 234, 965
Tayler, William, 776
Taylor, Meadows, 362, 364
Teg Bahadur, 500
Teheran, Treaty of, 751
Tej Singh, 743
Tejahpala, 185, 202, 245
Telang, 320
Telang, K. T., 896
Telegaon, 678
Telegraph system, the, 845, 848, 855,
899 908
Telegu country, the, 173, 191, 366
literature, 377, 378, 383, 408
— — Reddis, 178
1118
INDEX
Telegu, sepoys, 874
Teliagarhi, 437, 639
Telingana, 303, 305, 312, 326, 329,
334, 360, 365, 385, 477, 478, 616
Temple, Sir Richard, 748
Tenasserim, 730, 732, 838
Terry, Edward, 464, 465, 469, 487,
568, 670, 573, 574
Tezin, 769
Thais, the, 216
Thakkar, Amritlal Vithaldas, 960
Thakuris, the (of Nepal), 389
Thai, 902
Thana, 707
Thanesar, 161, 155-6, 157, 158, 183,
190, 649
Tharrawaddy (Burmese king), 732,
Thatta, the, 328, 444, 760
Theosophioal Society, 886-7, 955
Thibaw (Burmese king), 838, 839, 840
Thomas, Edward, 280n, 284, 286?i,
315)t, 321-2, 328
Thomason, James, 803
Thornton, Edward, 688, 690, 709,
714, 719, 756
Thucydides, 451
Thugs, the, 825-6
Thun, 542
Tiastanes, 119
Tibet, 194, 214, 324, 389, 397, 805,
907-9, 1002
Tibeto-Chinese, the, 730
Tikta-vilva (Majapahit), 221
Tilak, Bal Gangadliar, 896, 928, 981,
Tilpat, 302, 497
Timur, 336, 337, 338, 342, 347, 348,
353, 396, 425, 426, 431, 457, 460,
474, 609, 548, 754
Timur Shah ‘Abdall, 635, 735, 748
Timurids, the, 72, 149, 342, 426,
463, 490, 608, 669, 580, 698;
genealogical tables, 612, 613
Tinnevelly, 116, 691
Tipu Sultan, 679, 681, 682, 685-91
passim, 699, 711, 712, 714, 715,
716, 717, 718, 741, 749, 801
Shringheri letters of, 715
Tira, 837
Tirhut, 316, 341, 344, 347, 348
Tirthahkaras, the, 86, 86, 87, 200, 201
Tirujnana-Sjambandar, 203
Tirumala (Aravidu), 371, 373
Tiruvannamalai, 368
Tissa Moggaliputta, 90
Tista, river, 722
Titto Meer (Meer Nisr ‘Ali), 772
Tlvara, 110
Tobacco, 571
Tochi, 902
Tod, Colonel James, 278, 302, 387,
449, 451, 727
Todar Mall, 452, 454, 478, 561
Tomaras, the, 186
Tonk, 706, 726, 727
Tonk, Nawab of, see Amir Khan
Tonkin, 839
Toramana, 151, 153
Tori Khel rebellion, the, 903
Toma, 612
Torture, forms of, 332, 382
Tosali, 140
Trade and Industry : in Vedic times,
35; Maurya era, 136-8; Vijaya-
nagar Empire, 374; Turko- Afghan,
397; Mughul, 572-5; Modern India,
805-11, 898-901, 949-51, 972, 973,
976-7
Trade Unions, 964-5, 956, 974-6
Trajan, 120
Transoxiana, 290, 323, 463, 631
Transport, 570, 941-3, 976
Travancore, 116, 371, 686, 998, 1000,
1006
University, 961, 967
Trevelyan, Sir Charles, 818
Trevor, Captain, 756
Tribuvanamalla of Kalyan, 184
Tribuvanamalla 'Vilcramaditya VI,
184
Trichinopoly, 116, 367, 607, 650, 651,
652, 667
Trilochan Das, 682
Trilochanpala, 183
Trirabak Rao Dabhade, 645
Trimbakjl Danglia, 707, 709
Trimurti, the, 25, 84
Trincomali, 684
Trinomali, 683
Triparadeisos, 99, 101
Tripathi, 682
Tripura, 1000, 1006
Trilala, 84
Tptsus, the, 27, 28, 29, 37
Trotter, L. J., 763, 758
Tucker, H. St. G., 764
Tuen-sien, 216
Tughluq Shah, (Ghiyas-ud-dtn Tugh-
luq II), 336, 343
Tughluqabad, 316, 323
Tughluqndmah, the, 317
Tughluqs, the, 314-37, 343, 366,
393, 394, 396, 397, 414, 417, 455;
genealogical table, 604
Tughril ]^an, 291
Tukaram, 611, 881
Tukaroi, 462
INDEX
1119
Tukojl Holkar, 680, 682, 698
Tulsi Bai, 706
Tulsi Das, 582, 583
Tuluva dyiiasty. the, 368, 369, 371 ;
genealogical table, 610
Tungabhadra, river, 174, 190, 366,
368, 517, 688
Turanians, the, 454, 531
Turkestan, 278, 282, 364, 400, 425,
834, 1002
, Russian, 831, 1002
Turki, 401, 431, 432, 488
Turk! Shahiya kings of Kabul, the,
181
Turkish slaves of Iltutmish, 279, 288
Turko- Afghan Government, the:
Central Government, 391-5; Pro-
vincial, 395; Muslim nobility,
395-6; economic and social con-
ditions, 396-400; literature, art
and architecture, 400-22; Muslim
education, 409-10
Turko-Afghans, the, 367, 371, 386,
391-422, 425, 429, 531, 684
Turks, the, 186, 186, 276, 279, 282,
286, 287, 294, 296, 299, 342, 343,
369, 371, 373. 426, 431, 451, 495,
666, 737, 805, 903, 906, 907, 983,
984, 986. See also Turko-Afghans
, GhaznaWd,. 188
, llbari, 288, 295
, Yamini, 184
Tunisha-danda, the, 195
Turva^as, the, 26, 26, 27, 42
Tushaspha, 129
Uch, 277, 287, 325 ^
Udabhanda, Shahiya dynasty of,
182-4,' '186, 188
Udabhandapura (Waihand), 163, 164,
171, isi, 182, 183
Udai Singh, 449, 450
Udaipur, 591, 726, 768
Udayagiri, 200, 368, 369, 385
Udayana, 57, 60
Udayi, 60, 61
Udaynala, 672
Udbhata, 163
Uddandapura, 168, 198
Udgir, 548
Udita, 158
Udyotakara, 203
Ugrasena, 147
Ujjain, 67, 103, 119, 131, 149, 164,
182, 284, 303, 320
Ulemas, the, 391, 392, 460
Ulghu, 297
Ulugh Khan, 299, 301, 302
Uma-Haimavati, 82
Umar Khan Sarwani, 436
Ummattur, chief of, 369
Unemplojmient bureau, Firuz Shah’s,
333
United Company of Merchants, etc.,
see East India Company
United Indian Patriotic Association,
897
United Nations, 971, 979, 1002, 1003,
1004
United Nations Educational, Scienti-
fic and Cultural Organization, 979
United Provinces, the, 186, 201, 430,
802, 803, 851, 869, 870, 871, 883,
903, 913, 918, 924, 948, 961, 962,
979, 986, 1000, 1005, 1008
United States, the, see America
Universities, Indian, 168, 821, 960-2,
963, 965, 966, 967, 978-9
VpanisJiads, the, 45, 61, 53, 82, 84,
203, 406, 481, 579, 878
Upariica, the, 195
Upton, Colonel John, 677
Urasa (Hazara), 66, 164
Urdu, 401, 402, 714, 963, 964
Urganj (Khiva), 495
Uruvilva, 88
Ush, 285
Ushas, 39
‘Usman Khan, 466
Ustad ‘Isa, 696
Ustad Mansur, 699
Utpalas, the, 163-4
Uttar Pradesh, lOOSn
Uttara Kurus, the, 65
Uttara Madras, the, 55
Uzbegs, the, 366, 426, 454, 466, 474,
877, 878, 883
Vachaspati, 408
Vaijayanti, 116, 116, 173, 176
Vaijayantipura (Banavasi), 172
Vainya Gupta, 151
Vaifiall, kingdom of, 66, 69, 61, 70, 90
Vaifieshika, 408
Vaishnava Alvars, the, 175
Vaishnava literature, 682-3
Vaishnavas, or Bhagavatas, the, 199
Vaishnavism, 117, 139, 140, 141,
199,' 200, 201, 203, 205, 379
Vaifiravana, 82
VaiSya caste, the, 29, 32, 46, 127
132, 380
Vdjapeya sacrifice, the, 32, 43, 199
Vajjian Confederacy, the, 42
Vakatakas, the, 116, 149, 172, 173
Yakpatiraja, 162, 163, 207 «
1120
INDEX
Valabhl, 87, 157, 158, 159, 161, 198,
202, 207
Valanddu, the, 195
Valikondapuram, 643
Vallabbacharya, 404, 582
Valmiki, 92, 93
Vaman Pandit, 611
Vamana, 163
Vamana Bhatta Bana, 408
Vanavasi, 140
Vanga, 140, 164
Vangas, the, 55-6, 92, 162
Vangiya Sdhitya Parisad, the, 966
Vansittart, Henry, 670, 671, 673
Varaha cave, the, 173
Varaharaihira, 149, 203, 207
Varendri, 187
Varuna, 24, 38, 50, 139, 191
Vasco da Gama, 362, 629
Vaiini, 82
Vasishka, 122
Vasishtha, 27, 36
Vasiah-thiputra Pulumayi, 115
Vasishthiputra Satakarni, 115
Vastupala, 186, 202
Vaaubandhu, 201
Vasudeva (Krishna-Devakiputra),
50, 83, 84, 92, 94, 139, 141, 143,
205
Vasudeva Kushan, 122, 141
Vasudeva ^uhga, 114
Vasumati, 70
Vasumitra, 114
Vdta, 39
Vatapi, 157, 174, 176, 178, 206
Vatsa, 66, 67
Vatsaraja, 169, 170, 179
Vatsayana, 203
Vatfagamani Abhaya, 90
Vdya, 39
Veda, the, 22, 24-5, 61-2, 71, 89,
198, 202, 366, 877, 878, 883
Veddngas, the, 63-4, 199
Vedanta, the, 203, 206, 401, 481
Vedic Age, early, 22-3; early
Aryans, 24-8; political organisa-
tion, 28-30; social life, 31-3;
economic life, 33-6; arts and
sciences, 36-7; religion, 37-40
, the later j Aryan expansion,
41 ; administration, 43-5; social
changes, 45-7; economic condi-
tions, 47; religion, 60; literature
and science, 51-4
Vadic civilisation and rites, 91, 199,
205-7, 884, 885
Vellodi, M. K., 1002
Vellore, 517, 660, 687, 712
Vehgi, 147
Venice, 631
Venkata I (Venkatadri), 371
Venkata II, 373
Vepery, 642
Verelst, Harry, 577, 675, 808
Vernacular Press, the, 891
Versailles, 712
Viceroy, title of, 781
, Council of the, 847, 850, 851,
852, 865, 992, 993, 994
Viceroy’s Fund, 970
Victoria, Queen, 829, 844
, Proclamation by, 782, 889
V-idagdha Mddhava, the, 408
Vidarbhas, the, 41, 114
Videhas, the, 41, 42, 56, 92, 93
Vidhatri, 37, 39
Vidisa, 114, 116, 117
Vidula, 96
Vidyadhara, 184, 185-6
Vidyanath, 408
Vidyapati Thakur, 407
Vidyapati Upadhyaya, 408
Vidyasagar, Iswar Chandra, 887
Vigrahapala I, 166
Vigrahapala II, 167
Vigrahapala III, 167
Vigi-aharaja IV, 186, 187, 192
ViJtards, the, 589
Vijaya (of Majapahit), 221
Vijaya-Bukka (Vira Vijaya), 367
Vijaya Dev, 277
Vijaya Sen Stu-I, 458
Vijayadrug (Gheria), 642
Vijayanagar, 186, 190, 306, 325, 326,
357, 358, 369, 361, 364, 365, 385,
402, 403, 408, 421, 422, 445, 466,
610, 598, 634, 637 ; political history,
366-74; splendour and wealth,
374-6; social life, 376-7; art and
literature, 377-9; administration,
379-83. Yadavas, Tuluvaa and
Aravidus of, genealogical tables,
609-10
City, 374-5
Vijayapura, 187
Vijayasena, 168, 187
Vijnane§vara, 189
Vikrama era (Samvat), 86, 118
Vikramaditya, or new Sahasahka,
the, 184, 185, 186, 284
Vikramaditya I, 174, 178
Vilcramaditya II, 174, 178, 207
Vikramaditya VI, 189, 202, 207
Vikramaditya Chandra Gufita II,
see Chanda Gupta II
Vikramaditya 6akari, 154
Vikramaditya Skanda Gupta, 150,
153, 156
INDEX
112]
VikramdnJca Ohariia, the, 189, 210
Vikramankadeva Charita, the, 189,210
Vikramapura, 187
Vikramalila, 168, 198, 214
Vikramjit, Raja (Htmu), 403, 443, 446
Viktevitoh, Russian envoy, 753
Village Assembly, the, 381, 858
Vima Kadphises, 120
Vimala, 202
Vimala Sha, 245
Vimala Vasahi, temple of, 185
Vimalasuri, 142
Vinayaditya, 164, 202
Vinayak Rao, 700
Vinayakapala, 170
Vindhya Hills, 205, 298, 506, 510
Vindhya Pradesh, 999, 1005
Vira Ballala II, 190
Vira Ballala III, 190, 303, 306, 326, 366
Vira Ballala IV, 326
Vira Narasirhha, 369
Vira Pandya, 305-6
Vira Saivas, the, 203
Vira Vijaya (Vijaya-Buklm), 367
Virabhadra, Prince, 369
Viradeva, 166
Viradhavala Vaghola, 185
Viraraja the younger, of Coorg, 765
Virasena-^aba, 149, 207
Virupaksha III, 368
Vi^akha, 82, 139
Vi^avara, 31
Vishayapati, the, 195
Vishnu, 38, 39, 60, 83, 94, 191, 200,
20i, 202, 205, 207, 240, 377, 404
Vishpu Gupta, 161, 162
Vishnu Urulcrama, 39
Vishnugopa, 147, 173
Vishnukundin family, the, 1 55, 172, 1 73
Vishnuvardhana, 190
V'ishii, 194
Vishwas Rao, 649, 652
Viiishtddvaita, 205
Vi^vakarma cave, the, 261
VUvaharman, 37, 39
Vi^vamitra, 28, 36
Vi^varupasena, 188
ViSve§vara, 403
Vitapala, 168
Vithal Nath, 582
Vithuji Holkar, 700
Vitthalasvami temple, the, 372, 378
Vivokananda, Svami, 884-6
Vizagapatam, 370, 972
Vononea, 118
Vratyas, the, 46, 56, 58, 95
Vrichivats, the, 26, 26, 27
Vriji (Vajji), 56
Vrijian State, the, 66-7, 59, 60, 75
Vyaghradeva, 172
Vyaghraraja, 172
Vyasa, 92
Wade, Sir Claude M., 764
Wadgaon, Convention of, 678
Wadia, B. P., 954
Wahhabis, the, 774, 896
Waihand (Udabhandapur), 163, 164,
171, 181, 182, 183
Wainganga, river, 366
Wajang, 222
WoJdl-i-mtaluq, the, 680
Waltair, 961
Wandiwash, 668, 715
Wang-hiuen-tse, 145, 162
Waqa-i-navis, the, 668
Wdqiat-i'Bahurly the, 580
Waqidt-i-Jahdnglrl, the, 463
Warangal, 189, 303, 304, 305, 315,
316, 325, 326, 367, 358, 365, 366
Warda, river, 703, 704
Wardak, 122
Wardha system, 979
Washington, U.S.A., 962, 972, 979
Wasil Muhammad, 724, 725
Watson, Admiral Charles, 548, 642,
660, 661, 665, 666
Watts, W., 656
Wavell, Lord, 992, 993, 994
Wdzir, the, 392, 393, 557
Wazir ‘Ali, 697, 720, 749, 770
Wazlr Khan, 641
Waziristan, 902, 903
Wellesley, Arthur (Duke of Welling-
ton), 701, 702, 704, 715, 718,
754, 760
Wellesley, Marquess, 619, 679, 698,
699, 700, 701, 702, 704, 706, 712,
713, 714, 716-21 passim, 727,
749, 764, 769, 824, 840, 845
Wellington, Duke of, aee Wellesley,
Arthur
West Bengal, 1006, 1008
Western Ghats, 612
Wheeler, Sir Hugh, 776
Whitley, Rt. Hon. J. H.. 953
Widow re-marriage, 31, 76, 686, 773,
813, 879, 880, 881, 887, 967-8
Widows, burning of, 197; see also Saii
Wilks, Colonel Mark, 685, 686
Williams, Rushbrook, 429, 811
Williamson, Mr., 910
Willingdon College, Sangli, 887
Willoughby, Lieut., 776
Wilson, Sir Arohdale, 777
Wilson, Dr. H. H., 721
Windhi^, Sir Charles Ash, 779
1122 INDEX
Women, position of: in Vedic Age,
31, 45; Magadhaix era, 76 ; Maiirya
era, 132; Gupta era, 196; Vijaya-
nagar Empire, 376; Turko-Afghan
era, 400; Mughul era, 679; early
1 9th century, 813; Modem India,
967-9, 963, 979
Women’s University, Indian, 961, 963
Wood, Benjamin, 636
Wood. Sir Charles (Lord Halifax),
819, 860
Wood, General J. S., 722
Woodhead, Sir John, 976
Workmen’s Compensation Act (1946),
974
World Trade Union Conference
(1945), 971
World War I, 903, 904, 907, 915, 926,
930, 937, 949, 950, 954, 961, 983,
World War II, 968-70, 971, 972, 973,
976, 976, 989
Wright, R., 946
Wynaad, 714
Wynn, Charles W. W., 814
Xenophon, 451
Xerxes, 64
Yadavas, the, 83, 94, 95, 178, 187,
189, 190, 198, 210, 303, 304, 312,
510, 612; genealogical table, 609
Yadus, the, 25, 26, 27
Yahiva-bin-Ahmad, 315, 323, 330,
33i 333, 410
Yabiya- bin- Ahmad Sarhindi, 31 3, 3 1 6,
339
Yajnavalkya, 42
Yajurv^da, the, 62
Yaksha cult, the, 82
Ya‘kub (son of Sher ‘Ali), 834, 835
Yama, 39, 40, 191
Yaman, 495
Yamini Turks, the, 184
Yamunacharya, 205
Yandaboo, 732, 733
Ya'qub (of Kashmir), 454
Ya‘qub-ibn>Lais, 276
Yaqut, 286
Yafeskara, 164, 191
Yaska, 64
Ya^oda, 85
YaSodhara, 87-8
Ya^odharapura (Angkor Thom), 217
Ya^odharman, 151, 164, 166, 203
Ya^ovarman (of Kambuja), 216-17
YaSovarman (of Kanauj), 162, 161,
163, 165, 170, 210
Yatung, 908
Yaudheyas, the, 147 -si
Yauvanasri, 167
Yavanas (Greeks), the, 65, 69, 78,
95, 99, 114, 115, 127, 132, 140,
141, 142
Yen-kaO'Chen, 120, 121
Yildiz, Taj-ud-din, 279, 281, 283
Yoga, 401, 408
Yoga Vadishtha Bdmayana, the, 579
Yonas, the, 104
Younghusband, Sir Francis, 908, 909
Yudhishthira, 94, 95
Yue-chis, the, 118, 119-20, 140, 144
Yung-lo, 344
Yunnan, 840, 910
Yusuf ‘Adil Khan, 363-4
Yusuf ‘Adil Shah (of Bijapur), 402,
505
Yusuf Shah (Sbams-ud-din Abul
Muzaffar Yusuf Shah), 346
Yusuf Shah (of Kashmir), 454
Yusufzais, the, 454, 494
Zabul, 181
Zafar Khan (of Bengal), 329, 334
Zafar Khan (of Gujarat). 312, 337, 351
Zafar Khan (Khaljl minister), 299,
300, 310
Zafar Khan Hasan (‘Ala-ud-din
Hasan Bahman Shah), 326, 366, 367
Zafarabad, 325, 329
Zain-ul-' Abidin, 354, 40i, 402
Zakariya Khan, 632
Zakdt, the, 331
Zakka Khel, the, 903
Zdlim, the, 360
Zalim Singh, 726
Zaman Shah, 699, 715, 720, 736,
748, 749, 750
Zamania, 462
Zamindars, the, 430, 791-9 pasaim,
802, 816, 941
Zaranj, 181
Zeb-un-Nisa, 679, 580
Zeus Ombrios, 139
Zila Courts, the, 798, 803
Zindd Fir, the, 496
Zoological Survey of India, the, 966
Zoroastrians, the, 459, 461, 470, 957
Zubd-vi-Tawdrikh, the, 581
Zulfikar Pass, 836
Zu’lfiqarKhan, 524, 527, 628, 531, 643
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